Papers and Publications

EXCERPT

Extruded tubes are often produced as blanks that will undergo one or more stages of cold drawing. To guarantee the quality of the final product, it is paramount that the blanks are within the required specifications. Traditionally these measurements are taken with manual calipers at discrete points near the tube ends. This is a labor-intensive process that doesn’t leave an electronic record, has low accuracy, and it is prone to human error. This paper covers the development and implementation of an automated ultrasonic measurement system for tubes using Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMAT). The EMAT solution implemented provides a dry ultrasonic system, paired with a laser micrometer, which can automatically test tube samples. The final system provides a full map of the tube shape (thickness, eccentricity, ovality) and can alarm when any value is out of specification. The paper explains the steps taken during the development of the technique.