cryogenic deflashing | Stirling Cryogenics
Cryogenic deflashing / deburring
Flash and burr issues occur with materials ranging from plastics to aerospace alloys. Many companies try to remove burrs by time consuming machining but still find themselves with some sort of burr issue and lacking consistency.
Cryogenic deflashing removes burrs and flash from plastic and die cast pieces by tumbling and/or abrasively blasting the pieces cooled with cryogenic fluids to a temperature below their embrittlement temperature.
Flash or burrs can easily and safely be removed by tumbling and/or media blasting the moulded parts with balls ranging size from 0.15 to 2.0 mm. In some instances, cryogenic deflashing can rely only on the tumbling of the parts themselves to remove flash on the outer edges.
Although each production process has its own special problems, cryogenic deburring and deflashing presents a high quality and inexpensive method to obtain clean edges on moulded parts.
Many moulding operations use cryogenic deflashing. It is often more prudent and economical to add a few cents of production cost for a given part than invest in a new moulding tool that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in making and adjusting.
Cryogenic deflashing has proven to be an enabling technology, permitting the economical manufacture of high quality, high precision parts fabricated with cutting edge materials and compounds.
Products
For use in applications as described the following Stirling Cryogenics products may be considered:
Advantages
The advantages of cryogenic deflashing over traditional deflashing methods are:
- The process maintains part integrity and critical tolerances.
- As a batch process, the price per piece is less as many more parts can be processed in a given amount of time. Cost per part is generally well below any alternative technique
- Cryogenic deflashing extends mould life. Rather than replace or repair a mould (which typically involves downtime and high cost), the parts can be deflashed.
- No human variable in the process offering consistent results lot to lot.
- Cryogenic deflashing is non-abrasive.
Applications
A wide range of moulded materials can utilize cryogenic deflashing with proven results:
- Silicones
- Plastics – (both thermoset & thermoplastic)
- Rubbers – (including Neoprene & Urethane)
- Liquid crystal polymer (LCP)
- Glass-filled nylons
- Aluminium zinc die cast
- O-rings & gaskets
- Catheters and other medical appliances
- Insulators and other electric/electronic parts
- Valve stems, washers and fittings
- Tubes and flexible boots
- Face masks & goggles, etc.
More information