Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) for Steel Manufacturing
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) for Steel Manufacturing Customer Case The customer is a custom-built contractor of Non-Destructive Test (NDT) instruments for steel manufacturing. NDT uses ultrasonic pulses to scan through thick sheets of metals for possible causes of early wear, such as cracks or impurities. The stimulus is a stream of ultrasonic pulses. The response is their reflection from various depths. The center frequencies used by this customer are in the range of 250 KHz to 2.25 MHz and pulses are about 10 microseconds. The pulse repeat frequency (PRF) is less than 1 KHz. The thickness of steel sheets is [...]
Galvannealing Phosphor Thermometry
Galvannealing Phosphor Thermometry Customer Case During the process of galvanizing, steel is dipped in a bath of liquid tin to increase its resistance to oxidation and moisture. After galvanizing, a precise heat treatment allows control of the mechanical properties of the final galvanized steel. This heat treatment is known as galvannealing. During galvannealing, precise temperature control is necessary to promote the desired grain growth in the steel's tin-rich coating. Galvanneal thermometry is difficult. The rolling of the hot steel makes contact thermocouples and optical pyrometry impractical. A customer's galvanneal furnace is equipped for phosphor thermometry. This novel technique uses [...]
Generator Pole Gap Analysis
Power Generation Generator Pole Gap Analysis Tolerances Description
Vibration / Balancing
Power Generation Vibration / Balancing Amplitude Description
Pulsed Electric Field Food Processing
Pulsed Electric Field Food Processing Customer Case Pulsed Electric Field Food Processing is a continuous food processing system in which beverages (with a known conductivity) are pumped through a chamber containing an electrode. Pulses of high voltage electricity are passed across the electrode, thus through the liquid as well. It is a pasteurization technique being studied at Ohio State University. The need is to be able to monitor, display, and record to hard drive storage, voltage and current waveforms. They need to be able to draw information about the pulse duration, peak voltage, etc. from the recorded waveforms. Waveforms [...]
Blade Tip Clearance
Blade Tip Clearance Power Generation Blade Tip Clearance Tolerances Introduction Blade Tip Clearance Solutions for Turbines, Fans, and Rotating Machinery When it comes to turbines and fans, blade tip clearance — the distance between the tip of the blade and the surrounding case — is one of the most crucial measurements. If the blade tips are too close, thermal expansion or vibration could cause destructive contact. If they’re too far, turbine efficiency and performance suffer. That’s why accurately measuring turbine blade tip clearance, fan blade tip clearance, or any [...]
Exploration Of The Elastic Region For Aluminum Alloys
Exploration Of The Elastic Region For Aluminum Alloys Research & Development Exploration Of The Elastic Region For Aluminum Alloys Bending, Tensile and Compression Description One of the most crucial properties of metals, including aluminum alloys, is their elastic characteristics, which define the extent to which a material can deform and return to its original shape once the applied load is removed. This behavior is particularly important when working with materials in engineering and industrial applications, where understanding the elastic region of the stress-strain curve is vital. The stress-strain curve for [...]
Phase Conjugate Sonar
Phase Conjugate Sonar Customer Case Dissipationless physical systems, such as simple planetary motion or a swinging pendulum, exhibit time-reversal invariance. This means that if time were reversed the way a film projector can be, then the resulting motion would be allowed by the equations governing the system. It follows that if all velocities in a dissipationless system are suddenly reversed, the system will follow a time-reversed trajectory. Dissipationless or adiabatic wave propagation is time-reversal invariant. Phase Conjugate Optics involves the deliberate reversal of complex light paths. A customer is doing Phase Conjugate Sonar using sound instead of light. The [...]
Tolerances of Armature Gaps
Tolerances of Armature Gaps Power Generation Tolerances Of Armature Gaps Tolerances Description Introduction In large motors and generators, the air gap needed to separate the revolving rotor from the stator should be as small as possible as this reduces the magnetizing power requirement. The gap also needs to be large enough to prevent contact between the two, despite manufacturing tolerances on their dimensions or movement resulting from mechanical deflection or looseness in supporting bearings. The gap should also be uniform; a non-uniform gap causes increased noise and vibration. Since large [...]
Ultrasonic Horn Vibration
Ultrasonic Horn Vibration Research & Development Ultrasonic Horn Vibration Amplitude Description An "ultrasonic horn" is the device which concentrates this energy and applies it to a process. They come in many different sizes and configurations depending on the task for which they are designed. As the tip of the horn (or contraction area) is brought in contact with a part at a certain pressure, frictional heat is generated causing the material to plasticize locally, creating an insoluble connection between two parts within a very short period of time. As the [...]