Statues, Stonework, and Monuments Repair with Fiber Lasers
Views: 18 Author: Rebecca Publish Time: 2021-08-14 Origin: Site
Stone carvings, statues and other ancient delicate stone works of art all are prone to “wear and tear” as they are mostly placed outdoors and leave alone the environment hazards. Due to its fine and fragile surface structure, laser cleaning has become the main solution of this field. It has been found that using laser cleaning machine to remove dirt on the surface of stone relics has unique advantages. It can precisely control the movement of the light beam on the complex surface to remove dirt without doing any harm to the stone relics.
Stonework and artworks outdoors are vulnerable to many contaminants and pollutants, including air pollution, which removes of nitrates and sulphates e.g. acid rain, aerosols, etc., fungi, bird droppings, algae, lichen, moss, storm damage and in some places, graffiti removal. It is widely believed that the most major outdoor contaminator is traffic grime, which produces a black film layer of soot, dirt and grime, which can be quite difficult to get rid of.
Quite some types of stonework can be cleaned with laser. In this article we are focusing on the cleaning of stones such as brickwork, masonry, monoliths, monuments, sculptures, stonework, statues and tombstones. Any of these (and more besides) can be safely cleaned.
The binding force between grime and stone surface is mainly physical and weak chemical. While physical forces include VDW forces (including static, induction and dispersion) and capillary forces, weak chemical forces include hydrogen bonding and bonding energy due to charge transfer. The reason why stone is more difficult to clean than other hard surface materials is that there are a large number of micro-holes on the base of natural stones. The capillary force of micro-pores not only strengthens the binding force between dirt and stone, but also makes it harder for conventional methods to take effect.
Laser is a kind of light radiation with great monochromatic and directional function. A combination of lenses can be used to focus the beam of light, concentrating it into a small range of area. A laser beam can perform at least three functions:
1. it will produce mechanical resonance on the solid surface, so that the surface dirt layer or condensate will be blasted off.
2. the fouling layer is heated and then expands, so as to break the adsorption force of the matrix material to the polluted particles and get away from the surface of the object.
3. make the dirt molecules evaporate, vaporize or decompose instantly
Below listed are some of the major advantages of repairing stonework with lasers using laser cleaning machine from Senfeng:
1. Precision, accuracy and control – laser cleaning is renowned for its amazing precision and control. This is of crucial importance in stonework restoration because ageing stonework needs to be treated with sensitivity. Also, we can focus on the the specific areas, which may have been subject to damage, whereas other areas many not requirement restoration.
2. Chemical free – no need to use the chemical that has been used in traditional processes. This protects the user and the item being cleaned from the harm and damage caused by chemical reagent.
Chemical cleaning:
l releases toxic fumes (which can be environmentally polluted)
l leaves waste scum
l might alter the item structurally
l potentially corrosive, especially when using scrubbing
l Big possibility of permanent damage
Invest in a laser cleaning machine from SENFENG LEIMING LASER and you can also buy other laser machines with the capabilities to cut, weld and clad. Our contact details are shown as below, complete our contact form or pick up your phone to give us a call from anywhere in the world. Looking forward to your reaching out.
