Ultrasonic technology provides the most precise and cost-effective solutions in countless applications of leak detection, tightness testing, predictive maintenance and automatic quality control.
AOST has teamed up with SDT International to offer the world's leading measuring instruments using ultrasonic technology. When necessary, SDT even helps companies implement the technology to meet very specific needs. This includes creating links with IT infrastructures, developing specific applications and integration into production lines. "Problem-Solving" is instrumental in helping SDT as the manufacturer, and AOST as technology integrators, to understand the wide range of applications, and their related operational needs, constraints and hurdles.
Technology Fundamentals
Ultrasounds are sounds with a frequency above 20 kHz, and cannot be heard by the human ear.
Ultrasounds have a number of specific characteristics that make them useful in industrial applications:
They can be very precisely measured. Differences in intensity as the waves travel through a medium or body can be quantified. So various phenomena that can influence the working and quality of machines and systems adversely can be clearly identified - often without interrupting their operation.
High frequency sounds are also more directional than lower frequency. This makes it easier to pinpoint the source even in the presence of other background noise.
They are produced by a broad and varied number of actions, such as leaks, stress, electrical discharges, cavitation (the appearance of cavities filled with damp and gas), turbulence in flowing gas or liquids. Each of these emits ultrasounds that can be detected and measured.
Taking Precise measurements
Ultrasonic detection and measurement can often be carried out relatively simply. The result is rapid, reliable and traceable testing in any number of applications.
The basic set-up in control situations consists of a hand-held unit with headphones, a meter, a sensitivity adjustment and one of a number of nozzles or modules. Some applications also require a transmitter.
In production facilities, a number of control points can be set up to run automatically. The results of each point are compared with a fixed parameter, and any unusual results are signalled. The equipment can also be connected to a computer system.
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