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Needle bearing pins tested
automatically after heat treat |
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During their production process, high quality bearing components are subjected to complex
heat treating. Needle bearing pins, for example, must be tested for correct
surface hardness and case depth. Most importantly, correct hardness at certain
positions must be verified. (See illustration) Each roller has to be 100%
tested for quality.
A leading component manufacturer uses ibg's Preventive Multi-Frequency
technology to do this. A two-channel eddylinefr®P2, with encircling coils
customized to the part length and diameter, verifies both ends of the rollers.
The rollers are fed into the automatic test system's coil head via a tube,
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where the test
takes less than one second. Good parts are then forwarded on a conveyor
belt for packaging. Bad parts fall into a Lockable container.
With cycle times at about
one second, different part lengths and diameters can be tested using
exchange tools which can be changed in less than 15 minutes.
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Heat treatment monitoring can save up to 80% of destructive analysis cost
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Heat treating is a complex process, as many factors influence the result of
the treatment. Material analyses to monitor the treated components are costly
and time-consuming, and many are carried out destructively, incurring delays in
the provision of lab results. With continuous production, this leads to many
rejects.
Inline NDT methods provide instant results without influencing the test part.
Even better, savings of up to 80% of the costs of destructive material analysis
can be realized by ibg material testing according to the experience of
our customers. |
Drive shafts can be tested at two (or more) locations to verify correct
hardness, case depth and hardness/case depth position. Other heat treat
processes can also be verified. For example, tempered gears can be tested to
verify correct tempering. (See photos)
An investment in an NDT system can pay for itself within a few
months when replacing the costs of destructive testing. Contact us today and let
us calculate your cost reduction potential.
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by Bill Buschur - General Manager
The value of testing after heat treating; coming workshops and more
information
It goes without saying that heat treating is a critical part of the
production process. Properly executed, heat treatment requires that many process
parameters be kept at a constant level over long periods of time, while
excluding external influences. Significant costs and time are consumed in
laboratory material analyses to verify the quality of the heat treatment
process.
ibg non-destructive test systems reduce these costs considerably, as well
as providing results immediately after the process. No longer do processors need
to wait hours or days for lab results after heat treating.
Both manual and automatic test systems are covered in this issue, plus a
schedule of NDT technical workshops to be held in Canada and the Midwest U.S.
this coming Spring.
And, don't miss our appearance at the Quality
Expo in Novi, Michigan, in June of this year.
Sincerely,
Bill Buchur |
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Informative workshops planned for Spring, 2004
ibg NDT technical workshops on component testing and the handling of
special applications will be held again this Spring in the latter half of April.
The sites will be in the Midwest and Canada this year, with workshops scheduled
as follows:
April 19-Mississauga, Ontario
April 20 - Ann Arbor, Ml
April 22 - Indianapolis, IN
April 23 - Chicago, IL
As mentioned previously, these workshops have become virtual international
forums, which were attended by hundreds of persons in 2003.
To register, contact Laurie Gerben at our North American headquarters:
248-478-9490^or e-mail sales@ ibgndt.com.
Web site bulletin:
Now available in Spanish
Due to the increasing demand for access by engineers in Mexico, South America
and Spain, the ibg international Web site is now available in the Spanish
language. Visit it
at www.ibgndt.co.uk or www.ibgndt.de
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System performs inline test on automotive
piston pins
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Automotive
manufacturers in the U.S. are expected to do 100% testing for heat
treatment on certain components. Typical of this is the piston pin,
the cylindrical geometry of which makes this application quite
simple.
The test part slides down a chute, with the feed rate
controlled by two friction wheels. At the test coil,
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the ibg
eddysorf single-frequency instrument performs the test. Parts
not heat treated are sorted out and sent to a lock-able box, while
good parts continue to the next process. Cycle time for this testing
is approximately one second per part. By using change parts, piston
pins of different lengths and diameters are tested, with ■k
changeover performed in P less than 20 minutes. |
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The future of manufacturing has arrived at Swiss
firm:
automatic control of spring coiling process
Imagine a production
machine that monitors the materials entering the process, calculates the
optimum process parameters and then adjusts itself, without any human
operator.
Eddyliner P with encircling coil, including spring wire in coil, is
shown.
Pie in the sky? No, the future already has arrived at 3R Technics in Zurich,
Switzerland. In cooperation with Spuhl of St. Gallen, Switzerland, an
online process control has been devel- oped for a Bonell spring coiling
machine.
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At the heart of
this control is an ibg eddyliner9 P
instrument as data provider and processing tool. The spring wire to
be processed is passed continuously through an encircling coil
before it comes to the coiling machine. In the coil, testing with
eight frequencies is carried out in defined short intervals, with
the voltage vector coordinates received at the test
instrument forwarded in real time to the 3R Technics evaluation
tool.
The corresponding setting parame-ters-e.g. deflector and bender of
the coiling machine-are extracted via a mathematical model, are
compared with the optimum settings, and then, if needed, are
re-adjusted. Production is 100 springs per minute, although the
capacity for re-adjustment is up to 300 springs/minute. Expensive
downtime and rejects are minimized with this system.
Similar process controls may be used in other machines which process
metallic materials, including straightening, heat treating and
forming machinery.
Coils-standard or custom-test components
for
structure following heat treating
Encircling coils usually are used
for testing the structure of components for correct heat treatment
by ibg's Preventive Multi-Frequency technology. Standard coils are
offered from 5 mm up to 300 mm in diameter. Our experience shows
that 90% of all applica- tions can be tested successfully with
these standard coils. Typical applications include correct
hardness, case depth, material mix, alloy, crystalline structure,
temper and nodularity, among others.
Some applications, however,
require special types of coils or probes, which are
designed and built by ibg.
An example is the use of rec- tangular coils to test
bearing rings. Inside the coil, the rings are subject to
optimum penetration by the magnetic field. Con rods also
can be tested by these coils.Determining the position of a
hardened zone after induction hardening is the challenge
facing many manufacturers. Shielded coils are used for this
application-i.e. the magnetic field is shielded so that
only the critical zone of the part is tested. Outside
influences are almost completely excluded in this
technique. Differences of 0.5 mm in the position of the
hardened zone (depending on part geometry) are reliably
recognized.
ID test coils are used to test boreholes and inner
diameters for applications such as tripods and CV joints.
Coils test for material structure on parts such as those
shown. |
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ibg NDT has
booth at Quality
Expo
in June
This year's Quality Expo is scheduled for June 9-10
at the Novi Expo Center, north of Detroit. ibg will be there to
provide information and answer questions in Booth 230. Please
plan to stop by to learn about the latest in NDT techniques and
applications. Examples of some of the latest systems will be available
for your examination. |
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