After an on-site demonstration of the thicknessGAUGE at Kilmarnock, we gave Micro- Epsilon some strip samples taken from various steps in our production processes. Micro-Epsilon carried out some process/machine capability tests and at that point we were confident that the solution would provide us with the measurements we needed,” states McMillan. After a day of on-site training provided by
Micro-Epsilon, the Quality team at Kilmarnock used the thicknessGAUGE in various steps of its production process. As McMillan comments: “We now use the thicknessGAUGE to check the thickness of the incoming steel that we purchase, and to check the metal alloys that we produce in- house before we send these for cold bonding. Longer term, we’ll consider installing a permanent 100% thickness measurement system for incoming steel, for example, but at the moment we’re using the thicknessGAUGE to help us build up an overall picture of our process and machine capability at the plant.”
POWERFUL ANALYSIS AND CONTROL SOFTWARE All thicknessGAUGE systems are supplied with a multi-touch panel industrial PC that is pre- installed with the thicknessCONTROL software package from Micro-Epsilon. This software provides convenient touch gesture control similar to that of modern smart phones. The measured process values can be displayed in multiple ways,
including simple large values of thickness, cross profiles and length trends or combinations of each. Full SPC data of the measurements is available and an automated verification of the system’s capability can be completed by the customer themselves.
CHECKING FOR MATERIAL WARP As well as thickness measurements, MAHLE also wanted to check the cross-strip profile and shape of the strip as it moves through its production process. Therefore, in the thicknessCONTROL software provided by Micro-Epsilon, an extra feature was added that allows theQuality team to view the ‘warp’ of the strip material. Essentially, this is a plot of the individual profile of the top and bottom laser sensors, which allows the user to see if the material shape is bowed, curved or tilted. “If the strip is bowed, for example, it might
mean that we end up with problems downstream when we have to match the alloy to the steel for bonding. In this scenario, we would feed back to our steel supplier that they need to improve the shape of the steel, or we would have to focus on making our alloy flatter,” explains McMillan.
BENEFITS OF THE SYSTEM The plant is seeing benefits from thicknessGAUGE already. McMillan says that in the final process before the alloy strip goes to the cold bonding operation, the thicknessGAUGE has helped identify potential issues after start-up. He explains: “On
start up, one particular batch of alloy strip was OK, but within about 40 metres into the coil, the thickness of the strip became harder to control and was more than 100 microns outside the target thickness. This immediately warned us that there would be a problem in our downstream bonding process. The finished product would basically be out of specification.” Before using the thicknessGAUGE, the quality
team took only sample measurements, so this type of issue may have been missed completely. “We wouldn’t know if the strip was the same thickness all the way through, or if it varied.With the thicknessGAUGE, we can now check our various processes to see what we need to do to change the number of reduction passes on the alloy.” Although the plant is not using the thicknessGAUGE in a fixed, in-process control manner at present, it has seen enough already to suggest that it will go down the in-process route in the future. As McMillan concludes: “Working with Micro-
Epsilon has been great and the support they’ve provided has been fantastic. The on-site demonstration and training were excellent, and they turned around the sample strip tests really quickly for us. The thicknessGAUGE system itself is very intuitive, easy to use and has proved very reliable.
More Precision
Precise sensor system for inline thickness measurements
Compact complete solution for precise inline thickness measurements up to 50 mm
For many types of surfaces / materials due to different sensor technologies
Traversing sensors on linear axis Fully automatic calibration 24 V supply for the entire system Integrated software
Phone +44 (0) 151 355 6070 |
www.micro-epsilon.co.uk |
info@micro-epsilon.co.uk 15
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