What is technical cleanliness?
Technical cleanliness plays an important role, especially in areas where components are manufactured, such as electrical engineering or the automotive industry. If contamination occurs at particle-sensitive points, this can quickly lead to functional impairments or even malfunctions. If the residual dirt in a system is so low that no damage occurs, it is considered technically clean.
Technical cleanliness is particularly important in the following sectors:
- Automotive and electric vehicles
- Medical industry
- Mechanical engineering
- Additive manufacturing
- Electrical engineering and battery production
- Optical industry
- Oil analysis and Hydraulics
Why is technical cleanliness so important?
Thanks to technological progress, many industries require increasingly complex systems. As early as the 1990s, there was an increase in damage caused by contamination on components in the automotive industry. It quickly became clear that procedures had to be standardized. The so-called "VDA 19 Guideline", also known as "Testing of Technical Cleanliness – Particle Contamination of Functionally Relevant Automotive Parts", was published in 2004 and revised in 2015 as VDA 19 Part 1. At the international level, ISO 16232 (2007) forms the standard set of regulations. VDA 19 Part 2 from 2010 contains a guideline of rules for cleanliness-relevant orientation of assembly production.
VDA 19 Part 1 precisely defines various types of contamination. With the help of these definitions, contamination can be detected by cleanliness analyses and other technical cleanliness processes and appropriate decisions can be made. The aim is to preventively avoid residual dirt on components.
Particles |
Fibers |
Solid bodies of
|
|
Correlative particle analysis
to characterize process critical contamination
Suppliers, manufacturers and end users expect constantly higher quality standards. Therefore, an innovatively designed cleanliness process is essential to exclude any contamination of functionally relevant parts and components throughout the production process. ZEISS solutions for technical cleanliness identify the root cause of contamination and enable to make the right decision more quickly.
How do you identify the root cause? ZEISS Technical Cleanliness Solutions
Increase your productivity for object classification in ZEISS ZEN core Technical Cleanliness Analysis.
ZEISS Technical Cleanliness Workflow with Extraction and Filtration
Particularly clean
Quality assured
Particulate contamination is the enemy of any product’s efficiency, functionality and longevity. Investigations have shown that the major source of failure in hydraulic and oil-filled machines is based on particulate contamination. Oil analysis helps to minimize maintenance costs and improve machine uptime. To achieve maximum quality, manufacturers need clear and comprehensive particle analysis data.
ZEISS Technical Cleanliness Solutions identify the root cause of contamination, allowing you to make the right decision faster.
Tailored precisely
to the needs of manufacturing industries
ZEISS Technical Cleanliness Solutions were developed in collaboration with automotive companies. They had a specific need for powerful particle identification and classification systems, which had to be simple to use.
As a result, ZEISS solutions are easy to apply, can be deployed to multiple sites within any manufacturing or industrial environment and used by operators who are not microscopy experts.
ZEISS particle analysis solutions comply with industry standards:
Technical cleanliness |
Oil cleanliness |
Cleanliness of |
VDA 19.1 |
ISO 4406 |
VDI 2083 |
ISO 16232 |
ISO 4007 |
|
|
DIN 51455 |
|
|
SAE AS 4059 |
|
Go beyond standards
Make informed decisions about the root cause of contamination
The ZEISS solution portfolio enables combined particle detection and classification in a highly efficient workflow that not only finds particles, but also helps to classify them by contamination or wear origin.
With ZEISS you can combine data from both light and electron microscopes in a single workflow to get more comprehensive information.

Estimate potential risk for contamination
Light microscopy systems
Itemize particles by quantity, size distribution and morphology, and distinguish metallic from non-metallic particles and fibers down to 2 μm. Create cleanliness reports according to industry standards.
Establish advanced analysis workflow
Correlative particle analysis
Characterize process-critical particles and identify killer particles using Correlative Automated Particle Analysis (CAPA), which combines your data from both light and electron microscopes in a single workflow.
Pinpoint sources of contamination
Electron microscopy and EDS systems
Measure morphological characteristics of particles and use fully automated elemental analyses to classify particles by their chemical composition.

Read how ZEISS integrates data from HYDAC devices into reporting for faster root cause identification and decision making.
Get in contact with our experts for Technical Cleanliness
Please fill out the form to reach out to us. Feel free to request a meeting or demo of our product.