Testing by Non-Destructive Control

Abstract

This paper describes an application of industrial robots that gain ground mainly in the aerospace industry. It is a TTT manipulator whose task is to automatically position the end-effector, in this case a complex sensor system and a eddy-current probe in the position set by the software application for testing by non-destructive ultrasound control of tickets and bars of titanium, both round and square, or any other transparent ultrasound metal (obviously in a certain range of sizes). For surface control, the effector also includes a Eddy current (Eddy current control system). The installation performs ultrasonic control by the echo boost method in total immersion using as a water coupling medium. This method provides the best coupling for automated control systems. This plant was specially produced for ZIROM S.A. A unique producer of titanium ingots in Romania by the reputed German company Karl Deutch (leader in this field), the founder of the company being also one of the inventors of the non-destructive ultrasonic control method, the part of Eddy current being produced by the German company Prüftechnik. This paper aims to explore the state of the art of non-destructive automatic ultrasonic control techniques according to the possible methods to be adopted, by the applications that demand such methods, by reviewing a series of installations more or less similar to those of Zirom s.a. It is thus found that there are a multitude of pine technical solutions that can be done with an ultrasonic automatic control and precision. In this context, the last chapter of the paper that attempts to probe the possible evolution of the future of US control in this field is of great importance because in the current pace of innovations in all fields, but especially in IT and electronics, the future holds many surprises.