Cleaning of lapped parts with combination of Ultrasonic (US) and Injection Flood Washing (IFW) washing in solvent cleaning system

Lapping pastes are used on part’s surface for the polishing of a metal surface and controlled removal of rust. These are applied to produce highly polished parts which generally other finishing methods can’t achieve. It is important to clean off lapping compound before using the parts for the final assembly. This article covers the case study on the cleaning of lapping pastes on auto components for Tier 1 manufacturer in India.
Here, the cleaning of lapping pastes becomes a challenging task as it rapidly dries and makes it difficult to remove using conventional cleaning methods. As we studied in our earlier blogs, when it comes to cleaning such type of sticky contamination, it must be removed by the combination of conventional Injection Flood Washing (IFW) process along with Ultrasonic (US) technique. The same principle applied to this case where ultrasonic cleaning helped to remove lapping paste from easy to reach surfaces and IFW is used to clean from internal complex areas and cross holes.

Cleanliness Requirement:

Combination of Ultrasonic and Injection flood washing (IFW) in solvent media

The approach to the solution is very much similar to the “cleaning of housing block” which we have seen in our previous blog [Link to previous blog]. In this case, the dirty parts are loaded in a basket which is designed considering the high throughput and volume requirement. The basket is loaded in the work chamber which is programmed to rotate and oscillate for an efficient cleaning. This movement assists the media to reach the contamination easily irrespective of part geometry. The cleaning system is equipped with multi-stage immersion with Injection Flood Washing and Ultrasonic process.

Now, the parts are being cleaned by spraying the solvent very efficiently while the chamber gets filled. Once it is filled completely, Ultrasonic process starts and thus it aids in loosening the contamination inside the holes, intersecting galleries etc. Now the IFW operation creates high volume turbulence within the chamber and with high flow rate of media, it washes away all the contamination associated on the component surface.

The work chamber is emptied, filtered and refilled to the respective flood tank. The entire operation of IFW, US and basket movement inside the chamber are performed again with solvent streamed from second flood tank and ensure efficient and uniform cleaning effect on all sides of the component. After this, Vapor Degreasing process carried out where the vapors i.e. hydrocarbon vapors are passed on the parts to achieve the complete oil free surface followed with Drying process to ensure rust free components.

The cleaning effect is maximized using US cleaning which helped to remove the contamination on the surface and high-performance IFW assisted the media to reach the internal cross-holes and thus optimize the cleaning. This way, the lapping paste and oil contamination is removed completely in solvent cleaning machine “Universal 81C”.

Universal 81C – The universal “solvent-based” solution made in India

After extensive trials and analysis at India Technology Centre, Ecoclean offered a solvent cleaning machine, “Universal 81C” which is flexible to adapt multiple technology and capable to remove various contaminants. The carefully selected combination of processes and hydrocarbon-based solvent media allowed to achieve 100% lapping paste free parts with desired Millipore value.
This machine is an economic, highly effective and sophisticated system which can be used for a very wide range of applications for parts cleaning. The Universal 81C is a highly efficient single-chamber multi-operational cleaning system for solvent based media and equipped with spray-cleaning, immersion cleaning, injection flood washing (IFW) and ultrasonic cleaning.

Advantages of Universal 81 C:

• Best Millipore results
• Best oil cleaning efficiency
• Low running cost and Maintenance friendly
• Local service support
• Cleaning of multiple metals
• Compact footprint
• High uptime
• Virtually emission free and environmental friendly

Download the brochure here to know more about features and detailed specifications of the machine

With more than 70 years of experience in parts cleaning technology, Ecoclean provides the Ultrasonic Cleaning Machines for the most diverse cleanliness requirements for the applications from Automotive, E-mobility, Metal Working, Med Tech and Precision Optics industry.

Visit our website https://ecoclean-india.com/products-solutions/ to see our wide range of product portfolio of aqueous and solvent cleaning systems.