Midbrook Defines Realistic Cleaning Specifications with ISO 16232
Midbrook, Inc. uses their technology center to test production parts for cleanliness levels. Using their advanced equipment and experience, Midbrook helps companies define a realistic goal for how clean their parts can be, which saves money and time. ISO 16232 is a valuable resource in this field, helping establish realistic cleanliness goals for the manufacturing community.
(Vocus/PRWEB ) November 26, 2008 -- Cleanliness specifications on manufactured parts are necessary in order to assure repeatable performance. A cleanliness specification helps ensure every part produced by a manufacturer is always able to perform its intended function in each final assembly that is shipped to the customer.
As cleanliness specifications gain traction in the industrial process control sphere, it is important to know the realistic limits and capabilities of a specification. A specification that is not based in reality is of little use for suppliers, manufacturers, or consumers. Un-realistic specifications can also result in wasted resources and un-necessary expenses for all involved.
Midbrook is helping companies create realistic cleanliness specifications through process testing by combining years of first-hand experience in the cleaning industry with the guidelines set by the new ISO 16232 standard.
“ISO 16232 allows a limited range of particles, at various sizes, to be present during the cleanliness testing,” said Midbrook Technology Director Jack Griffes. This flexibility is an important feature of ISO 16232.
It is often impossible to guarantee full compliance with cleanliness specifications that deal in absolute particle size limits. Due to the limitations of filter media, no particle size specification can be assured of being met 100% of the time. Particles exist in three dimensions which allow errant particles to snake their way through the media by “letter boxing”.
This letter boxing means filter media can be tightened down to any level, say 10 micron in size, but that does not assure the particles left on the part will all be smaller than 10 microns across all three dimensions. In this scenario it is possible a particle with dimensions of 9 micron x 9 micron by 50 micron can snake its way through the media.
“Proper filtering of wash and rinse solution can dramatically reduce the odds of a particle over the specified size being re-deposited on the part surface, but there is no way to guarantee it never will happen. In addition, there is no fool-proof way to prevent the part material itself from shedding particles over the size limit during the cleanliness testing process,” said Griffes.
This is especially true in casting operations, where the material can shed particles for a variety of reasons after the cleaning process. Any cast material can shed oversized particles during the testing process. This causes the part to fail the cleanliness testing, but it is not the result of poor washing. Rather, particle shedding is mainly the result of one of three reasons: Ejector Pin Flash, Lamination, or Soldering.
“The casting process determines whether or not we can achieve the size specification,” said Griffes. “Each group of cast parts is different.”
ISO 16232 allows for a more flexible, realistic cleanliness specification to be determined and tested. ISO 16232 testing requires an advanced compound or scanning electron microscope to ensure accurate results. These microscopes use a stage that has the ability to measure the Z axis of the part, which standard microscopes cannot do reliably. Midbrook uses a Filtrex compound microscope to measure particle size on parts that are tested for ISO 16232 standards.
ISO 16232 cleanliness standards do set limits on the size of particles, but they are realistic in their scope. Standards based on the ISO 16232 rules allow for a certain number of particles to fail the size test without rejecting the part entirely. These specifications account for the fact that there will usually be some number of particles over the limit, and that reducing their number, rather than attempting to completely eliminate them, is a more productive and realistic goal in a production setting.
Midbrook is helping companies by using their Filtrex microscope equipment and technology lab to test parts for ISO 16232 standards and then helping companies develop a specification that takes into account the variables of the manufacturing process. By working together with the customer, Midbrook can guide them to a realistic cleaning specification that does not waste time or money by aiming for an unreachable goal.
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