ASSEMBLY & JOINING CONTROL
WITH INDUSTRIAL CT
Risking a look inside instead of disassembling
Even if individual components seem to comply with the specifications, not everything always works as planned after the individual parts have been assembled. Collisions may occur or certain performance parameters may not be met. In such cases, the cause is often invisible from the outside. A look inside can reveal the cause. Industrial computed tomography makes this possible for you & thus makes assembly & joint control child’s play!
After assembly, industrial CT can be used to observe the behaviour of an assembly in various states. It is possible with ease to detect errors that occur during assembly.
If a problem occurs, the whole production lot could be affected. Disassembling everything is not an economical option. In these circumstances, a quick CT scan can provide a remedy. Through our years of experience, we can achieve a high level of automation in assembly & joint inspection, which allows us to offer cost-effective solutions. If such problems, or similar ones, are of practical relevance to you, then you will certainly be interested in the following case studies.
Practical examples for assembly & joining control with industrial CT
Pumps
Error-free
Error
Challenge:
A pump about the size of a hand contains control electronics that are inserted completely as a circuit board by a robot. The circuit board is attached by several pins that are firmly connected to the housing. The circuit board is pressed in through corresponding holes. The pins spread slightly and everything is fine. Normally! Due to minimal tolerances and equally small positioning errors, it can occasionally happen that a pin is not hit correctly during assembly and is bent over instead. The press-in pressure remains constant, however, so that the assembly monitoring provided does not indicate an error in this case.
Possible consequences:
After installation in the vehicle, an affected pump initially works perfectly. However, after a few kilometres, sometimes even several hundred kilometres of driving, a short circuit occurs between the circuit board and the housing. This can be caused, for example, by a violent impact when driving over a bump in the road. The result is that the pump fails and the vehicle comes to a standstill.
This has consequences for the manufacturer:
The pumps currently produced and not yet installed are not released by the customer without proof that they are free of defects. The only remedy is an 8D report or similar to release the current batch and find out how the problem can be effectively excluded in the future.
Advantages of the CT scan:
X‑rays can be used to identify the problem, but the manufacturer does not have an automated, reliable process either for loading the automatic X‑ray machine or for evaluating the images. In contrast, Microvista’s sophisticated software toolbox in combination with a fast CT scan allows the complete analysis of 100 pumps per hour and is up and running after a short preparation time.
Valve
Seal fits correctly
Seal fits incorrectly
Challenge:
When installing a valve to open and close the cooling circuit in the vehicle, a shaft with a lever must be inserted. This lever is engaged by an actuator that functions as a final control element. Seals are pre-mounted in the valve to prevent coolant from escaping in the shaft area. When the shaft is pushed in, slight pressure is exerted on these seals. In rare cases, this can cause the seal to be squeezed so that the seal lips no longer fit properly against the housing. The manufacturing process is therefore not 100% controlled.
Possible consequences:
After several actuations, coolant leaks out. The effect, which is initially very slight, intensifies with further functional strokes, so that eventually recognisable puddles of coolant form under the vehicle. Although the problem occurs very rarely, it cannot be completely avoided by the production department.
Advantages of the CT scan:
Microvista’s automated processes can provide a cost-effective and fast 100% inspection. With this solution, there is no need for costly and lengthy design revision including new injection moulds, iterations as well as sampling processes. Instead, the economic efficiency of production is ensured by a highly automated and effective design of the inspection process. In the case described here, all parts of a container (30 pieces) were digitised in one step and then evaluated using artificial intelligence. The valve manufacturer is satisfied with this solution and his customer is happy. The archiving of all analysis data can be seen as a small positive side effect. If field failures occur years later, it is thus possible for the manufacturer to prove that he delivered quality parts to the assembly line.
What are the options for a CT inspection?
As a service specialist for industrial computed tomography, we carry out fast and qualitative sampling of individual parts or series testing of large quantities, tailored to the needs of our customers.
Price examples for assembly & joining inspections with industrial CT
A fast industrial CT analysis is possible at Microvista at an excellent price-performance ratio. The unit costs for assembly and joining inspections shown in the examples are intended to give you a basic idea of the price. Due to the fact that the challenges our customers face are usually very different, we prepare an individual offer for each one.
| Number | Water pumps | Valve |
|---|---|---|
| Check of 4 soldered joints for correct geometry of the joining zone | Examination for crushing of a seal in the assembled state | |
| 100 | 46,50 €/piece | 25,00 €/piece |
| 500 | 19,00 €/piece | 13,00 €/piece |
| 1000 | 11,00 €/piece | 4,90 €/piece |
Note:
In each case, the complete parts logistics including the traceability of all inspection results as well as the fully automatic evaluation including the result documents are included.
