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Anti-flutter application for body shop closures
What is anti-flutter?
Anti-flutter is an automotive closure application that bonds the inner and outer panels of car hoods, roofs, doors, and trunks to reduce vibrations or “fluttering.”
The anti-flutter process
This closure application is performed in the body shop before forming the hem flange. After securely positioning the inner and outer panels, an adhesive is strategically spaced along the inside of the outer panel. The inner panel is placed onto the outer panel, forming a thicker, more durable panel. Precise dispensing and placement of the adhesive is critical in creating a secure panel designed to protect the exterior of vehicles and essentially reduce noise during operation.
Material dispensing
In anti-flutter applications, one component rubber-based adhesives or vinyl plastisols effectively dampen sound while eliminating vibrations in multi-material automotive components. The material is typically dispensed as a traditional bead or conical shape, like a rain droplet, in a stitch pattern or multi-dot application.
Challenges of anti-flutter
Accurate dispensing is imperative to have reliable and durable car closure parts. Dispenses that have inconsistent Cpk values and vary in size come with high costs:
- If dispenses are too large, the material is wasted, resulting in higher material costs
- If dispenses are too small, the bonding of the panels is likely to be faulty, resulting in additional repair costs, wasted production time, and a poor end-user customer experience
Additionally, the cycle time plays an essential role in avoiding inefficient production. If the equipment has a long cycle time or requires downtime between cycles, less production occurs in the manufacturing plant. The ability to dispense 60-90 stitches, beads, or drops in a shorter amount of time will boost the effectiveness of your production.
Summary
Anti-flutter applications require strategic placement of a precisely dispensed paste adhesive. Graco offers one component pumping and metering systems for automated installations to ensure your automotive closure applications are dependable.
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