finishing talk newsletter - april 2008

8/14/2019 Finishing Talk Newsletter - April 2008

1/16

From the Forum:Inside This Issue:

sonics are used to meetthe challenge of remov-ing small particles from

inaccessible areas, as amajor manufacturerrecently discoveredwhen looking to reduce

rejects on a researchand development pre-treatment line about togo into production.

I d e n t i f y i n g t h eCleaning Problem

The pretreatment line

in question has beencleaning small screwmachine type parts,about one-fourth inchin diameter, which willbecome part of gas as-sembly valves. Theparts have a drilled

By: Cheryl Larkin

The same characteris-tics of ultrasonics that

make them an impor-tant component on anew cleaning or pre-treatment line alsomake them a valuableretrofit on an existingprocess line

Ultrasonics can opti-mize the removal ofsome types of soilsfrom certain parts, such

as buffing compoundfrom crevices and tinyparticles from metal-working operations.Other excellent applica-tions include precisioncleaning of small ob- jects and electronics

assemblies prior toother finishing opera-tions, and cleaning of

valve bodies, transmis-sion parts and sub-assemblies, medicaldevices and injection

molds.

Sometimes ultrasonicswill speed up a clean-ing operation thatwould otherwise take

much longer. For ex-ample, carbonization

can be removed frominjection molds in min-utes instead of hourswith the right combina-tion of ultrasonics,heat, and cleaning so-lution.

In other cases, ultra-

A P R I L 2 0 0 8 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 3

FINE TUN E CLEANING & RINSINGWITH ULTRASONIC RETROFITS

F I N E T U N EC L E A N I N G

1

I N D U S T R Y E V E N T S

2

N E W S & N O T E S

3

F I N I S H I N GS P O T L I G H T

4

F R O M T H EF O R U M

6

T H E L A S TW O R D

1 5

C O N T E N T S

The Future of Finish ing

(page 15)Finishing

Spotlight:

Interview w ith Dr. Art

Kushner of Kushners Elec-

troplating School (page 4)

Continued on page 8...

Hex Chrome on

Hard Steel

(page 6)


2/16

Page 2F I N I S H I N G T A L K

April 9-10 :

Powder Coating School

Denver, COsurfacefinishingacademy.com

April 20-23 :

SSCT Annual Tech. Conference

San Destin, FL

[email protected]

April 21-23 :

Coatings for Plastic Symposium

Chicago, IL

(888) 530-6714

www.coatingsforplastics.com

April 21-24 :

NA 2008

I-X Center

Cleveland, OH

www.nashow.com

April 22-24 :

NASF Washington Forum

Washington, DC

www.nasf.org

April 28-29 ; May 1-2

MacDermid Electroless Nickel School

Irvine, CA; Dallas, TX

[email protected]

May 4-7:

RadTech 2008

Chicago, IL

www.radtech2008.com

May 13-16:

ET 2008

Orlando, FL

www.et08.org

May 14-16:

Electrocoat 2008

Indianapolis, IN

www.electrocoat.org

June 3-5:

American Coatings Show

Charlotte, NC

american-coatings-show.com

Have an upcoming event? Tell

us about it at:

www.finishingtalk.com!

I N D U S T R Y E V E N T S 2 0 0 8


3/16

Page 3V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

N E W S & N O T E S

Spartanburg, SC The Drr

Group has received a major or-

der from the BMW Group for its

U.S. plant in Spartanburg, SC,

worth more than 100 million.

BMWs production capacity at

the plant will be increased from

160,000 to 240,000 units by

2012. The required expansion of

the paint shop will be realized

largely by Drr. While produc-

tion is supposed to begin in the

first two areas in mid-2009, the

sealing lines startup is planned

for mid-2010. Capacity is to in-

crease from 27 units per hournow to 46 as a result of expand-

ing the paint shop. For more

information, visit www.durr.com

or www.bmwgroup.com.

