Powder Metal Solutions

Magnaflux Quasar is used to test the complete range of production powder metal parts. Applications include:

Magnaflux Quasar detects all of the structural defects that occasionally appear in powder metal parts including:

It is particularly effective at detecting cracked or chipped teeth, a defect that is difficult to detect using other NDT methods.

Magnaflux Quasar provides better NDT

Since a part's resonance pattern provides a measure of the structural integrity of the whole part, a single Magnaflux Quasar test can replace other NDT methods that focus on specific defect types. Magnaflux Quasar directly replaces magnetic particle or eddy current (for cracks). It also replaces or complements visual white light inspection for inclusions, non-fill, missing features, and significant dimensional variations. Magnaflux Quasar can also replace many of the met lab tests used to confirm correct density, sintering and powder mixture.

Special Considerations

Magnaflux Quasar testing can be used for any material that is stiff enough to resonate. While Quasar can be used with most powder metal parts, the powder density affects its application. Higher density parts are stiffer and resonate better, resulting in an improved ability to detect smaller defects.

Magnaflux Quasar testing will only detect structurally significant defects - that is, defects that are severe enough to cause part failure in specified service. Quasar will not detect surface discontinuities associated with parting lines or tool marks, resulting in less scrap for these non-structural blemishes.

In symmetrical parts such as rings, disks and clutch plates, the effect of variations in powder density often produces greater changes in part strength than small cracks. It is often necessary to either accept the parts with small cracks or to reject the parts with significant density variation.

Benefits

The benefits of using Magnaflux Quasar for production powder metal NDT include:

Powder Metal Economic Case Study

Description

Part
Bearing Cap
Method
Powder Metal
Part Numbers
1
Quasar NDT
3200
Loading
Automatic
Location
US
Amortization
2 years
Payback
6 months
The part is a powder metal bearing cap manufactured at 600 parts per hour. The plant operates 3 shifts per day, 5 days per week and produces 3,000,000 of this type of bearing cap per year. The plant is located in the US and all costs are in US$.

Quasar replaces magnetic particle inspection which costs $0.17 per part.

The Quasar system consists of a Quasar 3200 Dual Test Station NDT System plus an integrated material handling system. The total cost was $200,000.

The cost savings are tabulated below.

Quasar Cost/Part
$0.03
Visual Cost/Part
$0.17
Savings/Part
$0.14
Payback Parts
1,463,415
Payback Months
6

The Magnaflux Quasar cost per part is based on capital amortization over 2 years. It does not include labor cost because the Quasar system is integrated into the manufacturing process.