Thermal deburring and part-cleaning in a class of its own

Innovation Squared Thermal deburring is a process that has established itself in the industry these past decades. At present scarcely any hydraulic control blocks are produced in Europe for the automobile or aircraft industries that do not undergo thermal deburring. The advantages of this method are too significant. As part of this process, the following cleaning method plays a key role. The Rudolf-Erich Mller GmbH & Co KG, REMOG for short, has relied on the thermal deburring technique for many years. Now the decision has been made to invest in a TEM facility from ATL Luhden with a partcleaning facility by LPW Reinigungssysteme GmbH connected downstream. REMOG has been providing precision parts all over the world for over 50 years. The increasing know-how and the high level of competence in the fields of aviation technology, hydraulics, and machine construction have impressed well-known concerns like DaimlerChrysler, Siemens, Bosch Rexroth, Linde, Liebherr Aerospace, and Embraer. Starting with safety critical aircraft control components and landing gear operating systems, and extending to hydraulic assemblies, ready assembled and tested, this company from Mnnerstadt delivers the highest quality in the fields of industrial and mobile hydraulics. For us, quality has the highest priority. Of course we have ISO 9001:2000 and AS9100 certifications, so our clients can rely on our processes a hundred percent, and can concentrate on their own core competencies such as product development and final assembly, says Markus Mller, company director of Rudolf-Erich Mller GmbH & Co KG and manager of the Polish REMOG Polska Sp. z o.o. The benefits of thermal deburring have been taken advantage of at REMOG for a long time now. This elegant method utilises the combustion principle for removing production-process by-products or burrs from parts by igniting a gas mixture at temperatures between 2000 and 3500 degrees Celsius (4535 - 6332F. The crucial benefit: at these extreme temperatures all burrs, that is, even those in difficult-to-reach places, or at intersections of two bore holes inside components, can be reliably removed. The method offers a high degree of assurance and is in addition very efficient. In addition, some of our clients demand thermal deburring from quality related considerations, says Mller.

Thermal deburring at up to 23 bar

With the aid of a new TEM machine from ATL, in connection with an innovative PowerJet part-cleaning facility by the LPW Reinigungssysteme, REMOG intends to open a new chapter in thermal deburring. The machine used is the thermal deburring machine ATL iTEM 400 HP. The acronym HP stands for High Pressure. That this description has substance is underlined by the maximal gas fill pressure of the machine, depending on the diameter of the deburring chamber, up to 23 bar (334 psi). The benefit: thanks to the high energy output, this innovative machine successfully deburrs bulk parts of die cast and high grade steel, which require far more energy than deburring aluminium parts. The generous dimensions of the largest combustion chamber, with a diameter of 400 millimetres and a height likewise of 400 millimetres accommodate larger parts. The cycle times vary depending on the deburring process between 30 and 60 seconds. In this way, by using three different deburring chambers of 250, 320 and 400 millimetres respectively, the flexibility in deburring performance is virtually limitless: From bulk parts to large-volume hydraulic control blocks, parts and components from a variety of metallic raw materials can be quickly, safely and efficiently deburred with iTEM 400 HP, says Jrn Struckmann, managing partner of the ATL GmbH. The machine is loaded manually by an electronically operated rotary indexing table, which transports the components to the combustion chamber. A newly developed gas dosing system, which has no need for a high-maintenance gas dosing cylinder, injects a precisely defined gas mixture into the combustion chamber, where the mixture is ignited. In the combustion that follows temperatures between 2500-3500 degrees Celsius (4532 - 6332F) are reached. The burrs to be removed thus reach ignition temperature, and react with the excess oxygen in the combustion chamber. This results in complete incineration of burrs within a few milliseconds. The intensity of deburring can be precisely set by means of the fill pressure and the excess oxygen inside the deburring chamber. The most modern control technology in use guarantees the highest level of process reliability while maintaining quality and optimal performance, says Struckmann.

Particle-free part-cleaning
Following the TEM procedure, the parts are indeed thoroughly deburred both inside and outside, however, as the burrs incinerate, an oxide coating is generated and deposited on the part. In order, on the one hand, to guarantee a preferably low level of residual dirt for precision parts, and on the other hand, to reliably prevent corrosion buildup, the subsequent cleaning process that the parts must undergo has the highest priority. REMOG has invested a great deal of time in the selecting the suitable cleaning system: We thoroughly tested equipment from different manufacturers, and had specific cleaning tests carried out using thermally deburred serial parts. In these cleaning tests, the installation by LPW emerged as a clear favourite. The cleaning results were consistently a cut above those of the competitors. Even for the smallest blind holes, the LPW system delivers the best results. That is why the decision was made to choose LPW, says Markus Mller. The machine used is the PowerJet 670, an innovative water-based part-cleaning system. Despite its outer compact construction, the system distinguishes itself by high performance and process reliability. In our water based cleaning system of the PowerJet series hides a vast amount of technical know-how offering solutions that utilise environment-friendly water-based media for even challenging cleaning tasks. There is also the fact that the system is modularly constructed, enabling us to configure individual, client-specific systems according to the clients requirements, says Gerhard Koblenzer, LPW Reinigungssysteme GmbH manager.

PowerJet 670: fast, clean, economical With the 670 PowerJet REMOG to meet high demands in residual dirt removal economically. With a batch size of 670 x 480 x 300 millimeters, the equipment achieves a throughput capacity six to eight batches per hour. The maximum batch weight is 200 kilogramms. Desplite the high performance 670 PowerJet sets the benchmark for energy efficiency. One aspect that is currently in permanently rising energy prices, an increasingly importent role. First and foremost, the parts that undergo cleaning are steel and cast parts which, once cleaned, may not have more than very little residual dirt. Impurities above a certain particle size would cause enormous damage to our clients hydraulic systems, so the part-cleaning following the TEM has a key role. Hence, the system must deliver exemplary cleaning results, and with a hundred percent process reliability, says Mller.

The cleaning system PowerJet at REMOG, which, if necessary, can be extended to up to five cleaning-/washing levels, manages with two different tanks and two cleaning media. In tank 1, this is a neutral corrosive and rust remover, tank 2 it contains an anti-corrosive. In order to reliably attain the required low residual dirt, a powerful pressure-flow facility with a pressure of 18 bar is employed. In addition, the work chamber has an integrated ultrasonic system of 6000 Watts to aid the cleaning process Besides excellent cleaning performance, the through-put time of the PowerJet system also plays a decisive role for REMOG: The iTEM 400 HP has a very high through-put, so that part-cleaning must proceed fast, without a bottleneck developing in the cleaning facility. Even in this respect, the LPW system has greatly impressed us. All parts leave the washing machine sportlessly clean in the required cycle time. To that extent, we are certain that by deciding for ATL and LPW, we have invested in the perfect combination of innovative systems, concludes Markus Mller.

Chief Executive Officers Jrn Struckmann from ATL and Gerhard Koblenzer von LPW (from left to right) can offer to customers a thermal deburring and cleaning solution. www.lpw-reinigungssysteme.de www.atl-luhden.de www.remog.de