In the automotive industry, surface preparation is not a final operation. It is a condition for the product being safe and reliable.
The applications, though, differ enormously from each other, and the equipment that suits one is wrong for another.
Cleaning castings
Foundry parts arrive in the automotive industry carrying moulding sand, burrs and oxides. They have to be cleaned completely, because any residue left behind migrates further into the assembly.
This is where wheel blast machines work, sized to the mass and geometry of the part.
Deflashing plastic components
Injection-moulded plastic parts carry fine flash along the mould parting line.
They are not cleaned with metallic abrasives. Light media are used, and for sensitive, precise parts, dry ice or carbon dioxide snow — a medium that sublimates and leaves no residue.
The advantage is that the part is not attacked mechanically and does not need washing afterwards.
Remanufacturing
Recovered parts are cleaned before being rebuilt. Dry ice cleaning and blasting are combined, depending on what has to come off and what the part can take.
Remanufacturing has one specific requirement: deposits are removed without attacking the base material, because the part has to stay within tolerance.
Restoration
On classic vehicles, old paint and rust are removed without deforming thin bodywork panels.
This is the classic case where aggressiveness has to be strictly controlled: a body panel of respectable age will not take a treatment sized for an engine block.
What decides the choice
Three questions:
- What material? Cast iron, aluminium, plastic, thin sheet — each calls for a different medium.
- What is being removed? Moulding sand, burrs, paint, rust, deposits.
- What must not happen? Deformation, loss of tolerance, contamination.
The third question is the one that eliminates the most solutions.
Related reading
- Automotive Industry
- What is vibratory finishing and what benefits does it bring?
- Vibratory finishing of alloy wheels: process and result
Not sure which equipment fits your parts? A Vibroblast specialist visits your factory, analyses your parts and current process, and recommends the right solution — even if that means a cheaper machine than you expected.
Book a free on-site audit