Traditionally, plated and thermal sprayed coatings are stripped via wet chemical baths which present environmental, health and safety concerns. Additionally, chemical stripping baths can potentially damage component base metals, limiting repairability.

A new processing technique under development is Forced Pulsed Waterjet (FPWJ) stripping. Unlike traditional Ultra High Pressure Waterjet (UHPWJ), FPWJ using a modulated stream of water flowing through a specially designed nozzle. The efficacy of the system stems from the surges of pressure generated by the water pulsation, which are considerably higher than the stagnation pressure of a continuous waterjet.

FPWJ effectively removes inorganic (plating and thermo sprayed plasma and HVOF) coatings as well as organic coatings (rubbers, phenolics, sealers, paints/primers) from a wide array of substrates including high strength and low strength steels as well as Inconel® and Tribaloy® without inducing any dimensional or other change to the substrate.

FPWJ can eliminate hydrogen embrittlement or arc burn damage concerns while bringing processing times down from days to hours.