Open Access

In recent years additive manufacturing technologies have become widely popular. For complex functional components or low volume production of workpieces, laser powder bed fusion can be used. High safety requirements, e.g. in the aerospace sector, demand extensive quality control. Therefore, offline non-destructive testing methods like computed tomography are used after manufacturing. Recently, for enhanced profitability and practicality online non-destructive testing methods, like optical tomography have been developed. This paper discusses the applicability of eddy current testing with magnetoresistive sensors for laser powder bed fusion parts. For this purpose, high spatial resolution giant magnetoresistance arrays are utilized for testing in combination with a single wire excitation coil. A heterodyne principle minimizes metrology efforts. This principle is compared to conventional signal processing in an eddy current testing setup using an aluminum test sample with artificial surface defects. To evaluate the influence of the powder used in the manufacturing process on eddy current testing and vice versa, a laser powder bed fusion mock-up made from stainless steel powder (316L) is used with artificial surface defects down to 100 µm. This laser powder bed fusion specimen was then examined using eddy current testing and the underlying principles.

Thin steel sheets with a thickness of 0.3 mm and less are the base materials of many everyday life products (cans, batteries, etc.). Potential inhomogeneities such as non-metallic inclusions inside the steel can lead to a rupture of the sheets when it is formed into a product such as a beverage can. Therefore, there is a need to develop automated NDT techniques to detect hidden defects and inclusions in thin sheets during production. For this purpose Tata Steel Europe and BAM, the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (Germany), collaborate in order to develop an automated NDT-system. Defect detection systems have to be robust against external influences, especially when used in an industrial environment. In addition, such a facility has to achieve a high sensitivity and a high spatial resolution in terms of detecting small inclusions in the μm-regime. In a first step, we carried out a feasibility study to determine which testing method is promising for detecting hidden defects and inclusions inside ferrous thin steel sheets. Therefore, two methods were investigated in more detail – magnetic flux leakage testing (MFL) using giant magneto resistance sensor arrays (GMR) as receivers [1,2] and eddy current testing (ET). The capabilities of both methods were tested with 0.2 mm-thick steel samples containing small defects with depths ranging from 5 μm up to 60 μm. Only in case of GMRMFL-testing, we were able to detect parts of the hidden defects with a depth of 10 μm trustworthily with a SNR better than 10 dB. Here, the lift off between sensor and surface was 250 μm. On this basis, we investigated different testing scenarios including velocity tests and different lift offs. In this contribution we present the results of the feasibility study leading to first prototypes of GMR-probes which are now installed as part of a demonstrator inside a production line.

Übersicht über die die im FB 8.4 bearbeiteten elektromagnetischen Prüfverfahren mit den Schwerpunkten bildgebende Wirbelstromprüfung, sensorbasierte Streuflussprüfung, magnetische Materialcharakterisierung und Sondenentwicklung.

Komposit-Druckgefäße für den Gefahrguttransport sowie für Wasserstoff-und Erdgasfahrzeuge bestehen aus einem lasttragenden Komposit und einer gasdichten, metallischen oder polymeren Barriereschicht (Liner). Zur Untersuchung der Integrität der Druckflaschen wurde die Wirbelstromprüfung eingesetzt. Hierbei wurden verschiedene Frequenzbereiche angewendet, um so die unterschiedlichen Materialien untersuchen zu können. Ziel der Untersuchungen war es, alterungsbedingte Schädigungen rechtzeitig zu detektieren. Der Vortrag stellt diese Ergebnisse vor.