Vollmer Ultrasonic Cleaning, Deburring System Provides Process Reliability

Vollmer’s UltraTec cleaning and deburring technology uses an ultrasonic horn that oscillates to generate sound waves as well as cavitation, which cleans and deburrs external and internal edges with complete process reliability. The environmentally friendly solution provides sharp-edged, burr-free parts that often cannot be processed via alternate methods, the company says. The system is designed to eliminate common challenges when deburring parts in applications that include deformation, discoloring and changes to the oxide layer on the component. The UltraTec Ultrasonic A25 also performs on small and delicate components, making it well suited for applications in heavily regulated sectors with challenging demands.

The UltraTec Ultrasonic A25 creates a formation and dissolution/implosion of bubbles in water that release an intense energy during implosion. This is created by an ultra-high oscillation of 20 kHz (20,000 oscillations per second) with an oscillation width of ±80-120 μm, which exceeds the amplitude of ultrasonic cleaning, cutting and welding technologies. An ultrasonic horn that is fully submersed in water is set into resonant vibration via mechanical oscillations to transmit the extremely high forces into the water tank. With horn diameters from 1.2-14 mm, the ultrasonic horn is fixed in a position in the water tank and components are robotically moved around the ultrasonic horn that creates a cavitation jet from 250-270 m/s that breaks burrs from the parts.

The UltraTec Ultrasonic A25 is configured with an ultrasonic stainless steel 40-L basin that can accommodate parts up to 150 × 150 × 150 mm and weighing up to 1.5 kg. In the basin are two opposing ultrasonic horns to cater for a variety of applications and once processed, parts are moved to a compressed air-drying station. Components are collected from an external pallet by a six-axis ABB industrial robot that is programmed via an application integrated into the ABB RobotStudio suite — a CAM system for ultrasonic deburring.

The UltraTec Ultrasonic A25 is said to be a completely flexible system with a multitude of options such as conveyor loading and different component tray configurations. Additional options include various waterproof gripping systems for part picking, a selection of motor and air pressure spindles for additional processes like brushing and re-gripping stations to turn components around for gripping from the opposite side.