Evaluation of plasma cleaning efficiency for surface contaminant removal from AA7075 chips

This study presents an experimental method to evaluate the effectiveness of plasma cleaning for removing surface contaminants, including lubricants and oxides, from AA7075 chips obtained in machining operations. A lubricant mixture (3% oil and 97% water) and surface oxides were characterized using various analytical techniques to assess the cleaning performance. The findings demonstrate the potential of plasma treatment as an efficient surface-cleaning method, particularly in enhancing recycling processes for solid metal recovery. Plasma cleaning was shown to significantly reduce organic contamination and oxide layers on the surface of aluminum alloy metal chips. Interestingly, the substrate material (aluminum or plastic) did not significantly influence the cleaning effectiveness. Furthermore, variations in processing durations, from shorter cycles (10 steps) to longer cycles (100 steps), yielded comparable cleaning results. These insights prove the capabilities of plasma cleaning as a viable technique for industrial applications requiring efficient surface decontamination.