Every manufacturer that bonds, coats, paints, seals, or cleans needs objective surface measurement technology. It's the key to compressing lead times, reducing waste, and improving product consistency.
Brighton Science has a versatile suite of solutions for surface analysis based on water contact angle. Industrially robust, fast, and repeatable, these give Product Development, Process Engineering, and Quality Control the tools they need to optimize processes and innovate.
Where is the need for surface analysis most strongly felt, and who requires the technology? Three business functions stand out:
Surface analysis technology significantly contributes to two key phases within Product Development Engineering: process development and material qualification. During process development, this technology offers invaluable insights to optimize surface preparation, storage, handling, and packaging procedures, ensuring components remain contamination-free.
The selection of materials is a critical determinant of product quality. This encompasses raw materials, as well as components, adhesives, sealants, coatings, inks, and labeling. Surface analysis technology expedites the evaluation of materials from diverse suppliers, empowering development engineers to make informed decisions regarding optimal material and component choices. For instance, by streamlining the identification of appropriate cleaning methods, development timelines can be accelerated through reduced sample usage and iteration cycles. Additionally, this approach facilitates establishing reliable control substrates essential for assessing coating, sealant, and adhesive performance. Storage conditions, packaging, and processing intervals are further variables that demand careful consideration.
Procedures for surface preparation are an important part of process development. Before developing the preparation protocol, consider which processes to use—solvent cleaning, grit blasting, or something else. Without a surface analysis tool, determining optimal values and parameters requires extensive testing and analysis.
Within the Process Engineering function, surface analysis supports problem-solving and process improvement. Brighton Science solutions are highly portable, so an engineer can take them around the factory to make spot measurements as and when needed.
Equally important, this best-in-class equipment provides instant visibility without requiring samples to be sent to 3rd party laboratories or remote analysis. The ability to conduct experiments or assign tasks globally, with on-site analysis of real-world parts in different locations, provides substantial advantages. This approach accelerates data acquisition and enables swift problem resolution and process optimization.
For the Quality Control function, surface analysis enables track, trend, trace, and alert capabilities. This refers to quickly identifying when a change in the readiness of a surface for bonding has occurred, identifying the materials and products affected, and alerting those who need to know. Personnel can be trained to monitor using an objective value quickly and easily – easing training issues associated with labor turnover. Emails are automatically sent when a surface is drifting out of spec. Documentation is easy and automatic – easing Quality standard compliance and documenting issue resolution.
Brighton Science has helped hundreds of manufacturers solve thousands of problems across a wide array of industries. Here are some examples:
Surface activation is the precursor to many adhesive or coating applications. Surface activation equipment manipulates the surface energy of a substrate to ensure strong bonds form between the substrate and the application.
Surface energy can't be observed directly, so measuring it is the only way to know if a substrate is ready for coating or adhesive bonding. Several methods exist, some requiring expensive laboratory equipment and highly trained operators. Two further limitations of laboratory testing are the time delay, which can hold up production, and the fact that it can only sample a small coupon cut from the material being used.
Most industrial surface energy measurement techniques lack resolution and repeatability. Brighton Science's water contact angle measurement technology overcomes these limitations. There are four widely used surface activation methods, and water contact angle measurement can support all of them. Here's an overview:
Cleaning underpins surface activation: if the surface isn't contaminant-free, activation will, at best, be inconsistent. Surface cleaning mechanisms are either chemical, like an acid etch, or mechanical, like a grit blast. In all cases, surface analysis is a tool for improving the mechanism's effectiveness. For example:
Brighton Science's technology works on all the following materials and surfaces:
This method is only applicable to solid materials. Liquids, powders, and absorbent substances are incompatible because they cannot form the requisite "beading" necessary to measure contact angle measurements.
Q: Can water contact angle be measured on vertical surfaces?
Yes, water contact angle measurements can be accurately measured on vertical surfaces.
Q: Can water contact angle be measured on a surface upside down?
Yes, feasible. Watch the Brighton Science video "Measuring Different Orientations" to see it in action.
Q: Can you utilize surface analyst technology on concave or convex parts?
Yes, surface analysis technology can evaluate both concave and convex surfaces.
Q: What is the smallest measurable area for a water contact angle?
Current technology allows contact angle measurements on areas as small as 1 square millimeter.
Q: Will surface roughness impact contact angle measurements?
No, surface roughness does not impact measurement accuracy. Read this article to learn more.
If you bond, coat, paint, seal, clean, or manufacture these materials, you need objective surface measurement at one or more points in your product development and production processes. This article has reviewed the industries and applications that currently use and could use the BConnect surface analysis technology to address their product development and manufacturing needs.
To learn more about leveraging surface analysis technology to optimize the product lifecycle, download this eBook, "The Future of Manufacturing: A Guide to Intelligent Adhesive Bonding Technologies & Methodologies."