Industrial CT: The best method for non-destructive testing of casting parts?

GET YOUR INSPECTION DONE – Anywhere. Anytime. Fast.

Non-destructive testing methods in comparison:

When inspec­ting cas­ting parts, such as tho­se made of iron or alu­mi­num cas­ting, various non-des­truc­ti­ve test­ing methods are available, each with their own advan­ta­ges and disadvantages.

X‑ray dif­frac­tion (RT), for exam­p­le, is an accu­ra­te method, but it requi­res expen­si­ve equip­ment and long exami­na­ti­on times. It also pro­du­ces only 2D images, which have super­po­si­ti­ons for com­plex structures.

Ultra­so­nic test­ing (UT) is very easy to per­form and equip­ment is com­pa­ra­tively inex­pen­si­ve. Howe­ver, this method can be unre­lia­ble for thin or hol­low objects and does not allow three-dimen­sio­nal images. Usual­ly, cou­pling agents are requi­red for an ultra­so­nic inspec­tion. An excep­ti­on to this is an inspec­tion using air-cou­pled ultra­so­nic.

Magne­tic par­tic­le test­ing (MT) inspec­tion is also easy to per­form and sui­ta­ble for metal­lic mate­ri­als, but its accu­ra­cy is low.

Pene­trant test­ing (PT) is a fast and inex­pen­si­ve inspec­tion tech­ni­que, but it is only sui­ta­ble for cer­tain mate­ri­als and defect types and can­not pro­du­ce three-dimen­sio­nal images of objects. The mate­ri­al must be porous enough to accept the car­ri­er medi­um, but also strong enough to impe­de the pro­pa­ga­ti­on of the car­ri­er medi­um when it encoun­ters defects. This is whe­re eddy cur­rent test­ing can be used as a sup­ple­ment to allow depth deter­mi­na­ti­on of any defects found.

Visu­al inspec­tions (VT) are a quick and inex­pen­si­ve way to detect super­fi­ci­al defects in mate­ri­als. Howe­ver, they are not sui­ta­ble for deeper defects and their accu­ra­cy depends on the expe­ri­ence and com­pe­tence of the inspector.

Com­pu­ted tomo­gra­phy (CT), on the other hand, pro­vi­des accu­ra­te results & three-dimen­sio­nal images. It can be used to detect and repair cracks, poro­si­ty or air pockets at an ear­ly stage, which increa­ses the qua­li­ty and ser­vice life of cas­ting parts. Nor­mal­ly, equip­ment is expen­si­ve and exami­na­ti­on times are long. Howe­ver, some­thing can be done about this.

In this way, the disadvantages of industrial CT are eliminated:

No high investment costs:

Indus­tri­al com­pu­ted tomo­gra­phy (CT) can be expen­si­ve com­pared to other test­ing methods, as CT equip­ment requi­res spe­cia­li­zed tech­no­lo­gy and sophisti­ca­ted soft­ware. To avo­id high cos­ts, you can use the ser­vices of an indus­tri­al CT ser­vice pro­vi­der like Micro­vis­ta. With Micro­vis­ta, it is pos­si­ble to send in your com­pon­ents for inspec­tion, rent a mobi­le CT or out­sour­ce the eva­lua­ti­on to a cloud solu­ti­on. This eli­mi­na­tes high invest­ment costs. 

Difficult to radiate materials possible

One dis­ad­van­ta­ge of CT is that it can only be used to radia­te through limi­t­ed wall thic­k­nes­ses. Sin­ce hea­vy metals such as iron are den­se mate­ri­als, CT can reach its limits with lar­ge wall thic­k­nes­ses. To coun­ter­act this, Micro­vis­ta reli­es on a 450kV tube, which can achie­ve a par­ti­cu­lar­ly high pho­ton velo­ci­ty, making non-des­truc­ti­ve test­ing of thi­c­ker-wal­led iron com­pon­ents up to approx. 70 mm possible. 

High testing speed

CT exami­na­ti­ons usual­ly requi­re more time than other inspec­tion methods. Sin­ce this can be a dis­ad­van­ta­ge in some situa­tions, espe­ci­al­ly when results need to be available quick­ly, Micro­vis­ta uses cus­to­mi­zed eva­lua­ti­on solu­ti­ons that shor­ten the inspec­tion pro­cess to a mini­mum through automation.

Due to Microvista’s exper­ti­se in terms of ser­vice port­fo­lio, X‑ray tech­no­lo­gy as well as eva­lua­ti­on, the known dis­ad­van­ta­ges of CT can be lever­a­ged. This lea­ves the advan­ta­ges, such as high accu­ra­cy and the abili­ty to crea­te three-dimen­sio­nal images of objects, that other inspec­tion methods do not offer. The­r­e­fo­re, it is the best choice for qua­li­ty con­trol of cas­ting parts.

