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In the 1980's, several processes emerged as possible replacements for chemical strippers containing methylene chloride. A viable process appears to be dry mechanical stripping using wheat starch. It is seen as promising because of its gentle treatment of aluminum alloys and composites. The process itself is reported to be operator friendly, with no fiber or primer damage even with multiple blast cycles. The media has been tested by Boeing Commercial Airplane Co. and is in production use at Beech Aircraft Corp. and Hunting Aircraft. Boeing reports that microscopic examination has shown wheat starch blasting to be smoother and less damaging to fibers compared to hand sanding. Starch blasting leaves a smooth finish on aluminum, bare or clad, and can strip aluminum skins as thin as 0.016 in. without deformation. The media is soft and forgiving and does not cause crack closure or smearing on aluminum alloys.

At the U.S. Department of Defense Tri-Service Advanced Coatings Removal Conference, Orlando, Florida, March 1-3, 1988, we presented information on Air Canada's interest in the development of a dust-free, automated, plastic media dry stripping system. This included a description of semi-automated equipment under development for this project based on Air Canada's stationary/simulator configuration experience. Phase I of their program was to build a prototype of the proposed robotic arm, and it's dust enclosure to: prove basic automation concepts; show reasonable paint removal rate from a curved surface; and, establish that process is dust-free and recovers media in a closed-cycle fashion. Phase I was successfully completed by the March 1988 date of the first paper, except for the determination of optimum blasting parameters.

It has been demonstrated in practice that inadequate training and/or process requirements have produced conflicting results. The purpose of this paper is to outline an acceptable training program in use by commercial airlines and the military. It may not be the only program in use, but it should be representative of what is required to enable plastic media blast (PMB) to become a viable process for commercial aviation processing as well as military or other industry applications. In addition attempts are made to document in bibliographical sequence test data supporting plastic media blast process applications. The objective again is to produce data supporting the viability of plastic media blast processing. As well as data already existing, we have included data currently being collected that may or may not support plastic media blast processing.

Last year's Airpline Plating and Metal Finishing Forum was excited at the newly described experimental process of Dry Stripping with Plastic Media Blast. This is a report, twelve months later, on the state of the art and the many production facilities now in use.