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Can this hands be Yours?

Can we see "this" in your workshop today?

Laser Cleaning Solutions for the Automotive Parts Recuperation

Cars are incredibly complex machines, built from a wide variety of materials. Once they reach the end of their lifespans, they are often referred to as end of life vehicles (ELV). Many materials within a car can, and in fact should, be recycled. Each part has to be dismantled, stored and recycled in a different manner. 

Currently, there are no unified regulations about vehicle recycling procedures worldwide, though there are local initiatives surrounding the recycling. The initiatives all work hard on making the salvaging and recycling process as clean as possible, and they have been successful in implementing several regulations that make the whole process cleaner.

When a car is brought to a scrapyard, it goes through four recycling steps:

  • Dismantling – the fluids and reusable parts are removed. These include batteries, wheels and tires, steering columns, fenders, radios, engines, starters, transmissions, alternators, select plastic parts and components, glass, foams, catalytic convertors, and other components, based on aftermarket demand.
  • Crushing – after all the reusable parts were removed, the vehicle is crushed to a more manageable size before being sent to the shredder
  • Shredding – the shredder tears the crushed vehicle into fist-sized pieces
  • Resource Recovery – the shredded materials are separated into ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and general residue. This residue, referred to as Auto Shredder Residue or ASR, includes plastics, rubber, wood, paper, fabric, glass, sand and dirt. These materials comprise on average 20% of the vehicle and they can’t be recycled.

100 Watt laser cleaning of a recycled Hydraulic pump group

Automotive Parts Laser Cleaning Recuperation and Restauration

Lasermach provides a cleaning solution designed to provide the highest quality and efficiency to Automotive parts Restoration. We offer several solutions to make processes move along more efficiently and cost-effectively. The latest technology can offer the best possible cleaning treatment.

Further, laser cleaning has been proven as the perfect option to not only prepare surfaces for bonding but to generate a corrosion-resistant coating for bonding.   Many clients are choosing solutions from Lasermach as the technology to use for corrosion resistance and bond prep all in one package.

Car parts recycling by laser cleaning

Laser cleaning systems are highly efficient at removing impurities on a material, but the process is not restorative and cannot repair defects that are close to the substrate surface. However, the removal of bulk surface material allows for the inspection of the components after cleaning.

This is particularly important for component-reecuperation industries, where small defects can have dramatic implications. As there is no need for a secondary process to remove cleaning media, the inspection can occur either during the cleaning process or immediately after the cleaning process. 

The process to remove impurities is a challenging task, and lasers have minimal impact on substrates and leave no residue behind. For the cleaning process, both handled and standalone lasers are used for a wide range of automotive recuperation parts.