Identify typical defects in iron casting with CT

Crack testing

Crack in the part in a 3D view:

Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung von Eisenguss zeigt einen Riss im 3D-CT-Bild

Crack in the part in a 2D view:

Riss im Krümmer wird mit dem zerstörungsfreien Prüfverfahren industrielle CT sichtbar

Porosity analysis

Pores in the part in a 3D view:

3D-Bild Porositätsanalyse von Eisenguss mit CT

Pores in the part in a 2D view:

Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung von Eisenguss mittels CT macht Pore sichtbar

Options for non-destructive testing of casting parts

Serial testing

Com­pli­ca­ted com­pon­ents in high-qua­li­ty end pro­ducts? Major dama­ge with qua­li­ty defects that far exceed manu­fac­tu­ring cos­ts? Safe­ty-rele­vant com­pon­ents that requi­re 100% inspection?

In the­se cases, fast, low-effort & non-des­truc­ti­ve test­ing with indus­tri­al CT is nee­ded. Due to rea­dy-made pro­cess & auto­ma­ti­on modu­les, high levels of matu­ri­ty are rea­li­zed quick­ly & at low cost.

Inspection in the Microvista test lab

Series testing procedure at Microvista

*Note: Scan within 24h only with con­sul­ta­ti­on & depen­ding on the num­ber of parts.

Automated evaluation of your CT scan via Microvista Cloud

Upload CT scans to the Micro­vis­ta Cloud & have them eva­lua­ted auto­ma­ti­cal­ly. Save time as time-con­sum­ing manu­al eva­lua­ti­on is not required.

Mobile CT solution

You need a CT inspec­tion only tem­po­r­a­ri­ly & do not want to ship your com­pon­ents for an inspec­tion?  Then rent a CT sys­tem only as long as you need it! With Microvista’s uni­que mobi­le CT solu­ti­on you save high invest­ment cos­ts & long wai­ting times. 

Mobiles CT - Microvista ScanExpress

Sampling

Need for inspec­tion in case of acu­te pro­blems in pro­duc­tion? Cus­to­mer returns? Qua­li­fi­ca­ti­on of pro­duct changes?

Relia­ble state­ments on pro­duct con­di­ti­on, inclu­si­ons, blow­ho­les or other pro­per­ties must be available quick­ly in order to react in time and draw the right con­clu­si­ons. Exper­ti­se in the plan­ning and exe­cu­ti­on of the CT scan as well as in the sub­se­quent ana­ly­sis are cru­cial for this.

Inspection in the Microvista test lab

Sampling procedure with CT

**Note: Tur­n­around time by arran­ge­ment, usual­ly < 3 days for stan­dard tasks. 

Expert evaluation of your CT Scan via the Microvista Cloud

You have your own CT, but lack the resour­ces to eva­lua­te your sin­gle part scans?! The CT experts at Micro­vis­ta will take over your eva­lua­tions. Whe­ther initi­al sam­pling or requa­li­fi­ca­ti­on of com­pon­ents based on rele­vant stan­dards or detail­ed ana­ly­sis of defect focal points. Start saving time now. 

Serial testing

Com­pli­ca­ted com­pon­ents in high-qua­li­ty end pro­ducts? Major dama­ge with qua­li­ty defects that far exceed manu­fac­tu­ring cos­ts? Safe­ty-rele­vant com­pon­ents that requi­re 100% inspection?

In the­se cases, fast, low-effort & non-des­truc­ti­ve test­ing with indus­tri­al CT is nee­ded. Due to rea­dy-made pro­cess & auto­ma­ti­on modu­les, high levels of matu­ri­ty are rea­li­zed quick­ly & at low cost.

Inspection in the Microvista test lab

Series testing procedure at Microvista

*Note: Scan within 24h only with con­sul­ta­ti­on & depen­ding on the num­ber of parts.

Automated evaluation of your CT scan via Microvista Cloud

Upload CT scans to the Micro­vis­ta Cloud & have them eva­lua­ted auto­ma­ti­cal­ly. Save time as time-con­sum­ing manu­al eva­lua­ti­on is not required.

Mobile CT solution

You need a CT inspec­tion only tem­po­r­a­ri­ly & do not want to ship your com­pon­ents for an inspec­tion?  Then rent a CT sys­tem only as long as you need it! With Microvista’s uni­que mobi­le CT solu­ti­on you save high invest­ment cos­ts & long wai­ting times. 

Mobiles CT - Microvista ScanExpress

Sampling

Need for inspec­tion in case of acu­te pro­blems in pro­duc­tion? Cus­to­mer returns? Qua­li­fi­ca­ti­on of pro­duct changes?

Relia­ble state­ments on pro­duct con­di­ti­on, inclu­si­ons, blow­ho­les or other pro­per­ties must be available quick­ly in order to react in time and draw the right con­clu­si­ons. Exper­ti­se in the plan­ning and exe­cu­ti­on of the CT scan as well as in the sub­se­quent ana­ly­sis are cru­cial for this.

Inspection in the Microvista test lab

Sampling procedure with CT

**Note: Tur­n­around time by arran­ge­ment, usual­ly < 3 days for stan­dard tasks. 

Expert evaluation of your CT Scan via the Microvista Cloud

You have your own CT, but lack the resour­ces to eva­lua­te your sin­gle part scans?! The CT experts at Micro­vis­ta will take over your eva­lua­tions. Whe­ther initi­al sam­pling or requa­li­fi­ca­ti­on of com­pon­ents based on rele­vant stan­dards or detail­ed ana­ly­sis of defect focal points. Start saving time now. 

Write a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Other articles