Laser removal of graffiti from Pink Morelia Quarry

Abstract

Morelia is an important city sited in Mexico. Its historical center reflects most of their culture and history, especially of the colonial period; in fact, it was appointed World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Sadly, there is a serious problem with graffiti in Morelia and its historical center is the worst affected since its delicate charming is definitely damaged. Hitherto, the conventional methods employed to remove graffiti from Pink Morelia Quarry (the most used building stone in Morelia) are quite aggressive to the appearance of the monuments, so actually, they are not a very good solution. In this work, we performed a study on the removal of graffiti from Pink Morelia Quarry by high power diode laser. We carried out an extensive experimental study looking for the optimal processing parameters, and compared a single-pass with a multi-pass method. Indeed, we achieved an effective cleaning without producing serious side effects in the stone. In conclusion, the multi-pass method emitting in continuous wave was revealed as the more effective operating modes to remove the graffiti.