An excimer laser based technique has been developed which allows rapid non-contact, non-aggressive printing of aircraft cables. We have shown that the technique relies on the photo-induced reduction of titanium dioxide pigment which is already present in the cables for cosmetic and protective purposes. Many other materials contain TiO2 (eg. PTFE and other polymers, paint, paper, ceramics etc.) and the technique is also applicable to them. We have optimised the printing by investigating the contrast as a function of both laser parameters (fluence, wavelength etc.) and cable parameters. Analysis of the excimer laser printed cables shows that, unlike other laser based techniques, no degradation of the polymers occurs. The printed cables pass all the usual abrasion and environmental tests that aircraft cables are subjected. The technique is suitable for printing a wide range of cables including white and some coloured cables, sheathed and multicore cables.
Excimer laser printing of aircraft cables
Drucken von Flugzeugkabeln mit Excimer-Laser
1989
9 Seiten, 8 Bilder, 11 Quellen
Conference paper
English
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