Peguform GmbH based in southern Germany, one of the world's leading plastic parts manufacturers for the automotive industry, treats the instrument panels for the Audi Q5 sports utility vehicles with Openair-Plasma^® before applying a PUR foam layer.


Application 
The panel is composed of three different material layers: a long glass fiber-reinforced plastic structural member, a PUR foam layer and a so-called slush skin which is a moulded PVC skin. The structural members, made of polypropylene, are formed by injection molding. This type of non-polar plastic material must undergo a pre-treatment process to enhance its adhesion properties.

The conventional flame treatment necessitates that all surface areas where subsequently no foam adhesion is desired, need to be masked with thermally stable cover. The Openair-Plasma^® technique completely eliminates the work step of masking since the plasma beam operates in a selective manner. Unlike flame, plasma jets are capable of following the component geometry with exact precision. In the untreated surface areas, the spot-faced slush skin with the back-foamed PUR foam can be easily peeled off afterwards. 

The robot-guided plasma system equipped with three rotary nozzles of type RD 1004 operates with an emission speed of approx. 250m/sec.