EDDY CURRENT INSPECTION SYSTEMS

Eddy current testing is a type of non-destructive testing method that uses electromagnetic induction principle. This technique can be used for doing highly sensitive tests on conductive metals. The sleeve of cylinder can be checked for cracks, and highly sensitive material and coating thickness measurements and surface/near surface defects.

SDI-7110 EDDY SCANNER INSPECTION SYSTEM

This specification described the features of the SDI-7110 general-purpose high performance eddy current C-scan system. It is designed to perform both rectilinear surface scans, such as those used for corrosion mapping, and turntable scans as used on aero engine parts. The system includes all equipment required for high volume production applications.

This low cost, fully computerized lab scanner includes the WinScan control and acquisition package. This system provides multi channel eddy current response acquisition and includes a full feature analysis package. A host of accessories are available including motorized Z, gimbals, turntables, and rotators.

The SDI-7110 can be equipped with a number of auxiliary parts positioners such as the SDI-6140 turntable suitable for aero engine components. It is a single manipulator, curve indexing system with high speed, multi-channel acquisition provided with production defect analysis capability. The system control and acquisition layout is shown below.

MECHANICAL CONFIGURATION

The SDI-7110 is equipped with motorized X, Y and Z axes. The scanning frame is available in two popular configurations; The 7111 is a table mounted X, Y frame with an elevated bridge. The 7112 has a raised frame with detachable legs. The latter allows the scanner to be set up on a bench similar to the 7111, or attached to a flat surface with suction cups.

A number of options are available to increase the range of testable geometries and the throughput of the system. These include turntables, rotators, and a variety of multi-transducer arrays.

Transducer mounts are custom designed as determined by the application and the transducer geometry. Eddy current instrument manufacturers such as UniWest manufacture probe holders to mount their probes to the SDI EddyScanner.

The scanner is fabricated from heavy duty extruded aluminum section fitted with stainless steel bearings and ways. Each configuration is available with a high speed belt drive or high precision lead screws. All models have home switches for accurate repeatable positioning and safety limit switches. A pendant is available for remote operation.

The scanners are available in nominal standard sizes but custom frames can be supplied to meet specific customer requirements. Typical configurations are as follows:

BELT DRIVEN HIGH SPEED CONFIGURATION

Axis X Y Z
Overall Frame Size 1200mm 1000mm 700mm
Inspection Envelope 600mm 600mm 500mm
Resolution 0.05mm 0.05mm 0.02mm
Backlash 0.1mm 0.1mm 0.02mm
Accuracy 0.1mm/m 0.1mm/m 0.02mm/m
Max Speed 300mm/sec 300mm/sec 80mm/sec

LEAD SCREW DRIVEN HIGH PRECISION CONFIGURATION

Axis X Y Z
Overall Frame Size 1200mm 1000mm 700mm
Inspection Envelope 600mm 600mm 500mm
Resolution 0.02mm 0.02mm 0.02mm
Backlash 0.2mm 0.2mm 0.02mm
Accuracy 0.2mm/m 0.2mm/m 0.02mm/m
Max Speed 100mm/sec 100mm/sec 80mm/sec

MOTION CONTROL

The motion control is provided by the SDI-1830 MasterEddy advanced controller. Designed specifically for eddy current applications, it features functional axes and scripted scan plans. This means that complex motion control and acquisition activities are available to the operator through simple commands using inspection terminology terminology. The operator can construct complex scans by chaining together individual motion commands, scan plans and instrument set-ups.

The intelligent motion controller card is housed in the system PC. All coordinated multi axis moves are calculated and supervised by the motion controller card. Command signals are sent through a high noise immunity umbilical cable to the servo controllers and amplifiers. Voltage and current overload protection is provided on all axes with hardware and software monitoring of the overload condition. This means that if the transducer is inadvertently driven into a part, there will be no damage to the system components.

 

DATA ACQUISITION

The system is supplied with the latest SDI-1930 WinEddy multi-tasking acquisition and analysis package designed for high throughput production applications. The main features of the SDI-1930 package are:

  • High-speed pan and zoom through entire data file
  • High speed, high quality scaled plotting of all or selected areas of the data file
  • Scan comments stored with the data file
  • Multi-channel operation
  • Unlimited scan size

INSTRUMENTATION

The equipment is designed to work with any instrument with an analog output. Instruments with remote control capabilities can have instrument settings incorporated into the scan plan. This allows the inspection of a complex part requiring multiple scans without operator intervention.

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