Fridley, MN DuPont Coating

Solutions has formally certified

Nor-Ell Inc. of Fridley, MN, as a

Certified Star CoaterSM. As a

member of the DuPont Star

Coater program, Nor-Ell submit-

ted a request for DuPont to au-dit its operations in an effort to

qualify for certified status. For a

Star Coater member to qualify

as certified, an independent in-

dustry consultant examines 10

different areas that cover the

operations of the business.

These areas include safety, cus-

tomer satisfaction and quality

and consistency. For more info

visit:www.dupontpowder.com orwww.starcoater.com.

DEARBORN, MI The Society

of Manufacturing Engineers

(SME) will host the NanoManu-

facturing and the co-located Mi-

croManufacturing Conference

and Exhibits, April 22-23, 2008,

at the Sheraton Hotel in Fram-

ingham, Massachusetts. This

event will not only bring to-

gether two emerging manufac-

turing technologies, but also 13

of Greater Bostons brightest

engineering and science univer-

sity students. Their participation

will mark the launch of the con-

ferences Bright Minds Nano

Program, a mentoring program

which provides full conference

passes to students from Boston

University, MIT, Northeastern

University and other schools.

For more information or to reg-ister, please visit www.sme.org/

n a n o m a n u f a c t u r i n g o r

www.sme.org/micro.

Washington, DC The EPA has

released its National Emission

Standards for Hazardous Air Pol-

lutants: Paint Stripping and Mis-

cellaneous Surface Coating Op-

erations at Area Sources final

rule. This action promulgates

national emission standards for

hazardous air pol lutants

(NESHAP) for area sources en-

gaged in paint stripping, surface

coating of motor vehicles and

mobile equipment, and miscella-

neous surface coating opera-

tions. EPA has listed "Paint

Stripping," "Plastic Parts and

Products (Surface Coating),"'

and "Autobody Refinishing Paint

Shops"' as area sources of haz-

ardous air pollutants (HAP) that

contribute to the risk to public

health in urban areas under theIntegrated Urban Air Toxics

Strategy. This final rule includes

emissions standards that reflect

the generally available control

technology or management

practices in each of these area

source categories. For more

information, please visit

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.


4/16

Page 4

F I N I S H I N G S P O T L I G H T : D R . A R T K U S H N E R

AK: We offer a wide range ofprograms:

Electroplating Know How II

A 20 volume comprehensive cor-respondence program (distancelearning)

Electroplating Know HowCustom Programs Customtraining programs using selected

volumes from the comprehensiveprogram (correspondence)

Electroplating Know HowBasics Two day basic principles

seminars at various locationsOn-site Training Programsthat can be as general or de-tailed depending what a com-pany requires.

FTalk: Who organized/compiledthe 20 volume correspondencecourse? How long did it take todo so?

AK: Our original was written in1947-48, and consisted of tenvolumes. The original programtook approximately oneyear. The 20 volume programwas written over a three yearperiod, 1973-1975. Both werewritten by my father. Since thattime, a good portion of the 20volume program has been ed-ited, updated, and rewritten byme.

FTalk: In addition to being thedirector of the Kushner Electro- plating School, you also offerconsulting services for metal fin-ishing businesses. In your experience, what has been themost challenging part of this job,and what was the most difficultproblem you had to solve?

do with the industry. Well, aslife teaches you do not makestatements like that because

they well come back and biteyou! I trained as a chemist,and received a Ph.D. in Physical

Organic Chemistry. I did the col-lege professor bit for a while,and worked for private industryin various chemical related in-dustries, but continued to workwith my dad on special projects.

When my father died in 1978, I

took over the business and oper-

ated it on a part time basis. In1993 my wife, Bobby, and I ex-panded the business and startedoffering seminars as well as con-sulting on a full time basis.

FTalk: How old is the KushnerElectroplating School, and howhas it changed since its earlydays?AK: This year the business willbe 61 years old. The basic prin-

ciples of electroplating have notchanged. Faraday's Law has notbee repealed by Congress, thankgoodness! Some of the thingsthat have changed are: A muchbetter understanding of the basicprinciples of electroplating: theway plating is performed (betterchemistries, better control, etc.);environmental concerns (youcan't dump your plating waste inthe city sewer, etc.). In additionthe method of business haschanged: Use to be phone calls,mail and paper checks. Now it ise-mail, credit card, electronictransfer of funds.

