CGM celebrates 65 years in design and manufacture of NDT equipment
20/11/2023
CGM CIGIEMME SpA is celebrating its 65th anniversary of business activity, which marks the company’s legacy as one of the global leaders in delivering technological excellence and cutting-edge non-destructive testing (NDT) solutions for various industries, including aerospace, railway, automotive, oil & gas and steelmaking.
Over the years, CGM has developed its core competence in the design and production of bespoke magnetic particle inspection (MPI) and liquid penetrant inspection (LPI) systems, with the design of the system tailored to the geometry and specific characteristics of the component to be processed.
Along with the customised design, the special characteristics of CGM’s recently developed systems include automated features and tracking of all process parameters. This ensures the full traceability of the test and speeds up the process. In this manner, thanks to CGM MPI and LPI systems, customers not only significantly improve production quality, but also increase throughput and minimise costs.
“Since the very beginning – that is 65 years ago – CGM has made it a point to be at the forefront of innovation in NDT, offering its customers highly reliable and efficient solutions to perform magnetic particle and liquid penetrant testing of the critical components,” said Federico Raggio, Managing Director of CGM.
Thus, one of the major technological advancements in MPI by CGM back in the 1990s was its first automated MPI system for the inspection of aero turbine shafts in the aerospace industry. The pioneering system allowed the inspection of the inner surfaces by endoscope.
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| CGM’s first automated MPI system for the inspection of turbine shafts (1991) |
The most recent and upgraded version of the system includes such features as the automatic creation of inspection reports for each individual shaft inspected, containing photos of possible indications/defects that need to be stored.
Another important milestone, this time in the LPI method, is CGM’s development of fully automated LPI lines for the aerospace and automotive industries, which help customers significantly reduce costs, as well as increasing production quality and efficiency by minimising human error.
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| MPI bench for railway axle inspection |
Michele Burei, CGM’s Head of Global Sales and Level 3 in MPI and LPI, explained: “Unlike MPI, where most of the technology is concentrated in the magnetisation part, in LP inspection the major focus is on the consumable product, that is the penetrant liquid used during the process. That said, the quality of the process turns out to be a very important factor in achieving a high standard of inspection. That is why, for years, CGM has been designing and manufacturing LPI systems where the process is fully automated, using various penetrant application techniques.”
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| Automated LPI system for automotive aluminium castings |
Automating the process also means controlling it. All process information is uploaded to the operator panel, verified and saved with different password-protected access levels. The application of products can be performed using the classic immersion method or using anthropomorphic arms and spray guns, in most cases with electrostatic technology.
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| Automated robotised fluorescent penetrant inspection/penetrant testing system with anthropomorphic robots for pre-cleaning and product application |
“CGM’s mission has always been that of guaranteeing our customers the best production quality by putting at their disposal all our expertise, based on 65 years of experience in the NDT field,” said Federico. “And today we continue to stay true to this mission!”
