By CLARE GOLDSBERRY, Special to Welding

A portable ultrasonic weld inspection kit from Automated Inspection Systems

Automation is becoming widespread in the welding industry, not only with respect to robotic welding but in the area of robotic vision inspection systems. Companies install robotic vision inspection systems for the same reasons they install other automated systems: to reduce costs due to poor quality welds; improve weld quality and consistency; increase productivity; and as a way to offset a lack of skilled labor. Additionally, if one automates the welding process, it makes good sense to automate the inspection process as well.

Equipment that can visually inspect welds in realtime monitoring is gaining in demand. Fanuc Robotics America Inc. (www.fanucrobotics.com) introduced its iRVision System last summer, the company's first built-in package available on all R-J3iC controllers. The system provides customers with a single source for robot guidance or process feedback. Joe Hoffman, senior welding engineer for Fanuc Robotics, said that he is seeing an "upswing in general" with respect to demand for automation. "With Fanuc's vision products, applications that typically were not automated such as welding and vision inspection systems for welding, now have the tools and technology to make it possible," Hoffman said.

The Fanuc iRVision system is a ready-to-use robotic vision package that requires only a camera and cable — no additional processing hardware is needed. It has a 2-D robot guidance tool to accomplish part location, error proofing, and other operations that normally require special sensors or custom fixtures.

Edward Roney, Fanuc Robotics manager of vision product development, said, "We've taken the complexity out of robot vision and eliminated the need to combine a separate vision system with the robot controller. Now, a customer simply plugs in a camera and cable to a dedicated vision port on the robot's main CPU, and the system is ready to go."

Fanuc also offers a through-the-arc post welding inspection system that allows the operator to set a nominal value using a weld data monitoring package and inspect the weld real- time as the weld is applied. The company also offers a post-weld inspection in conjunction with companies that provide this technology. "As safety requirements gets tighter, automating in real-time the weld inspection process in addition to a post-process inspection, is the way people will go," said Hoffman.

For purity pipe systems or sanitary stainless steel pipe used in food and beverage applications that require contaminant-free welds, Digital Welding Systems Inc. (www.orbitalwelding.com) offers the new InViz Videoscope Inspection system. The company specializes in contract services for orbital welding and cutting, and sales and leasing of welding and inspection equipment. The Videoscope visually inspects and documents internal pipe walls and welded pipe seams from ³/₈-in. to 6-in. diameter, for completely gas-free weld and pipe inspection systems.

Automated Inspection Systems (www.ais4ndt.com) specializes in the manufacture of automated ultrasonic testing equipment, applications development, and field service and support. The company's latest products include heavy-wall pressure vessel weld inspection systems integrated into ASME Code Case 2235. Randy Fong, marketing director for Automated Inspection Systems, said there are a number of benefits of automated ultrasonic testing over the traditional X-ray method of pipe weld inspection.

There are no safety hazards associated with ultrasonic inspection, and the user can find planar defects as easily as volumetric defects, because ultrasonic is more sensitive to the planar defects.

"Unfortunately, ultrasonic inspection has typically been done manually using a ultrasonic testing scope," Fong said. "Then the operator must record what he saw, leaving results open to interpretation. Additionally, there was no further verification and no record, which means X-ray has a distinct advantage here in that you have a permanent record."

With automated ultrasonic testing, the primary advantage is that the operator can record the wave forms and create an image of the weld, thus producing a digital permanent record that can be reviewed later by other technicians or engineers should a question arise. "Automated ultrasonic testing is more sensitive to the finer defects," said Fong. "That is primarily what automated ultrasonic testing is about."

Fong added that additional training is required to learn the automated ultrasonic testing system, including system set-up. Special attention to detail also is necessary, because even though the system is automated, it's only as good as the information that is input into the machine. Additionally, results from an automated ultrasonic testing system are almost instantaneous. "You scan the part and create an image," Fong said. "For example, in a cross-country pipeline, using automated welding machines and auto-ultrasonic testing allows workers to inspect in real time as they construct. The results are right behind the welders themselves, so if there are any misalignments or a pass, they can be corrected before it becomes a problem. It's a real-time evaluation of the process. An X-ray environment typically lags a day behind. Automated ultrasonic testing allows for better process control."

Automated Inspection Systems also promotes its Smartscanner, so named for controllers that are directly built into the motors, which decreases any electronic noise which might be picked up by the many transducer lines. Also new is the Automated Inspection Systems NP2000MC, a full-featured portable, 8-channel, laptop based, automated ultrasonic testing data system. The unit comes complete with data acquisition software; automated (Smartscanner) control software; point-andclick multi-channel data analysis software that is specific for examining heavy wall welds; and computer-assisted, report-generated software tied directly to the AMSE code case.

Meta (www.meta-mvs.com) manufacturers laser vision systems for welding applications worldwide. The company's camera systems are a vision-based, noncontact viewing system for weld seams or beads. Pierre Huot, president of Meta, Americas, in Montreal, Quebec, said his company has a number of new products in development, which he could not discuss. However, he said there are several factors driving automated inspection: Target customers who want to control their costs; the desire to produce a better quality product to increase their competitive edge and build new business; and that the end user's "tolerance for defective product" is shrinking."

Huot said Meta is making inroads into new markets with its automated welding inspection equipment, adding that the automotive industry always expresses interest in such new products. However, he added, "Whether the price point justifies implementing automated inspection systems is a question. The big key for this industry is measuring porosity. That's the holy grail of the inspection industry," Huot said. "The other aspect is whether or not companies have inspection criteria and standards established. GM, for example, will have inspection criteria, so if they want to measure porosity, density or size of the weld, they'll give equipment makers an inspection criteria. Many other companies won't have any criteria or standards in place."

As a proactive reaction to the lace of standards, Meta works with its clients to help them to establish ranges for inspection criteria. "As a vision inspection company. we're not there to validate their process — (we) just provide the tool to reduce their rework and prevent bad product from going out the door," Huot said. "We can suggest to them criteria — a broadstroke category for inspection criteria, but ultimately it's up to them to tell us what they need. From our perspective we treat inspection as a project, so we don't have an out-of-the-box product because across markets inspection criteria changes, and the price point changes as well."

As demands for higher quality, reduced costs, and greater productivity and efficiency push companies toward automation in welding, companies are stepping up to the plate to provide what customers want.

"Successful companies are automating," said Fanuc's Hoffman. "Lean out your overhead and up your quality. Going to China doesn't solve the problem. I'd say all Fanuc's business is automation, and the industry leaders are investing in automation. I'm seeing more mom-and-pop shops investing in robotics systems, but they are looking for flexible robotics systems to maximize their investment."