| As continuous process manufacturing becomes more exacting, the need to ensure zero-defect bar, tube and wire quality is of ever-increasing importance. Zetec Inc., USA, is a world leader in the design and manufacture of non-destructive eddy-current testing equipment for critical manufactured products. This test equipment, developed for the nuclear power industry, has superior signal-to-noise qualities. This allows process bar, tube and wire to be 100% tested, in real time, to detect the presence of pitting, wall thinning, subsurface laminations or cracks, fissures and other surface flaws. This also permits upstream processes to be adjusted for improved product quality. Up to 2,000 per minute can pass through specially designed encircling coils. It is possible to conduct process validation without waiting for sample tests or performing destructive tests. The Zetec system dramatically reduces scrap and returned spools and bundles of defective products.
One example is Zetec�s powerful MIZ�-27CT, a state-of-the-art eddy-current testing platform that contains the same electronics developed for the nuclear power industry. The primary advantage of this model is its ability to simultaneously support multiple coils at up to four frequencies. This enables the MIZ-27CT to maximise the difference between acceptable and rejected parts. Moreover, up to 25 independent test configurations for different product sizes and conditions can be permanently stored in the instrument.
The company�s eddy-current test equipment is specifically engineered to provide maximum flaw detection with standard encircling coils that test products from less than a millimetre up to 100mm �. Dual differential coil pairs are placed in an industrial coil holder with guides that provide centring and support while protecting the softer coil materials for increased probe life. The dual differential coil pairs allow for detection of both small surface and subsurface defects by the inner coil pair plus larger defects and thinning by the outer coil pair. These pairs are driven at software-selectable frequencies designed to maximise signal detection for each product's material and geometry.
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