Whether you need to measure dimensions or perform some sort of flaw detection on sheet, tube, or pipe, you'll find what you need in this technology area. It discusses measuring coordinates, diameters, and hardnesses; flaw detection using eddy current, ultrasonic, radiographic, and X-ray systems; and using a few other equipment types, such as vision systems and material composition analyzers.
January 23, 2015
At Midland Metal Products, all machines have asset tags on them. So do calipers and tape measures—and even brooms—and it’s all tracked in a computerized maintenance management system. Tracking asset downtime has made life on the shop floor much more predictable.
August 28, 2014
For tube and pipe applications, laser vision systems are commonly used for seam tracking on the mill, but they are useful for many more applications—such as edge bevel measurement; strip width measurement and centering verification; mill process control; and coating control. For pipeline construction, they can verify the integrity of end face bevels and weld bead profile measurements.
July 31, 2014
When Bob Burns, owner of Aero Bending Co., Palmdale, Calif., moved his company to a new and bigger location, he considered adding to the company’s fleet of benders. However, a number of bending machine operators often lined up to measure bent components, creating a bottleneck. Changing to an optical inspection system cleared this bottleneck.
June 9, 2014
The manufacturing standards for manufacturing and fabricating tube and pipe are continuously on the rise as OEMs demand tighter tolerances and ever-greater dimensional consistency. Keeping up with these trends is a matter of keeping up with the technologies available to monitor processes and measure tubular products.
April 14, 2014
Eaton Fabricating Co. Inc., Grafton, Ohio, revamped its front office and shop floor operation to ensure parts emerge from machines right the first time. The key is that management gives operators time to perform quality assurance checks at every stage in manufacturing.
February 17, 2014
Tube and pipe producers are familiar with ultrasonic testing (UT) which, as the name implies, uses high-frequency sound waves to find discontinuities in tube and pipe. While conventional UT is effective for testing raw materials with simple shapes—round tubing, rectangular billet, and rectangular plate—complex shapes such as castings and assemblies need something more. Phased-array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) gets the job done.
December 2, 2013
Manufacturing is changing—the old hands are retiring, and many left the industry suddenly in the wake of the 2009 downturn. The workforce is smaller and less experienced than before, yet the demands for quality and consistency have never been higher. Electronic sensing and measuring systems can help with inspection and error-proofing in this demanding situation.
November 19, 2013
The qualified-welder shortage presents significant problems for infrastructure and power industries. New welders need to be recruited, and displaced welders may need to be retrained for today’s jobs.
September 5, 2013
In a modern-day manufacturing environment where the goal is to keep processes uncomplicated and repeatable, temperature-indicating products used in the welding process make a lot of sense.
July 16, 2013
Taking your shop to the next level might involve ASME certification. Just what does this entail? It begins with an agency.
September 10, 2012
NDT systems are limited in how close to the end of a tube or pipe they can test successfully. They rely on electromagnetic or ultrasonic waves to flow through the tube or pipe, and the end represents an abrupt change in the wall’s characteristics, making the test results difficult to interpret near the pipe or tube end. A new system overcomes the conventional obstacles by aiming clockwise, counterclockwise, and transverse transducers at a single point of entry. A timed delay based on the 1-kHz transmit frequency prevents the signals from interfering with each other, enabling the receiver to interpret the results accurately.
September 9, 2011
Hydrostatic testing of oil country tubular goods is done twice—once to test the weld seam, then again after the item is threaded and a coupling attached. Most hydrostatic testing systems test the entire length of the pipe both times, but a new unit, the box-end hydrostatic tester, tests just the threaded portion and the coupling, reducing the time and water needed for the second test.
January 11, 2011
Welders may recognize that when porosity is present, the cause isn’t always the shielding gas, welding filler, or operator error. It can be caused by the steel production method, which can introduce porosity and other flaws.