FTalk: What courses do you cur-rently offer through the school?

This month, Finishing Talkinterviewed consultant, educator,

and director of the Kushner Elec-troplating School based in

Sunnyvale, CA. Dr. Art Kushner

earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry

from Penn State University, and

has been training individuals in

the electroplating business for

over 25 years. In addition to the

Electroplating School, Dr.

Kushner has served as President

and Education Chairperson of

the Santa Clara Valley Branch ofthe American Electroplaters and

Surface Finishers Society (AESF).

FTalk: How long have you beeninvolved in the finishing industry,and what initially attracted youto this sector?

AK: I have been around theelectroplating industry since Iwas 7-8 years old. The Kushner

Electroplating School (KES) wasfounded by my dad in 1947. Hehad worked in electroplating inthe 1930's, and after working onthe Manhattan Project decided toget into consulting and trainingafter WW2. He often stated thathe wanted to play a part inbringing the electroplating indus-try into the 20th century. Istarted out by stuffing enve-lopes, then was promoted to

working in his lab, and laterworked on some of his researchprojects.

I was not initially attracted tothis industry, and in fact I washeard to say a number of timeswhen I went off to college that Idid not want to have anything to

F I N I S H I N G T A L K


5/16


T: (800) 438-6880

T: (828) 464-1376

F: (828) 464 -7094

www.jacksonlea.com

Your Total Finishing Resource.

1715 E. Conover Blvd. Conover, NC 28613

AK: The most challenging partof my job is to prepare trainingprograms/ seminars that teach/educate and are enjoy-able. Anybody who has evertaken a class or seminar remem-

bers speakers/trainers/professorsthat put you to sleep. The trickis to pass on information andmake it a pleasant experience.

Consulting can be difficult attimes because your client is notreally giving you the complete"skinny". Trying to get the realfacts on a consulting gig can bevery difficult at times. Strangelyenough, what I find most frus-

trating when consulting is thatthe customer is paying you tohelp solve a problem, but at theend of the day is not willing tofollow your suggestions and rec-ommendations.

FTalk: Do you have any plansfor expanding the school to en-compass more programs,

courses, or subjects in the fu-ture?

AK: I am hoping to prepare afew programs that will be avail-able on the internet. People to-day are short of time and have amuch shorter attention spanthan individuals growing up inthe 50's and 60's. They do notlike long seminars or readingmanuals. Use of the internet fortraining is a good solution forthis problem.

FTalk: Have you seen an overallincrease or decrease in interestin the study of Electroplatingsince you took over as directorof the school?

AK: There definitely is a down-ward trend in interest in thestudy of electroplating. Electro-

plating is not a "cool" professionin most peoples eyes. Electro-plating can not compete withcomputers, software, and multi-million dollar business deals. Inaddition, much of our industry is

moving and has moved offshore. The companies that re-main in North America arestronger because they havemade commitments to bettertechnology and improving envi-ronmental operating conditions;but many smaller shops couldnot, or chose not to, and theyhave disappeared. In short, elec-troplating in North America is nota growth industry.

FTalk: What is the percentage

(estimate) of youth that are

showing interest in the area of

electroplating, from your obser-

vation?

AK: I can't really give you an

estimate but I suspect that indi-

viduals interesting electroplating

as a career is probably less than

0.001%.

FTalk: Is the Kushner Electro-

plating School currently, or plan-

ning on, making an effort to pro-

mote metal finishing educationand careers to college and high

school aged students?

AK: No, we are not. Perhaps as

part of a consortium or partner-

ship we would get involved, but

not by ourselves. ~FT~

If you would like more informa-

tion on the Kushner Electroplat-

ing School, upcoming classes

and workshops, or would like to

know more about Dr. Kushner,

please visit his website at

www.platingschool.com.

He may also be reached by

phone at (408) 749-8652, or by

email at [email protected].


