An interruption to production and supply caused by breakdowns and defects in quality at the customer’s site requires immediate troubleshooting and implementation of quality assurance measures. Visual inspection alone cannot determine whether metallic components are free of cracks or structural defects. Expensive and costly CT scans give a good indication, but they are only practical for laboratory and error analysis applications. For serial monitoring, fast and efficient testing systems are required. This is where acoustic material testing offers the best possible solutions.

The present request for help was addressed with a fast and uncomplicated quality monitoring solution, thereby securing supply capabilities. One of the challenges of using acoustic material testing was the absence of defective reference parts to calibrate the system to detect defects. It was decided to initially parameterise the inspection system only for non-defective parts, in order to identify parts showing anomalous responses compared to those parts which had passed quality inspection (non-defective parts). Suspect parts were then thoroughly examined using metallurgical and CT methods. Defects were confirmed on parts exhibiting acoustical anomalies, allowing the corresponding test parameters to be configured. This validated the use of the acoustic testing technology. Reliable supply capacity and the requisite quality control were restored through the excellent teamwork of all parties involved.