A series of experiments has been undertaken to investigate the feasibility of using a CO_2 laser to vapourise tyre compound that becomes trapped in the tyre mould microvents during tyre manufacture. The primary aim of the experiments was to determine the speed and reliability of the process. The experiments have investigated a range of laser and processing head parameters and determined the optimum conditions for the complete removal of the rubber plug blocking each microvent. It was found that a fully blocked microvent can be laser cleaned in about one second with an incident laser power of 60 W. The experiments have demonstrated the potential of the laser method for cleaning tyre mould microvents.
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