6/16


F R O M T H E F O R U M : H E X C H R O M E O N H A R D S T E E L

In this months column, Finishing Talk forum mem-bers Overchrome, Labrat, and thechuz discuss

problems and solutions surrounding adhesion whenchrome plating hard steel. Feel free to add yourthoughts to their ongoing discussion by visiting theforums at www.FinishingTalk.com/electroplatingand then clicking on the thread entitled HexChrome Hard Steel. For more From the Forumdiscussions, check out our monthly internet televi-sion show, Finishing Talk Live, where hosts PaulFisher and Paul Skelton bring the boards to life!

www.finishingtalklive.com

Overchrome:

I have a project to add a layer of chrome, about 1-2 mils thick, to a piece of OD round stock. Thepiece is made from hardened heat treated 1045steel. My concern is with adhesion. From past ex-perience I know that the harder the piece beingplated, the harder to get the chrome to adhere. Asof now, I run my tanks around 130 degrees anduse a reverse etch of about 30 seconds to 2 min-utes to do my plating. This is done in a separate

tank that has the same make-up as my platingtank.

How hard can stock be before you cannot get it to

adhere?

Is there a different process that I should use toplate this type of steel?

Would using a different chemical to etch help?

Labrat:

This is normally the process used for hard chrome

plating on steel. However, if you have adhesionproblems, you could try a more aggressive ap-proach - soak clean (high alkaline) - electroclean(high alkaline) - electrolytic hydrochloric acid prep(reverse current/direct current/reverse current),rinse well, reverse current chrome etch, chromeplate. Another option (if permitted for appearance)is to sandblast after the alkaline cleaning step,

then repeat the entire prep sequence statedabove. Hope this helps.

Overchrome:

I don't have too much trouble doing hard chromeon most steels. Currently, I prep, scotchbrite, nap-tha wipe, rinse and repeat, reverse etch in chrome,and chrome. I also do a water break test. I foundthis process works well, except for really hardenedsteel. I don't think the problem is in the cleaning, Ibelieve it is the etching process. I am going to lookinto a hydrochloric acid prep process. After sand-blasting steel, how much prep do you have to doto it before you can plate over the sandblastedarea? Also, what media should be used? Currently,

I have the ability to blast with a fine glass bead.

Labrat:

The glass bead should work. If the glass beadsseem to break down before producing a noticeableetch, you may need to use something more ag-gressive, like aluminum oxide. Make sure the partis thoroughly cleaned before blasting, blast, thenreverse current chrome / direct chrome plate.

Overchrome:

Well, I attempted a test piece using your advice.The only step that I changed right now from mynormal process was adding the SANDBLAST. I alsoIncreased the length of the etch time. It is hard tobelieve that just those little added steps allowedthe chrome to adhere. It also turned out a littlebrighter. I am not sure exactly why the sandblastmade such a difference, but it did.

Thanks for the advice. I will post back when theother piece comes out.

thechuz:

If it has been heat treated, you probably have heat-scale on the component, which can make the ad-hesion poor/ non existent. An HCL pickle can re-move this scale most of the time, but theres po-

tential for hydrogen embrittlement which probablywouldnt be an issue for that strength of material.A sulphuric etch can help allot for the higher ten-sile materials, and if there is a significant silicon inthe steel (e.g. 300M) a sulphuric/HF etch works a

Posted on December 3, 2007


7/16


8/16

tank, the substrate and geome-try of the parts, and the natureof the soil. Stainless steel proc-

ess tanks are indicated, as theyencourage reflection of thesound waves throughout the

solution, thereby enhancing theultrasonic action while at thesame time withstanding it.

When cleaning with ultrasonics,the frequency of the soundwaves is matched to the appli-cation. For the most part, lower

frequencies (20-40 kHz) aresafe for most applications andwill produce the most intensecavitation energies to removethe most common types of con-taminants (oil, grease, metalchips). They are also the mostcommonly used frequencies.

Higher frequencies (68-250kHz) will produce smaller cavi-tation bubbles with less intenseenergies, but more of them.This can be beneficial in the

removal of smaller particles andwhere damage is a concern(polished surfaces, delicateparts, soft substrates).

