SHINHOP laser

Car tires are produced by shaping through tire molds. The smoothness and quality of the metal surface of the molds significantly affect the quality of the tires. Since the surface of tire molds has many textures or other patterns, there are often residual rubber or other materials after each use. If not removed in time, it will affect the shaping of other tires, thus impacting their structural appearance and quality, leading to an increase in defective tires. Therefore, timely removal of residual materials on the surface of the molds helps improve production efficiency.
So how do we clean tire molds?
Our traditional method is to use high-temperature alkaline water for soaking and cleaning, which works well for small molds. However, for large tire molds, it becomes inadequate and cannot meet the cleaning needs.

Another method is to use sandblasting, with materials such as sand or beads. The friction is relatively high, which can wear down the surface of the molds to some extent, reducing the effective lifespan of the molds. Therefore, this method is not recommended for cleaning. Some subsequent chemical cleaning agents and technologies also have many side effects and fundamentally do not solve the tire cleaning problem. Thus, from the perspective of industry development, developing a method that can better clean tire molds without damaging the quality and lifespan of the molds is a scientific approach.
As technology develops to a certain extent, new technologies emerge, such as laser cleaning. It utilizes the characteristics of high energy, high brightness, and good directionality of lasers to disrupt the forces between contaminants and the surface of objects, thereby removing contaminants without damaging the substrate.
Laser cleaning of tire molds is the process of selectively evaporating dirt from the surface of materials using laser cleaning. Different materials have different absorption rates for specific wavelengths of laser energy. When the absorption rate of the contaminants on the material's surface is greater than that of the substrate, laser irradiation can cause the temperature of the contaminants to instantaneously rise above their melting point and vaporize.
The vaporization phenomenon at the surface interface generated in this way does not reach the melting point of the substrate, so it does not damage the substrate.

Laser Cleaning Tire Mold Schematic
Comparison table of laser cleaning tire molds versus traditional cleaning methods.

Practical application cases
In the application of cleaning tire molds for a tire mold manufacturing factory, we used the Raycus RFL-P500 pulsed fiber laser with an average power of 500W, a laser center wavelength of 1064nm, an output fiber length of 10m, a laser scanning width adjustable from 10-80mm, and a focusing lens adjustable from 100-280mm. The tire mold size used was MIN42, and the mold types were two-part molds and movable molds. The 500W laser cleaning handheld device was directly irradiated on the surface of the tire molds, with the laser scanning speed set at 6000mm/s, cleaning one by one under the same laser energy conditions.

The final cleaning effect and efficiency are as follows:
1 Offline: Cleaning a set of 51-inch spring air hole sleeve molds (semi-steel tires) took 28 minutes;
2 Online: Cleaning two sets of 51-inch spring air hole sleeve molds to the normal cleaning cycle (semi-steel tires) took 80 minutes;
3 Cleaning effect: Residual rubber, rust, and accumulated materials can be thoroughly cleaned without dead angles. The outer surface of the molds is bright, with no signs of scratching, burning spots, or color differences.

When the laser irradiates the surface of the tire molds, most of the laser energy is absorbed by the contaminants on the surface, causing the surface temperature of the object to rise rapidly. Therefore, the contaminants covering the surface of the tire molds are instantaneously heated and vaporized, ultimately removing the dirt. We have listed the corresponding laser energy density values under relevant parameters:

The laser energy density value can affect the temperature generated when the laser irradiates the surface of the object, thereby influencing the laser cleaning effect and efficiency. Therefore, when selecting a laser suitable for cleaning tire molds, it is necessary to consider the technical parameters of the required laser and the optical parameters of the cleaning equipment's optical path system.
From the theoretical perspective of relevant application parameters, the laser used for cleaning car tire molds needs to have high average power, high single-pulse energy, uniform energy distribution of the light spot, adjustable working frequency, and good beam quality. Here, we recommend using a 500W power laser. For brand selection, domestic lasers such as Raycus and imported lasers like IPG, Coherent, and Nlight vary greatly in price. We suggest focusing on practicality and ensuring good After-sale Service, working on cost-effectiveness. If you have further questions, you can contact the Shenzhen SHINHOP laser equipment manufacturer to order a suitable laser cleaning machine for your car tires to better meet your cleaning needs and help you solve various technical problems during the laser cleaning process.