ICRALA: Induction-Assisted Coating Removal and Laser Ablation for Maritime Corrosion Control

Coatings and Corrosion Prevention

Problem Statement: Corrosion control and coating removal remain among the most labor-intensive, costly, and disruptive tasks in fleet maintenance. Traditional abrasive blasting demands extensive containment, generates large volumes of hazardous waste, removes more material than necessary, and often requires assets to be taken offline. These constraints drive a reactive “defer, fail, and repair” cycle that raises lifecycle costs, strains skilled labor, and reduces readiness across the Department of Defense.

Description of the Innovation Solution: ICRALA combines induction-assisted coating removal with pulsed laser ablation in a single, media-free process. Induction lifts coatings directly from the substrate; the laser cleans to bare metal with high precision. The result is targeted, in-service surface preparation that treats the exact area of concern—even tight or complex geometries—without stripping surrounding material. The process requires minimal containment, eliminates grit, chemicals, and water, and generates far less hazardous waste than conventional methods.

Benefits to the DoD: ICRALA improves maintenance efficiency, safety, and environmental performance. Reducing containment and hazardous waste lowers compliance burden and cost. Precision treatment keeps assets in service rather than fully shut down, accelerating turnaround and protecting readiness. The process supports complex shipboard structures where traditional methods struggle, with cross-service applicability spanning Navy, Coast Guard, Army, Air Force, and DLA depot-level facilities.

Innovation Challenges: Scaling a precision, in-service process across diverse environments requires standardized operator qualification, repeatable procedures, and validated safety controls. To address this, AMPP is developing a maritime training and certification program, and AirQuest Environmental provides CIH-validated monitoring to confirm engineering control performance.

Technical Maturity/Demonstration Results: ICRALA is patented (2025) and validated under NCMS CTMA Project #2026026-143239 at Technology Transition Level 1, advancing toward TT2. Field validation on active Navy ships—USS Gettysburg, USS Gunston Hall, USS Tortuga, USS Stout, and USS San Antonio—documented 408 linear feet and 1,835 square feet of surface preparation. In one day, laser ablation cleared 1,050 screw heads. Phase 3 expands to Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Base San Diego, and Naval Station Mayport. Prior demonstrations in VDOT, hydroelectric, and nuclear environments confirm repeatability and maturity, positioning ICRALA for sustained fleet-wide transition.