Accomplishing the R etrofit

The pretreatment line originallyconsisted of a series of polyeth-ylene tanks, including a poly-ethylene cleaning station. Be-

cause space was available for anew clean station and polyeth-

ylene is not compatible withultrasonics, Miraclean recom-mended adding a new stainlesssteel station to the beginning ofthe line where the ultrasoniccleaning activity would takeplace. (In other retrofit scenar-ios, ultrasonics can be added toexisting stainless steel tanks.)

Presented with the new tank


F I N E T U N E C L E A N I N G & R I N S I N G - C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1

orifice which traps both cuttingoil and metal shavings. Becausethe parts are subsequently

plated, cleanliness is critical.The size and projected volumeof the parts make racking im-

practical, so the parts are proc-essed in both the pretreatmentand plating operations in a mo-torized barrel loaded one-thirdfull. Even with the mechanicalaction provided by the motor-ized barrel and a mild alkaline

cleaning solution and multiplerinses, the cleaning was unsuc-cessful. A closer look at theprocess became necessarywhen O-rings farther along inthe production chain failed toseat correctly on the parts, indi-cating the continued presenceof oil and/or metal shavings.

In fact, microscopic evaluationof a sampling of 100 partsshowed that 99 had some re-maining soil contamination after

barrel processing through thealkaline clean and multiple rins-ing steps. So, although in the-ory, rotation would maximizepart exposure to cleaning andrinsing agents, the combinationwasn't getting the job done.

Process engineers exploredvarious alternatives and/or en-hancements for the process.These included different clean-

ing chemistries and electro-cleaning, but neither solved theproblem.

How Ultrason ics Can Help

"Ultrasonics are a good optionto consider in cleaning scenar-ios such as these, because ofthe nature of the cleaning activ-

ity they provide," says RyneJohnson of Miraclean, who wascalled in to work on the project.

Ultrasonic energy occurs whensound waves are introducedinto a liquid such as water. The

sound waves create microscopicbubbles during periods of posi-tive pressure, which implodeand release a burst of energyduring periods of negative pres-sure. This process is called cavi-tation, and in conjunction withappropriate chemistry and tem-perature, the energy under-mines and releases soil barriers.

One of the most special aspectsof ultrasonics is that the im-ploding bubbles travel whereverthe solution goes, allowingcleaning activity even withincomplex part geometries. Inthis case, the rotating barrelholding the partswith its smallperforated openings for solutionto flow throughhad to be con-sidered as well.

In a typical parts-cleaning ap-plication, ultrasonics are bottom-mounted and the watts of ul-trasonics required are deter-mined by the volume of the

Parts cleaned in rotating barrel in

mild alkaline cleaning solutionshow cutting oil and metal shav-ings still present on the parts.


9/16


option, process engineers de-cided to size the tank to accom-modate two motorized barrels,thereby increasing throughput.The new tank is equipped with

40 kHz of bottom-mounted ul-trasonics, proven through test-ing to be able to penetrate themotorized barrel openings andcavitate throughout the load.

The motorized barrel speed wasminimized to promote the ultra-sonic penetration and enhance

the cleaning action. The tankalso is equipped with heat,which encourages ultrasonicactivity in a temperature rangeof 100 to 180F (above whichheat reduces cavitation pres-

sure and becomes counterpro-ductive to ultrasonic activity).

Cleaning time in the new ultra-

sonic scenario remains the

same as before: three minutes

per loadnow actually three

minutes per two loads, thereby

doubling production. As before,

the cleaning station is followed

by immersion in multiple rinses

occurring in the original poly-

ethylene tanks. The differenceis that a recent microscopic

evaluation of parts cleaned in

rotating barrels in the new ul-

trasonic tank found that 99 out

of 100 parts were clean and

showed no evidence of cutting

oil or metal shavings. Subse-

quent processes also now pro-

ceed without incident.

