Combining speed, automation and precision, Teratonics Stripp Control exploits, for the first time, the advantages of Terahertz 3D pulsed imaging on production lines.
Seeing through material... That's the solution Teratonics offers industry to reduce its non-quality costs and optimize its manufacturing processes. Teratonics Stripp Control can be deployed directly on a production line to perform 3D measurements and detect defects in 100% of production, in a fully automated way, in support of Industry 4.0.
It reveals the invisible inside many electrically non-conductive materials, such as plastics, ceramics, paper or semiconductors... Components can be inspected in their pure form, but also in a heterogeneous state, such as a plastic foam or a composite. Assemblies in which at least one component is non-conductive can be analyzed, particularly at the assembly interface (bonding, welding...) or in the volume of non-conductive materials. What's more, the powerful depth resolution gives access to thickness with micrometric precision, which is perfectly suited to the analysis of many coatings, with the possibility of resolving individual thicknesses in multilayer coatings.
Thanks to very immediate feedback on production, bad parts can be sorted out for scrapping or reworking. Often, the production process itself can be optimized to avoid the manufacture of bad parts, and reduce the consumption of raw materials, energy and time. All this contributes to reducing overall costs.
This transformation of quality assurance and quality control is made possible by Teratonics' internationally patented technology. This uses the Terahertz (THz) frequency range - the last part of the electromagnetic spectrum to be exploited in industry - and thus enables flexible, non-contact analysis, without health hazards or the need for radiation protection. Its ultra-fast detection, unique on the market, reduces pulse measurement time by a factor of around 10,000,000 compared with the state-of-the-art in pulsed THz. 3D imaging of internal structures, with precise thickness measurement and a high probability of defect detection, is now possible within the production cycle times of many industries. This breakthrough THz system is complemented by proprietary software that drives the automated scanning movement and data processing.
As recently demonstrated publicly at the industrial site of Teratonics partner Wirth Werkzeugbau GmbH, the system enables rapid robotic scanning of complex 3D objects from their CAD files, with scan speeds of the order of 1000 cm²/min and more. According to Teratonics, this is the fastest pulsed THz imaging solution on the market, and the only one to enable in-line control, providing deep resolution imaging on large parts. For many applications, this imaging capability is a unique feature not only in the THz market, but also in the NDT market in general. This measurement method is insensitive to ambient conditions such as temperature, light or vibration, and to the speed of moving parts. Data processing generates images and automatically detects defects such as thickness variations and bubbles.
Today, with a device operating in tandem with a robot and automated data analysis - without an active operator - a holistic and therefore cost-effective solution is proposed to support the transformation of quality control demanded by industry and society. Its impact can go far beyond the reduction of direct quality costs, and can have positive effects on the environment. Use cases are varied and come from sectors such as automotive, aerospace, electronics, medical devices, luxury goods... The reduction of raw materials such as plastics, paints and solvents through process control is of course advantageous from an industrial point of view, because costs are reduced, but also because less material has to be moved and recycled. This is particularly interesting in the transport industry, where energy can be saved. Other examples may concern hygiene, safety and the company's environment: automated control on a production line can replace visual/manual control by an operator, which is very monotonous and tiring work, and a source of human error. It can also speed up production or maintenance and repair operations in industries such as aerospace, where the inevitable inspection step is sometimes the bottleneck in cycle time. What's more, when used as a laboratory device, this technology opens the door to innovative scientific and technological developments offering a new way of analyzing samples, without prior cutting or sample preparation, even on large parts with three-dimensional geometry.
Teratonics' pulsed THz approach gives rapid access to the 3D structure of objects, with precise thickness measurement and a high probability of defect detection. This makes 3D imaging of internal structures possible within the production cycle time of many industries.
Teratonics will be exhibiting at "Control - International Trade Fair for Quality Assurance", May 3-6, 2022, in Stuttgart (stand 3413).
Visit the site:
www.teratonics.com
Photo: Teratonics Stripp Control system used on an injection molding machine to check plastic parts immediately after manufacture.