R4-million non-destructive testing solution generates strong international interest
May 2003Pneumatics & Hydraulics
Products & Solutions
A R4-million non-destructive testing (NDT) solution developed in South Africa as an affordable option to European alternatives has drawn significant interest from around the world within weeks of completion.
Believed to be the most modern facility of its kind in southern Africa, the NDT solution was jointly designed, manufactured and commissioned by pneumatic control specialists Festo and testing expert H. Rohloff for Macsteel. At a length of 28 m, its feed line incorporates 30 rubber coated metal rollers that transport 6 m sections of bright bar through a room aimed at reducing noise pollution and airborne contaminants, from where the production line is split into rejects and dispatch. Bright bars are steel shafts used in the manufacture of modern shock absorbers.
Inside the actual testing room, a lifting table, 20 pneumatic cylinders and a Festo programmable logic controller have been combined with a Circograph DS 2.815 eddy current testing system from Germany to detect longitudinal and transverse defects of 80 microns and more in 6 m metal sections moving at 2 m/s.
"Two design requirements in particular provided us with a significant challenge," recalls H. Rohloff project manager, Pieter de Lange. "Firstly, these bright bars vary from 8-25 mm in diameter. Secondly, the Circograph can only tolerate a maximum movement of half a millimetre in these 6 m bars as they speed through at 2 m/s."
Twenty pneumatic cylinders have been used to power and control functions such as the lifting table
Responsible for the test electronics, pneumatic components and automation, engineers at Festo revelled at the opportunity to demonstrate the speed, accuracy and control available from the use of the company's extensive positioning and handling components and expertise. With a project timeframe of just three months, extensive consultation took place between Festo and H. Rohloff to transfer knowledge and ideas and speed up troubleshooting. The result - a fully automated, non-destructive testing facility manufactured to ISO standards that could theoretically carry out testing at up to 1000 m/s and 1000°C.
As soon as the innovative solution was commissioned at local producer of bright bars for the automotive industry, Macsteel, it started generating requests for similar solutions from markets as far as Europe and America. As a supplier of equipment, training and services to the SABS and CSIR and with 58 years of experience in non-contact testing, H. Rohloff is well positioned to produce systems of this nature for export, as well as local consumption.
"Although we have built several unique testing units over the years, this was definitely the most challenging request yet received," says De Lange. "In fact, without the strong consultative and cooperative partnership we had built up with Festo as a key supplier of pneumatic and electronic control components over the years, we probably would not have undertaken this project."
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