National Metal Casting Research Institute final report. Development of an automated ultrasonic inspection cell for detecting subsurface discontinuities in cast gray iron. Volume 3

This inspection cell consisted of an ultrasonic flaw detector, transducer, robot, immersion tank, computer, and software. Normal beam pulse-echo ultrasonic nondestructive testing, using the developed automated cell, was performed on 17 bosses on each rough casting. Ultrasonic transducer selection, initial inspection criteria, and ultrasonic flow detector (UFD) setup parameters were developed for the gray iron castings used in this study. The software were developed for control of the robot and UFD in real time. The software performed two main tasks: emulating the manual operation of the UFD, and evaluating the ultrasonic signatures for detecting subsurface discontinuities. A random lot of 105 castings were tested; the 100 castings that passed were returned to the manufacturer for machining into finished parts and then inspection. The other 5 castings had one boss each with ultrasonic signatures consistent with subsurface discontinuities. The cell was successful in quantifying the ultrasonic echo signatures for the existence of signature characteristics consistent with Go/NoGo criteria developed from simulated defects. Manual inspection showed that no defects in the areas inspected by the automated cell avoided detection in the 100 castings machined into finished parts. Of the 5 bosses found to have subsurface discontinuities, two were verified by manual inspection. The cell correctly classified 1782 of the 1785 bosses (99.832%) inspected