Ultrasonic Rinsing Takes aTurn

Ultrasonics are not always nec-

essary in rinse tanks, but they

can be recommended in certain

applications where the geome-

try of the parts or the level of

cleanliness required suggests

that they would be of value (to

meet a clean room or military

specification, for example).

As with cleaning tank ultrason-

ics, rinse tank ultrasonics can

also be retrofitted into existing

applications to improve per-formance. One such application

is a nickel chrome plating line

at a major manufacturers, de-

signed to plate a bright finish

on parts.

Parts now clean after ultrasonicsretrofitted on the application(which remained the same other-wise).

Continued on page 12...


10/16


Anodizing professionals nowhave a new reference to turn to

when searching for an answer

to the question which is the

proper adhesive to bond vari-

ous materials to anodized alu-

minum? The Aluminum Ano-

dizers Council (AAC) has re-

leased a new Technical Bulletin:

Guide to Selecting the Proper

Adhesive for Anodizing Applica-

tions. The document explainswhich adhesives are better to

use when bonding anodized

aluminum to various substrates.

The publication, released to

AAC members in February, is

another in a series of Technical

A A C R E L E A S E S N E W T E C H N I C A L B U L L E T I N F O R A N O D I Z I N G I N D U S T R Y

Bulletins containing valuable

reference information about

aluminum anodizing. The Tech-

nical Bulletin addresses consid-

erations for choosing an adhe-

sive, identifies characteristics of

each adhesive, and features a

selection guide.

The new Technical Bulletin, ti-

tled, "Guide to Selecting the

Proper Adhesive for Anodizing

Applications," as well as the

Technical Bulletin Compendiumcontaining the full library of

Technical Bulletins published by

the Aluminum Anodizers Council

over the past 15 years is avail-

able for purchase through AAC.

The Aluminum Anodizers Coun-

cil is the international trade as-

sociation of firms engaged in

aluminum anodizing and whose

mission it is to promote the use

of anodized aluminum world-

wide through technical inter-

change, education, marketing

and other means to meet the

common interests of its mem-

bers.

For more info, contact the

Aluminum Anodizers Council,

1000 N . Rand Road,

Suite 214, Wauconda, IL

60084-3102 USA.

Telephone: 847/ 526-2010

Fax: 847/ 526-3993;

[email protected];

www.anodizing.org.


11/16


The Society of ManufacturingEngineers (SME) announced

that General Motors will spon-sor its fifth annual Bright Minds

Mentor Program. As a part of

the program, 50 Orlando School

Districts' high school students

will participate in the custom-

ized program while attending

the SME RAPID 2008 Confer-

ence & Exposition at Disney's

Coronado Springs Resort on

May 21, 2008. Since 2003, the

SME program's ongoing missionhas been to give promising

technology-oriented high school

students opportunities to learn

about additive manufacturing

and rapid development tech-

nologies from industry-expert

mentors.

The Bright Minds Mentor Pro-

gram originated from SME's

Rapid Technologies & Additive

Manufacturing Community in2003 and is led by a distin-

guished panel of dedicated SME

members and volunteers. One

of these leaders is General Mo-

tors senior researcher, Patrick

Spicer. "We see this as a great

opportunity to get students in-

terested in technical fields that

are crucial to the automotive

industry, such as engineering

and manufacturing," he said."That's one of the reasons why

we're glad to be a part of this

program. General Motors is al-

ways looking for talented peo-

ple with strong backgrounds

and expertise in technical

areas."

This year's Bright Minds MentorProgram will kick off with anoverview by industry consultant

and analyst Terry Wohlers ofWohlers Associates, Inc. Overthe course of the day, these

students will attend conferencesessions, tour exhibits featuringcomputer-aided drawing dem-onstrations, and learn RapidTechnology's influence on den-tal and medical applications aswell as aerospace industry ad-vancements. Several of the topprototyping equipment manu-

facturers also will loan equip-ment and provide materials tothe schools for the next schoolyear.

For more information on BrightMinds, please visit www.sme.org/brightminds. For details on SME orthe RAPID show, please visitwww.sme.org/rapid.

