[4A2] Bringing inspection into the light: automated fluorescent dye inspection of mass-produced metal parts
G Diamond, P Kubasiak and M Metodiev
Inspection Tech Ltd, UK
The authors report further on a fully automated fluorescent dye inspection system that can also be used under normal lighting/daylight conditions and can detect every single relevant indication on millions of parts without affecting production throughput rates.
Currently, the dark-room conditions and enclosed inspection cells required for dye penetrant inspection of cast components increase manpower, reduce floorspace and are the cause of severe production bottlenecks and low throughput rates at in-line inspection points. Moreover, reliance on human inspection, attention span and skill levels are approaching their limit. The variation between human inspectors often results in quality standard inconsistencies and the failure to detect defects altogether.
The authors present examples from the aerospace, automotive and medical prostheses industries of an automated NDT inspection system that:
Currently, the dark-room conditions and enclosed inspection cells required for dye penetrant inspection of cast components increase manpower, reduce floorspace and are the cause of severe production bottlenecks and low throughput rates at in-line inspection points. Moreover, reliance on human inspection, attention span and skill levels are approaching their limit. The variation between human inspectors often results in quality standard inconsistencies and the failure to detect defects altogether.
The authors present examples from the aerospace, automotive and medical prostheses industries of an automated NDT inspection system that:
- Removes the production bottleneck problem by enabling the inspection of parts to be performed under bright light conditions;
- Eliminates the need for a human inspector altogether with a fully automated software solution that characterises indications as either relevant or non-relevant by applying criteria based on indication size, geometric shape and brightness;
- Scans a part at least 10× faster than a human inspector and can find every defect on millions of inspected components to provide full 100% quality audit and which reduces inspection costs by 90%;
- Permanently stores all captured images (pass or fail) for traceability of parts even after they have entered service; if required, recorded images with indications can be mapped onto a 3D STL file of the part; and
- Repeatedly achieves measurement tolerances that are better than five thousandths of an inch. (Detailed results are presented from extensive characterisation and gauge repeatability and reproducibility (R&R) trials with several large aerospace castings manufacturers in the USA.)
