Mechanical Assembly Technology

What Is Mechanical Assembly?

Brentwood developed its Mechanical Assembly (MA) Technology in the year 2000 as another solution to the process of gluing plastic sheets together to create cooling tower fill and drift eliminator packs.

At the office, a meeting took place over lunch, and someone noticed a clamshell sandwich container. This container gave them an inspiring idea: By using a series of corresponding cones and attachment tabs, we could crimp the sheets together to form strong packs. That is how the MA process works today!

Our original  “gluing” process uses a solvent bond to take the form of a plastic weld. The gluing process is a cost-effective option to assemble fill packs. Mechanically Assembled Technology is strong, efficient, and environmentally friendly which makes it an important part of our manufacturing process.

Mechanical Assembly Process

Here is a quick video to explain the two stages of Brentwood’s Mechanical Assembly process:

Stage 1: The first stage pairs two sheets together by aligning the male and female attachment tabs.

• Two sheets are used to make a pair of sheets
• Every assembly point between the sheets is crimped together

Stage 2: The second stage crimps each MA cone using a Brentwood assembly machine. This is repeated until there are enough pairs to build a pack of the desired width.

• Pairs are joined together until the desired overall pack width is achieved
• Perimeter assembly points are then crimped together

The Mechanical Assembly process ensures that every designated assembly point is positively connected, creating a strong durable interference to ensure it can withstand all conditions.

Top Three Mechanical Assembly Benefits:

1. Strength

• Each mechanically assembled pair of sheets is, in effect, a small pack having a very high beam strength proportional to its depth.
• When pairs are edge-bonded, the resulting pack can support up to ten times more than the average fill load (the weight of the fill plus the weight of water).
• The strength of the MA bond is extremely robust and more than capable of withstanding rough handling during transport and installation. Proven by countless successful installations worldwide, sheets hold together over time when installed.
• MA packs have been in use for decades in the most extreme applications.

2. Environmentally Friendly

• Over recent decades, American industries have made great strides in reducing air pollution, particularly volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are found in oil-based plants, auto fuels, and most petroleum products.
• The Environmental Protection Agency reports that 20% of the VOCs discharged into the air are byproducts of industrial manufacturing applications.
• At Brentwood, we strive to reduce the amount of VOCs in our industrial processes by finding ways to eliminate glue all together.
• Our mechanical assembly method uses no glue and successfully addresses both the Clean Air Act and OSHA’s Hazard Communication Regulation.

3. Economical & Efficient

• There are no glue material or labor costs associated with Brentwood’s mechanically assembled products, so we can pass all savings along to the customer.
• Even more can be saved on shipping costs because flat sheets are far less expensive to ship than assembled packs.
• The process is just as fast gluing and eliminates double handling, meaning packs can be installed immediately after assembly.

Brentwood’s Mechanical Assembly Technology

Brentwood developed Mechanical Assembly Technology in 2000, and this innovative method creates a strong, effective, and environmentally friendly option to fill packs. MA equipment is simple to set up on-site, easy to use, and available on a per-project basis to further customer savings.