G M S P O N S O R S 2 0 0 8 B R I G H T M I N D S M E N T O R P R O G R A M


12/16


F I N E T U N E C L E A N I N G & R I N S I N G , C O N T F R O M P A G E 9 . . .

The plating line consists of pretreatment, plate,and nine post-plating rinses, all heated andequipped with air spiders to promote solutionmovement. To eliminate unacceptable spotting, the

last two rinse tanks are high quality DI water. Thefinal rinse is followed by a recirculating hot air dry.Because the parts are now a finished product, theythen move on to inspection and packaging.

Identifying the Problem

The problem that led to the ultrasonic retrofit in

this case was a spot that mysteriously began ap-

pearing after the drying operation.

Orange to brown in color (indicating that it was

errant hexavalent chromium plating solution), the

spot was miniscule in size but very obvious on theotherwise bright finish. It occurred near a cavity,

but was not visible during any of the nine rinses or

until after the hot air dry, when it was discovered

by product inspectors. A nuisance cosmetic imper-

fection, the spot then required hand-cleaning by

the inspection team, which was time and energy

consuming.Continued on next page...


13/16


Evaluating Ultrasonics

The spot was traced back to

imperfect rinsing despite the

quantity of rinses, the air agita-tion and heat in the rinses and

the DI water. Process engineers

determined that the dry cycle

was wicking the errant chrome

out from the cavity.

Miraclean was called in to test

ultrasonics in the rinse cycle. In

a testimony to the power of

imploding bubbles, 25 kHz ul-

trasonics tested as too powerful

for the application, when thefrequency microscopical ly

opened a gateway in the cavity,

affecting fit in the final part.

The slightly less aggressive 40

kHz effectively removed the

spot in testing without affecting

part fit.

Retrofitting the Ultrasonics

There were two challenges to

retrofitting ultrasonics on this

production line. The first wasthat the nine rinse stations

were all constructed of polypro-

pylene, which while an eco-

nomical choice in the world of

multiple rinses, would not sup-

port ul trasonic act ivi ty.

(Ultrasonic energy is absorbed

by polypropylene, therefore los-

ing some of the ultrasonic ef-

fectiveness, and ultrasonics will

undermine the welds in a poly-propylene tank causing tank

failure.)

Miraclean designed a stainless

steel tank insert for the third to

the last rinse station on the line

(the last tap water rinse). Sized

to fit into the existing tank, the

insert is outfitted with electric

heat, a junction box for the

heat and the ultrasonics, and a

remote, cooled NEMA enclosureto house the ultrasonic genera-

tors and provide a central dis-

connect.

The second challenge on this

retrofit was that the parts are

rack mounted for plating on

plastisol coated racks. Even

here, the plastisol will absorb

some of the ultrasonic energy,

potentially minimizing its effec-

tiveness. Plus the critical sur-

faces of the part face a side,

not the bottom, of the tank in

this application. Therefore, to

maximize ultrasonic exposure to

critical part surfaces, the im-

mersible ultrasonic "cans" alsoare rack mounted and cover a

s i d e w a l l i n t h i s

application.

Rinse tank times remain the

same as before the addition of

ultrasonics (23 seconds of im-

mersion per rinse). The result

of adding ultrasonics to one

rinse station in this process line

is that the spotting problem

that used to affect almost everypart has been eliminated,

thereby saving time and

money.

Variety of Sizes and Con-figurations

Ultrasonics come in a variety of

sizes and configurations. They

are available as diaphragm-

mounted in a dedicated

stainless steel tank that has

been sized to meet particularrequirements, or as immersible

stainless steel cans in a variety

of sizes to be retrofitted into

existing stainless steel tanks. As

we've seen, they can even be

retrofitted into polypropylene

tanks by thinking outside the

box (or inside the tank) and

employing a stainless steel in-

sert.

Ultrasonics in the right fre-quency for the job and at theappropriate watt density, canmake a big and immediate im-pact on the success of a clean-ing, pretreatment, or rinsingproject. The potential for retro-fitting ultrasonics means thatyou don't have to wait for awhole new process line to reapthe rewards. ~

Writt en by Cheryl Larkin ofMiraclean Ultrasonic

Cleaning Systems

based in Ashvil le, NY.

