Air comprimé dans l'industrie automobile
L'industrie automobile englobe les domaines d'application les plus divers, qui s'étendent de la fabrication de pièces individuelles, en passant par la fabrication de véhicules complets et jusqu'à la remise en état dans les ateliers. Les domaines d'utilisation de l'air comprimé sont par conséquent aussi différents. L'air comprimé est utilisé entre autres pour la génération d'un vide dans le but de saisir des pièces. Cette technique appelée Pick and Place est par exemple mise en œuvre dans la fabrication pour le transport et la mise en place de pare-brises.
Les exigences vis-à-vis de l'air comprimé utilisé varient également fortement : Des normes de qualité maximales sont applicables p. ex. pour les peintures au pistolet sur les lignes de peinture automobile ou pour le soudage laser. Par contre dans les ateliers ou pour certaines applications dans la carrosserie, une qualité moindre de l'air comprimé est suffisante.
Pour cette raison, une conception individuelle du traitement de l'air comprimé est nécessaire, en fonction de l'application envisagée et des conditions ambiantes de la station d'air comprimé. De cette manière, les coûts d'exploitation peuvent être diminués dans la construction automobile, p. ex. par des économies d'énergie ou dans le but d'éviter les rebuts de production grâce au respect de la qualité des produits.
Applications dans l'industrie automobile
Compressed air for tools
Non-automated compressed air tools
Compressed air with low pressures is exclusively utilised in the private motor vehicle industry. So that multiple workstations in one workshop can be simultaneously and efficiently provided with compressed air, the plant or system must be designed in such a way that the pressure is optimally distributed throughout the whole workshop. Compressed air tools are often preferred compared to electrical tools because of their ease of use and their lower weight.
Robotics with pneumatic components
The automotive industry without robotics is unthinkable today. Robots assist, for example, in the press shop with clamping and induction. They are also an integral part of the automotive production in other processes, such as for painting, welding and assembly. Pneumatic components are often required on stationary or mobile handling robots for the procedures. This therefore makes compressed air an important medium in the production process for the automotive industry to control and operate the robot.
Surface treatment
There are different surface treatments during the vehicle manufacture process, such as plasma activation, ionisation, sand blasting, shot blasting and painting. Compressed air is required in all these applications and it is an important integral element for the production process for high-quality products.
The various applications create different requirements for the compressed air. The quality of the compressed air is very important for colour application with compressed air in spray booths or with spray guns. Particles, oil-aerosols and vapour, silicone-containing fluids as well as condensate are the main causes for faults in the paint shop. These applications must guarantee a lack of paint-wetting impairment substances (PWIS).
Dry and dust-free compressed air is required for ionisation. These requirements are also specified for non-contact surface cleaning systems for the manufacture of high-performance electronics. The compressed air must also still be absolutely oil free.
Reliable compressed air processing and treatment in order to comply with the compressed air quality can prevent faulty production and therefore minimise product rejection. For example, a reduction in throughput times with multi-layered colour structure can be achieved during painting because heated up compressed air can reduce drying times when using water-based colours.
Car body
The blank chassis is created with the help of various joining processes, such as laser welding, spot welding, plasma welding, crimping or clinching. Compressed air can be necessary for all these methods e.g. as a pneumatic drive unit technology, dust protection and sealing air. Compressed air is also required for many additional points for pneumatic clamping elements, pneumatic swivel and linear axes, compressed air supply systems for pins, rivets, bolts and screws.
Many of the applications only need the compressed air as a drive unit. This does not require high compressed air quality, the installation of a refrigeration dryer and filter is often sufficient. The correct design for the processing and treatment is however important, otherwise unnecessary energy costs will result.
A small part of the compressed air is required directly in the process e.g. for laser welding. In one laser welding method, the scanner welding, the laser beam guidance is executed via a mirror, whereby a scattering of the beam reduces the performance of the plant. In order to guarantee a clean, not fogged mirror and to prevent a scattering of the CO2 laser, the laser channel must be charged with processed and depressurised compressed air.
