Three different technologies are offered by Olympus as solutions for In-line bar inspections: phased array UT, conventional UT, and eddy current array. Each of these technologies has different specifications and performances, which allow Olympus to offer a solution fully adapted to the customers' needs.
Combined ultrasonic phased array (PA) and eddy current array (ECA) bar inspection system
Designed for:
- Round, square, and flat bars
- Carbon steel and stainless steel grades
- Rough surfaces and peeled surfaces
- Round diameter range: 12mm (0.5 in.) to 230 mm (9 in.)
- Square size range: 20 mm (0.75 in.) to 230 mm (9 in.)
- Flat size range: 4 mm x 30 mm to 100 mm x 250 mm (0.25 in. x 1.50 in. to 4 in. x 10 in.)
- References:
- Flat-bottom hole (FBH)
- Side-drilled hole (SDH)
- Surface notch
System Key Features
The main characteristics of the Olympus bar inspection system are:
High Productivity
- High-speed inspections (up to 2 m/s depending on diameter size)
- Phased Array ultrasound technique has the highest productivity and reliability of all inspection systems on the market.
- Versatile system quickly reconfigurable to different inspection configurations such as:
- Fully automatic size change
- Fast mechanical changeover time
- Quick access to predefined inspection setups
- Software Wizard tool used to create new inspection setups
- Multiple parallel firing to inspect simultaneously at different positions on the bars
Quality
- Full-body inspections of the bars by combining:
- Ultrasonic longitudinal wave (LW) and shear wave (SW) for volumetric inspections
- Eddy current array (ECA) technology for surface inspections
- Use of the unique Olympus mechanic for a constant optimal positioning of probes; independent and not affected adversely by straightness variations of the bars:
- Floating head concept for UT/PA probes
- Wear shoes concept for ECA probes
- The centering of the UT/PA probes in each cassette is acoustically adjusted to optimize the detection for each probe.
- Automatic calibration per channel providing the highest documented repeatability in the industry with detailed data reporting
UT/PA probes remain static for a high quality signal.
- Bending can be accepted at the ends of the bars without any damage to the mechanics.
- Mechanical system design allows very short untested bar ends (± 20 mm).
- High sensitivity on small reference defects with SNR greater than 12 dB
User Friendly
- Easy interpretation of the inspection results using real time strip-chart displays
- Easy and fast mechanical reconfiguration between two bar sizes
- Detailed alarms and data reporting
- Supervisor software used to:
- Merge and archive inspection data in one common database
- Centralize inspection results and real-time displays on a single work station
- DCOM exchange protocol for easy interface with customer level 2 production-line systems
- Easy maintenance
- Multilingual acquisition software