This article was reprinted cour-

tesy of Products Finishing

Magazine.

S c h e m a t i c o f s t a i n l e s s

s t e e l i n s e r t / r i n s e t a n k

ultrasonic retrofit.


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Page 15

T H E F U T U R E O F F I N I S H I N G - A L O O K A T T H E R E P O R T B Y T H E N M F R C

Feeling a little shaky aboutthe finishing industry thesedays? Unsure of what the not-so

-booming U.S. economy has instore for you? Then the NationalMetal Finishing Resource Centerjust might have some of the an-swers (and predictions) that youneed. In January of this year,the NMFRC released the productof a collaboration between sev-eral well known industry profes-sionals, entitled The Future ofFinishing. Self-described aswritten for anyone who has a

stake in the Surface Finishingindustry, this thorough report issuitable for business owners,employees of job shop or cap-tive surface finishing operations,suppliers and customers, envi-ronmental regulators and the

general public. It is a far reach-ing resource that I would sug-gest taking the time to at leastscan through, as it is packed full

of useful facts and detailed ex-planations of current and futuretrends affecting the surface fin-ishing industry.

Focusing on three areas impor-tant to todays industry eco-nomics, environmental regula-tions, and technology the re-port attempts to both educatethe reader on the basics of each

trend, as well as explore the

likely course of events thatcould manifest within the indus-try in response to each one. Aset of two potential futures forthe industry is presented earlyon: one in which newly intro-duced technologies would re-quire a skilled coater to functionproperly, and another whereplating technology evolves into

The most notorious, of course,would be Global Warming, re-sulting in a rise in energy costsand potentially slower economic

growth. The other, lesser known(but quickly becoming a house-hold name), is the life-cyclemethod. This method is a wayof manufacturing that takes intoconsideration the environmentalburdens of producing based onthe energy and materials used,and wastes created by the proc-ess.

Technology

Insofar as this trend is con-cerned, the authors of the re-port provide the reader with acomprehensive analysis of theway that finishers are likely tooptimize existing technologies,and develop and implement new

technology. These include im-proving conventional surfacefinishing processes in order toreduce chemical usage, workerexposure risk, and waste gen-eration while maintaining aquality finish and productivity,and the switch from currentimmersion chemistry solutionsto alternative metal depositiontechnologies (such as HVOF orPVD).

This article only scratches thesurface of the wealth of infor-mation meticulously condensedinto the report. The insights it

offers into current and futuretrends is definitely worth aglance (or a good, long stare ). You can download it directly(and for free) at the NMFRCshomepage: www.nmfrc.org.

Take a look, and tell us whatyou think at finishingtalk.com!

a fully automated, no skills nec-essary process. Since there arefew new technologies boastingthe reliance on skilled operators,

it appears that the latter futuremay be the one we are headingfor; the only question is, howlong until plating systems caneffectively run themselves?

Economics

Unfortunately, this is not themost popular buzzword floatingaround the country at present.The U.S. is currently strugglingamidst the ruins of a declining

manufacturing base, competingagainst an unprecedented num-ber of global competitors, wal-lowing in its trade deficit, andsimultaneously ignoring scien-tific research. With all this nega-tive pressure on the economy as

a whole, its no wonder that thefinishing industry is in such abind; in addition to the above,finishers nationwide are at-tempting to compete with im-possibly low prices from Asia,stringent product and materialsregulations from the EuropeanUnion, and an endless patch-work of process regulation fromthe EPA and similar governmententities.

Environment

Which brings me to my nexttopic. In addition to the run ofthe mill environmental concerns

that any surface finisher can nodoubt relay from memory (andthe report also does a terrificjob of giving a concise overviewof existing regulations for thoseof you who cannot), there is apretty detailed discussion con-cerning two fairly recent envi-ronmental concerns that will ef-fect finishers in years to come.

T H E L A S T W O R D


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April 2008

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