Frequently asked questions about laminated shims
LAMÉCO Laminated Shims, also called Peel Shims, Peelable Shims or Peel-Off Shims, are designed with special materials which have the property of being easily peelable into micro fine strips of a few hundredths of a millimeter / of two tenth thousands of an inch.
They are used to precisely fill space between components, to achieve the truest possible fit within mechanical assemblies.
Any complex mechanical assembly suffers from the accumulated faults created by machining tolerances. This is why clearances of several thousandths of an inch will be found once the assembly is completed. These clearances must be compensated in order for the assembly to fulfill its intended function.
The LAMÉCO laminated shim can be easily peeled with a simple scalpel.
Before the invention of laminated shims, technicians could only resort to one of two methods, which today LAMÉCO has rendered obsolete, to correct unacceptable clearances:
Grinding of adjustment shims
Principle: after measuring the clearance needing to be compensated, the technician resorts to a grinding process in order to manufacture 'adjustment shims'.
Disadvantage: this process is wasteful of time, money, and resources. It requires the purchase of a grinding machine, and the use of highly skilled (and costly) technicians. It also adds an extra stage to the manufacturing process.
Stacking of solid shims
Principle: starting as before - and measuring the clearance needing to be compensated, technicians stack thin metal sheets, inserted with difficulty into often almost inaccessible places.
Disadvantage: this method risks dangerous imprecision. Due to residual matter such as dust, grease and material chips which get in during the creation of the stack, any precision of the end result becomes very hit and miss.
Why use a laminated shim?
There are technical and economic reasons to use laminated shims instead of standard shims.
Technical Reasons
The technical reasons for choosing the peelable shim solution are:
- Ease of assembly implementation;
- Mastering the precision of adjustment;
- Very good resistance to compression;
- Ease of customer site maintenance;
- System lightening (composite shims);
- Galvanic couple barrier properties (composite shims).
Economic Reasons
The economic reasons for choosing the peelable shim solution are:
- Only one reference per adjustment (as opposed to using calibrated shims);
- Optimization of perceived system quality (noise, vibration);
- Shortened service operation times;
- Very short supply periods;
- Adapted to specific needs (quantity, geometry, composition, material).
The advantages of LAMÉCO laminated shims
LAMÉCO laminated shims save time, improve on precision, and do away with downtime at the grinding machine. They provide our customers with an excellent quality to price ratio.
Speed and Simplicity
- LAMÉCO laminated shims can be peeled with scalpel or forefinger (peel shims in INTERCOMPOSITE®, DUOPEEL®, COBRA.X®, PEEKPEEL®, X.FIBER® X.FIBER HIGH-DENSITY®)
- No need for special tools
- Quick production line adjustments and field repairs
- Instantaneous compensation for play or wear and tear without production stoppages
- Avoids machine reworking
- Allows level adjustment without taking the machine apart
Savings
- LAMÉCO laminated shims reduce assembly time
- Eliminate need for grinding and
- Eliminate need of solid shims stocks
Flexibility
- They satisfy standards in wide range of industrial machine and assembly line applications.
Precision
- They guarantee optimal precision (which pilings cannot achieve in any way.)
The LAMÉCO Specialty: Impeccable Quality
- Each individual layer of our laminated shims, including all of the laminated shims in our INSTANT-PEEL® range, is bonded to the next across its entire surface and not just at the edges.
- Furthermore, thanks to our proprietary production processes, they are perfectly flat and entirely devoid of burrs - whether made of metal or composite material.
Where are the laminated shims used?
In general, we can distinguish three types of peel shim applications:
- Functional Gap/Play Clearing (within systems)
- Link between modules or equipment (outside systems or in structures)
- Transmitter or receiver support (camera/ sensors)
Some examples of use of laminated shims
LAMÉCO shims find their application in all fields of activity. Here are a few examples of their use.
Steel industry with precise alignment.
Transmission with tolerance compensation.
Linear carriage with precise mounting.
How can I select the suitable laminated material?
New to laminated shims? Or maybe just wondering which type would best meet your requirements?
There are two key issues to be born in mind:
First factor: Maximum use temperature
It should be born in mind that the special binder film is extremely fine. After thermal treatment its thickness can be virtually discounted it is so thin.
But above a certain temperature (see LAMÉCO standard), the binder will be destroyed. However, its disappearance does not impact in any way the continued use of the LAMÉCO shim. The part will continue to work until it is replaced during the maintenance disassembly.
Second factor: Mechanical stress
You must first know what pressure and stress will be exerted on the laminated material.
You must avoid situations where shim faces would be submitted to friction - there will be a risk of de-lamination unless you specify a PTFE treatment.
If your parts are provided with fixation holes, the only pressure will be that exerted by the tightening of fixing screws. This is only a small pressure. In this case all LAMÉCO laminated materials can be used without any limitations.
Once you have taken these two factors into account, you can choose which material best suits your requirements by considering the following points:
Do you need quickly and easily peelable shims?
