ACP SYSTEMS AG
Adhesives can be applied directly
afterwards or following an intermediate
activation step.
cleaned, a combination of thermal, mechanical,
sublimation and solvent effects occur.
The interaction of these four mechanisms of
action detaches particulate (e.g. dust, chips,
abrasion, micro burrs) and filmic contamination
(e.g. separating agents, drawing oils, emulsions,
silicones, traces of powder) in a reproducible
manner. The aerodynamic force of the compressed
air carries away the detached contamination, which
is then removed by an integrated extraction system.
Cold, easily-automated cleaning process
with wide operating window
Developed more than 20 years ago, the quattroClean
technology is one of the most efficient, effective
and versatile dry processes on the market. Various
process-related properties enable the technology
to achieve better and more reliable results in series
production than other dry cleaning methods such
as atmospheric pressure plasma or laser cleaning.
It is also more robust and has a wide operating window.
A further advantage is that the component areas to be
treated do not become hot when they are cleaned.
Thanks to the scalability of the industry
4.0-compatible quattroClean system, it can
be easily adapted to different applications and
component geometries in a space-saving way.
All process parameters, such as the volume
flows for compressed air and carbon dioxide,
the number of jets and length of time and area
the jet is applied to, are precisely tailored to the
respective component as the result of pilot
tests performed in the acp technical center.
The parameters also take material properties
and the type of contamination requiring removal
into account and can be filed as part-specific
cleaning programs in the system controls.
Tailored system concepts are developed by acp on
the basis of standard modules. These take the form
of stand-alone solutions and as well as systems for
integration into production lines and networked
manufacturing environments.
Adhesive pretreatment of structural
components made of plastic and metal
The quattroClean process established itself over
atmospheric pressure-plasma cleaning as a
pretreatment (removal of separating agent residues
and surface activation) for two parts to be joined
that are made of fiber-reinforced polyamide (PA)
and non-reinforced PA. Components cleaned by
plasma were unable to meet the requirements of the
destructive adhesion test carried out after bonding.
Furthermore, the narrow window of the plasma
cleaning process meant that parameters such as
exposure time, distance and angle of incidence of
the plasma had to be strictly observed in order to
clean the surface effectively and not overactivate
the plastic. For this application, acp worked together
with the company to develop a multi-stage process
in which the components are not only cleaned
automatically but also activated and bonded.
An Asian OEM was looking for a process to remove
minimal amounts of residues of drawing oil from
formed aluminum body parts before bonding.
The company carried out comparative tests
with plasma, laser and quattroClean cleaning
technologies. While the plasma process proved to
be unsuccessful, laser cleaning was able to remove
the drawing oil. However, the component became
hot during cleaning, which resulted in undesirable
side effects. This was an exclusion criteria, as was
also the relatively low speed of the process.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 144
142 2020 - 2021 read online: www.surfaceworld.com