DOI: 10.22184/1993-7296.FRos.2024.18.6.436.449

The article investigates the process of laser cleaning of mill metal in exposure modes that do not lead to heating of the scale above its melting point. The possibility of destruction of mill scale due to thermochemical reactions in the scale and subsequent thermomechanical destruction has been identified and substantiated. The search and optimization of laser exposure modes has been carried out to increase the cleaning efficiency. For a more complete description of the laser cleaning process, attention is paid to the structure of mill scale; the features of its formation and probable phase transformations under the action of laser heating are described. An area of laser treatment modes in the range of exposure durations from 30 to 400 µs and power densities of from 50 to 750 kW/cm2 leading to thermomechanical scale destruction has been experimentally discovered. The process of laser descaling due to thermomechanical destruction is implemented using a continuous-wave fiber ytterbium laser with a maximum power of 2 kW.