-New equipment Integrated condition monitoring system An integrated condition monitoring system (ICMS) has been developed by Institut Dr Farster based on their experience in the development and use of equipment for non-destructive testing in production facilities, calibration and maintenance sectors. The system represents an extension of the range to include machine diagnosis and quality assurance.

Incipient quality deviations or machine faults and their causes can be identified at an early stage during production as a result of integrated monitoring of the process parameters, machine condition and product quality.

ICMS monitors output variables and determines correlations between their signals to identify cause-effect relationships and diagnose errors. The main ICMS modules are quality monitoring, machine monitoring and determination, analysis and storage of event-dependent correlations. If correlations are

found, this last system makes it possible to relate any deterioration in quality with underlying functional faults or damage to relevant production machines or any parameter changes occurring during the process. Special statistical methods of signal analysis and condition classification ensure that incipient machine faults or deterioration in quality can be detected at an early stage. The machine operator or control computer is provided with information making it possible to counteract a developing fault or diagnose it more precisely if the flaw phenomena are unknown.

The quality and machine monitoring systems are also major sources of information for organization and implementation of condition-based maintenance, since they reveal trends of any deviations occurring.

Even untrained personnel can monitor quality with the aid of this system, as both the normal condition for good quality of the product concerned (material quality, geometry, etc.) and the current production condition are

Structure and main components of the Integrated Condition Monitoring System

Monitoring and correlation of the process, plant and quality signals. Diagnosis of the causes of quality loss. plant condition, and process

on-line trend analysis for early failure detection. Knowledge-based systems for diagnosing failures.

Material ] Process I Plant Quality monitoring opt imizat ion monitoring monitoring

[ onitonn, '1 oo.s. I! ant IL Ouai I incoming material I control diagnostics testing

[" 'r nist 'l'l ro0uction0ao, H ro0uctl Structure and main components of the ICMS system from Institut Dr Farster

displayed on the monitor. Any quality deviations are signalled by a change of display colour and an acoustic alarm. The trend display shows how production uniformity and the machine capability can be monitored. All data are stored and any deviations automatically reported to the machine computer.

Institut Dr F~rster~ PrSfger~tebau GmbH & Co. KG, In Laisen 70, Postfach 1564, D- 7410 Reutlingen, Germany

Miniaturized dual-axis scanners A range of miniaturized dual-axis scanners has been introduced by Sonomatic. Suited to a variety of inspection tasks, including weld inspection, corrosion mapping and defect sizing and characterization, the new scanners have been developed for difficult access conditions. They will operate in any orientation on flat or cylindrical surfaces, including small diameter pipework. Both units have powerful rare-earth magnets, for attachment to ferritic surfaces and incorporate precision encoder output for positional feedback on both axes of motion.

For application on non-magnetic material a simple ferritic strip can be used as a track.

Mini-Scan is a dual axis dc servo motorized scanner, similar to the widely used MIMIC manipulator, but even smaller in size. It is capable of working with pipework down to 75 mm outside diameter, but requires a radial clearance of only 50 mm. The unit, which weighs 2.3 kg, has a transverse stroke of 250 mm and comes with a compliant probe holder which can accommodate most types of transducer. Being dc servo powered, it provides smooth operation and can be

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-New equipment accurately controlled to perform line or raster scan coverage using any standard dc controller, including the company's new programmable closed-loop system, DCU 3.

Micro-Scan is smaller still. Weighing 0.8 kg wi th a height profile of 40 mm, the unit, being manually driven, is intended for applications requiring precise control of probe motion and accurate feedback of position. It can be used on flat plate and on pipework as small as 30 mm outside diameter and has a transverse stroke of 175 mm.

A stringent value engineering approach has resulted in devices which, al though of the highest quality, precision and reliability, are much less expensive than most similar devices on the market.

Sonomatic Ltd, 20 Rivington Court, Hardwick Grange, Woolston, Warrington WA 1 4RT, UK

Inspection data analysis program Tube thickness data from boiler water-wall inspections can be stored, displayed and analysed with the WW Tube Condit ion program from Karta Technology. The analyses it produces can help engineers and maintenance personnel plan future inspections, maintenance and tube replacements. With the input of data from two ultrasonic thickness examinations, the program can also calculate tube wastage rates which may be used to estimate future tube thicknesses and remaining life.

Inspection data and remaining life calculations are displayed in three different formats: graphically, isometrically and as a spreadsheet. Information is displayed in four colours, each representing various user-determined thickness

Four-colour display of tube thickness with the WW Tube condition program from Karta Technology

thresholds. The user may switch between the formats for quick comparisons of data such as previous, current and calculated future thicknesses. Al though this program may be used independently, it also works as an integral part of Karta's Boiler Maintenance Workstation ( B M W ) , a group of related programs created to handle all aspects of industrial boiler maintenance. Both WW Tube Condit ion and BMW wil l run on a 286 PC.

Karta Technology Inc, 1892 Grandstand, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA

Software enhances scanner capability Available free from AGEMA, is a software package designed to enhance the effectiveness of infrared scanners used in condit ion monitoring applications. Called CM-VIEW, the program runs on IBM PC compatibles and allows users to display and review thermal images captured on disc by AGEMA's Thermovision 400 Series infrared cameras. Users transfer the 3.5 inch

1.44 M Byte disc from the camera's bui l t - in drive and load it onto any PC on which CM-VlEW has been in installed.

The image file manager incorporated enables users to select any of the 70 possible images stored on disc, and either display them on screen, copy them to hard or f loppy disc, rename or delete them. The thermal images and all measurement data including colour scale, isotherm reading, level, sensitivity, maximum and mimmum temperatures, plus emissivity and ambient temperature settings, are all displayed on a VGA graphics monitor, as they would appear if played back through the Thermovision 470"s bui l t - in disc drive.

The main advantage of the new software, therefore, is the f lexibil i ty it offers users to continue using Thermovision in the field whi lst recorded images are viewed separately in the office. Since the package is free, anyone can copy the program. A thermography consultant conduct ing infrared surveys for several customers might therefore benefit from

276 N DT & E International October 1991