All of our composite materials INTERCOMPOSITE®, DUOPEEL®, X.FIBER®, X.FIBER HIGH-DENSITY®, PEEKPEEL® and COBRA.X® can be peeled by fingers alone, no tools required.
The same can be said of all the metallic materials in the INSTANT-PEEL® range.
With any and all of these products peeled leaves stay fl at without any distortion, and as a result they can be reused too!
Is LIGHTNESS a primary factor?
If weight reduction is your primary concern (for portability, or more useful carrying capacity, etc.): INTERCOMPOSITE®, DUOPEEL®, X.FIBER®, X.FIBER HIGH-DENSITY®, PEEKPEEL® and COBRA.X® would be perfectly suited to your needs. They are best recommended as they are the lightest of our products and have an excellent weight/mechanical characteristic ratio whenever minimum weight and outstanding performance are demanded together.
An extra plus with these products is that both INTERCOMPOSITE®, DUOPEEL®, X.FIBER®, X.FIBER HIGH-DENSITY®, PEEKPEEL® and COBRA.X® can be easily peeled with forefinger alone - no tools required!
INTERCOMPOSITE® and DUOPEEL® are not only very fast to use, but are the least expensive of all laminated materials.
Does your assembly have 'DIFFICULT' shapes? CURVED profiles?
If you want to wedge on curved shapes, you have to choose INTERCOMPOSITE®, DUOPEEL®, PEEKPEEL® and, according to thicknesses, X.FIBER® and X.FIBER HIGH-DENSITY®. These materials can be quickly and easily adapted to most curves without any loss of utility or precision.
On the other hand, for metallic materials, we recommend you to make your selection from the range of laminated shims CURVPEEL®, an exclusive process where the required curve radius is incorporated into the shim during production.
Would NOISE REDUCTION prove a useful asset?
If you are inserting laminated shims into systems or machines whose operation is noisy due to considerable vibrations: choose SILENTLINE®. This laminated material, said “ silent ”, has the property of dispersing, in emission duration and amplitude, over 50% of the harmful frequencies.
SILENTLINE® is also the most resistant of LAMÉCO's special shims
Three final hints:
Steel is best avoided in assemblies presenting a corrosion risk.
It is better to avoid aluminum, whenever productivity improvement is being sought. The peeling of aluminum is namely more delicate, therefore longer.
Finally, it is not advised to use aluminum (or to a lesser extent stainless steel) where galvanic coupling also known as 'fretting' can take place.
Bearing in mind the temperature at which the shim will be performing, the mechanical stresses exerted, the possible benefits of noise reduction, the presence of difficult curved mating surfaces, or the desirability to save weight in your final assembly should guide you to selecting the correct LAMÉCO laminated shim for your precise application.
Use limitation of "solid" parts
Once the material has been set out, avoid planning said "solid" parts (or "S.P." = solid stocks, unpeelable parts) in strong thicknesses. For in contrast to what one would be led into thinking, by thus inserting solid parts, the shim mechanical qualities are being lowered. Moreover, the shim price is substantially increased since the shims require a delicate machining (for instance tool jumping at sliding feed). The more so as they belong to the class of special manufacturing without available stock.
Consequently, the solid part will be used only in case of special technical constraint. This notably occurs whenever it is necessary to carry out a threaded portion within the shim or chamfer thickness.
How can I order laminated shims ?
You can send us an e-mail: , or a fax: 888 317 1055 (The Easy Peel Shim Company / LAMÉCO USA) or 0033 1 30 68 14 47 (LAMÉCO).
Please provide the following details for an accurate quote:
- Drawings or prints (not necessary for simple shims)
- Dimensions (including angles, chamfers, hole diameters ect...)
- Materials
- Total thickness of shims
- Thickness of each lamination
- Quantities
- Marking: on parts or/and on packaging
- Packaging type: unitary or by batch.
You can write your information like the following examples:
Geometric shape | Dimensions width x length Ø external X Ø internal |
Material According to our standard |
---|---|---|
Square: | 8'' x 8'' | LS12, A, 3, X.24 * |
40 x 40 mm | LS12, A, 3, X6 | |
Rectangle: | 5'' x 7'' | LS13, A, 5, X.045 + 3, X.02 |
50 x 70 mm | LS13, A, 5, X1,15 + 3, X0,6 ** | |
Washer: | 8" x 4" | IPLS5, A, 2, X.4 |
30 X 10 mm | IPLS5, A, 2, X5 *** |
* INTERCOMPOSITE®, fully laminated, thickness of laminations: .0005", total thickness:.24".
** DUOPEEL®, fully laminated, thickness of laminations: 0,023mm, total thickness: 1,15mm + thickness of laminations: 0,012mm, total thickness: 0,6mm.
*** Stainless Steel AISI 304 in INSTANT-PEEL®, fully laminated, thickness of laminations: 0,01 mm, total thickness: 5mm.