Foundry Testing Equipment

Testing and inspection systems refer to a variety of machines and equipment that are used for testing, inspection and analysis purposes in foundries. These equipment are used to ensure that the material meets the prerequisites of the specification; accordingly, testing is mandatory. More frequent testing, inspection or other tests may be enforced, by use of supplementary requirements of product specifications or specification of general requirements.

Testing and inspection equipment play an important role in quality control program of a foundry. These can be used to test and check the specification and performance of every product produced. In addition to assigning test processes, acceptance criteria should be agreed upon. The more screening and tighter the acceptance standards--the more costly the product will be--without essentially increasing the quality or serviceability. Hence, the degree of testing and acceptance criteria should essentially be based on the design and service demands.

Types

Some of the important categories of testing and inspection equipment used in foundries are -

Radiographic Testing - Radiographic testing is a non-destructive technique used to detect the internal defects in castings, forgings, or welds by exposure to x-ray or gamma ray radiation. Flaws are detected by differences in the absorption of radiation in the material as seen on a shadow graph displayed on a fluorescent screen or photographic film.

Metallographic & Metallurgical Test Equipment - Metallographic and metallurgical testing is done to test and evaluate the characteristics of metals. These test equipment can be used to access the heat treatment condition, micro structure, and forming process of a material.

Nondestructive Test Equipment - Non-destructive test equipment are designed to determine the properties or characteristics of a metal or substance, which does not involve its destruction or deterioration (e.g. Ultra high frequency sound, X-ray examination, NMR).

Ultrasonic Test Equipment - Ultrasonic tests use high frequency sound energy to conduct tests and to make measurements. The test equipment can be used for the detection / evaluation of defect, dimensional measurements, material characterization, and more. A typical ultrasonic test equipment system comprises of various functional units, such as the transducer, pulser/receiver, and display devices.

X-Ray Diffraction Tubes - These tubes are used as testing and inspection equipment in foundries for X-ray diffraction applications. The various types of tubes, include micro focus tube, XRD ceramic tube, XRD glass and C-Tech tubes.

Advantages

Use of quality testing and inspection equipment in foundries ensure that all castings produced will meet the customers' requirements and specifications. These equipment help in ensuring that each casting is manufactured according to customer specifications, drawings and patterns. Incoming pattern equipment are carefully reviewed to ascertain the compatibility of the equipment with production practices.

Throughout the various stages of manufacturing process - melting, molding, core, shakeout, final grinding and internal cleaning - these equipment and systems are used to assure the highest quality final product. Stringent testing and inspection also occurs at critical phases of the production process.