Thursday, 24 October 2019

Everything You Should Know About Ultrasonic Weld Inspection

Ultrasonic weld inspection is a non-destruction method used for detecting cracks and defects in parts and materials. This method utilizes sound waves for this testing purpose. Depending upon the requirements, parts of the materials that have to be tested are evaluated using contact or immersion ultrasonic testing.

Manufacturers and dealers of metal use this technique for material’s thickness such as measuring the thickness of a pipe. An individual who wishes to buy steel plate or any other metal could take up this test for testing the thickness, while the manufactured goods could be tested for any cracks or defects.

Manufacturing units or companies that deal with steel metal or other sheet metals use this testing technique. Various industries like aerospace, oil and gas, power generation and much more use this test in their manufacturing unit, on-site and field inspections for providing certification of the material. This technique can be used for concrete, wood and composites as well.

Very short ultrasonic pulse waves with centre frequencies that range from 0.1-0.15 MHz are transmitted into materials to detect internal flaws or to characterize materials. It can be used to test the thickness of the pipe for monitoring pipework corrosion.

In ultrasonic testing, an ultrasound transducer is placed on the material that has to be tested. The transducer is typically separated from the test object by couplants like oil or water, as in immersion testing.

Most of the companies use this type of testing over others mainly because of its numerous advantages. Few of them include:
  • The test is capable of penetrating deep into the materials, which helps in the detection of flaws in the component, which other tests may not be ab;e to do so.
  • The test can be used for highly sensitive material as well. This helps in detecting the tiniest flaws which otherwise can be missed by other tests as they cannot detect them.
  • The test is believed to be more accurate than other nondestructive methods in determining the depth of the internal flaws and thickness of parts with parallel surfaces.
  • This test can be used for estimating the size, orientation, shape, and nature of defects of the components that are being examined.
  • The results of this test are immediate, and the units need not wait for them for long.
  • This test is safe for the personnel and does not have any effect on the equipment that is being tested.

Quality manufacturers and fabrication shops house this testing technique to inspect the materials’ quality.

Thursday, 3 October 2019

The Various Phases of Plasma Cutting with Stainless Steel

Plasma as a definition is a “collection of charged particles composed of equal numbers of positive ions and electrons also shows the properties of a gas but varies in from gas to be the good conductor of electricity”. Therefore the plasma cutting is a comprehensive process that cuts through electrically conductive materials by an accelerated stream of hot plasma. Stainless steel, steel, copper, aluminum, and brass are some materials that cut plasma cutting. It is mainly used in the industrial construction, salvage and scrapping operation automotive repair and restoration, and fabrication.

The resultant cutting of stainless steel is often brought to life by detailed digitising. This process sketches, parts, templates, and drawings to NC files which are ready for production. It allows the accurate processing of cutting steels for high accuracy.

The plasma cutting process is composed of inserting the gas blown at high speed. An electric arc is formed through and around the gas that being blown and create a plasma. The plasma that is created is enough hot to cut stainless steel.

In the current market, it is known as HD plasma cutting that involves the cutting through steel with a plasma torch. It initiates with blowing gas out of the nozzle at high speed that further transforms into plasma as it hits the cut surface.

Cutting details of HD plasma cutting
  • Reduce the profile shape till 45 degrees in angle
  • Plasma cutting machine for maximum edge squareness
  • Large cutting bed area
  • Thickness up to 50 mm
It also includes the post cutting process, thus, following are the post-cutting process:
  • Bending
  • Drilling
  • Wash grinding
  • Stress reliving
  • Beveling
If you include the integrated system with a power source, it has the following advantages:
  • Bridge tools
  • Automatic nesting tools
  • Hole process nesting technology
  • Better productivity
  • Minimized errors
The end product of a cut should determine upon following factors:
  • Bottom dross
  • Cut surface
  • Cut surface bevel angle
  • Kerf width
  • Nitride contamination
  • Top edge rounding
  • Top spatter
An accurate cut-surface has the following features:
  • Efficient mechanical properties in the welded component
  • Small to no dross, and what dross is present should be easily removable
  • Little to no nitrides or oxides
  • Reduced heat-affected zone and recast layer
  • Smooth, with nearly vertical draglines
  • Square face (less than 3-degree bevel)
Thus, this is how the various process of plasma cutting is conducted.

If you require an HD plasma cutting service, feel free to connect through contact details as provided in the official website.