Sonic control of castings in nodular cast iron

TQM Itaca Technology applied the sonic control technology to realise automatic high productivity benches for the 100% control of castings in nodular cast iron. The bench, realised to be used in foundry, controls the material nodularity and can detect defects as:

• Nodularity (presence of lamellar graphite)
• Carbides (cementite)
• Cracks
• Cold shuts
• Interrupted pours
• Pour shorts

The bench integrates a weighing station, that permits a more accurate and reliable separation of good parts and rejects.

The bench can integrate also other functions, e.g. Eddy Current control station for the hardness, control station for Eigen frequencies, marking stations (only for good parts) to grant the traceability of the batches and of the single item, or systems for the management (traceability) of the casting cavity, etc..

All the control stations function automatically: the bench can be managed by a single operator, who loads the parts to control on the conveyor belt after a visual control. The rejects are separated in inaccessible containers. It is possible to manage also the automatic loading.

An interesting aspect is that the addition of several control or marking stations marginally influences the cycle time. For example, a bench with weighing stations, two sonic control stations and marking station can control up to 900 parts/hour.

The bench is managed by a single software, called ITASONIC, which controls all the functions of the bench, from the calibration of the instruments, to the batch management, from the process control to the statistical analysis, etc.

Automatic functions for the management of the casting change are available, with eventual automatic recalibration of the sensors in case of variation of the process parameters.

The bench layout is realised according to the specific needs of the customer.

Automatic bench with manual loading, weighing station, double sonic station, marking station, rejects separation and unloading.

Detail of the sonic stations.