Laser ablation of maskant used in chemical milling process for aerospace applications

Chemical etching is a non-traditional machining process where a chemical solution is used to remove unwanted material by dissolution. To shape the etched area, before the process, a chemical inert paint (maskant) is applied on the surface. Then the maskant is trimmed away and the uncovered area is subject to the etching. The maskant cut could be obtained mechanically or by laser ablation. In this work, the effect of process parameters, cutting speed and beam power, on interaction phenomena and defect formation in laser cutting of polymeric maskant is studied, using a 30W CO2 laser source.