02 · Laser Systems
The FP-300 Pulsed Fiber Laser
FeatherPulse · Concept to field
A 300 W Class IV pulsed fiber laser ablation system taken from concept to eight units in service — the only laser currently in use in aviation MRO for corrosion and paint removal.
A finished FP-300, documentation on the deck, before shipping
- 8
- Units in service
- 300 W
- Class IV pulsed fiber, 1064 nm
- Only
- Laser of its kind in aviation MRO
The project
Aviation MRO removes coatings constantly, and the conventional methods — media blast, chemical strip, abrasive — are slow, messy, hard to contain, and rough on the substrate. Laser ablation solves all four, provided the system can strip the coating without driving heat into the part underneath.
432 Design carried the FP-300 through every stage: concept, design, prototype, test, production and deployment. Eight units are in the field, the most recent at Runway Aviation in Mena, Arkansas, which leased a unit and then bought it. It remains the only laser currently in use in aviation MRO for corrosion and paint removal.
The engineering that mattered most was thermal. Landing gear, skin panels and composite structure each have a different tolerance for heat, and an operator needs to see thermal build-up in real time rather than discover it afterwards. That monitoring approach is built into the machine and into how crews are trained to run it.
Detail
Something like this?
Tell us what you're trying to do and we'll tell you what it takes.
Start a project