SplitMaster-Automotive

Efficient, fast energy-saving – the new SplitMaster process opens up new possibilities for the removal of bonded parts.

SplitMaster cools surfaces quickly and efficiently to temperatures as low as -75°. The cooling can also be carried out only partially. The quickly attainable cryogenic temperatures bring advantages e.g. in the cleaning of contaminated surfaces and in the separation of bonded parts. The bonding surfaces of the components are embrittled by the cryogenic temperatures and can then be separated without any problems.

Automotive industry, railway industry, aircraft industry, mechanical engineering, electronics, plastics industry: the bonding of components has now gained immense importance.

mycon has also developed a special cooling process for this area of application. The University of Paderborn and the Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences have been working on the damage-free separation of bonded parts in cooperation with car manufacturers / suppliers for quite some time. The bonding of parts is now used in almost all industrial sectors, as it offers considerable advantages, such as weight savings, distortion-free extremely durable connections or the saving of reworking.

However, the problem so far has been the separation of bonded parts. Adhesive surfaces can indeed be detached by means of strong heating. However, this requires heating the surfaces of the bonded parts up to 350-400° so that a sufficiently high temperature is reached in the adhesive layer for subsequent separation. However, it has been shown that this high temperature input can damage the materials / adjacent adhesive layers. The University of Paderborn and the Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences have therefore developed a device for separating bonded parts by partial exposure to cold as part of the Fosta project. Automobile manufacturers, steel manufacturers, manufacturers of adhesives and other well-known companies are collaborating in the Fosta project. However, achieving the low temperatures required to separate the adhesive layers by means of a deep-freezing process that could be used without problems proved to be difficult. This is where SplitMaster, mycon’s new cooling process, could provide a remedy. The required cooling of the bonded surfaces for the purpose of embrittlement of the adhesive with subsequent slight mechanical separation takes place in a very short time.

The new mycon SplitMaster process enables the non-destructive separation of bonded parts. This makes repairs and the recycling of bonded parts economical, even in car body repair.

Research into the damage-free separation of bonded parts using cryogenic temperatures is being continued by the University of Paderborn and the Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences. mycon has acquired their patent application for this. mycon will also provide the cooperation partners with appropriate equipment for further research.

However, SplitMaster can also be used successfully for other tasks

In an extrusion line, the glued bearing bush 380mm o.d. and the central tube had become so jammed that even extrusion tests with 10t pressing force were unsuccessful. Even after more than one day of hard work, the problem could not be solved. Then the SplitMaster was used. After less than three minutes of use, the adhesive layer was cooled down to a temperature lower than -50° and embrittled. In the process, the outer diameter of the bearing bush shrank by 0.50mm. The bearing bush and central tube could then be removed immediately, easily and without any problems.

Application examples