High-tech weld inspection

With an aim toward automotive applications, Tennessee-based APLAIR Manufacturing Systems has licensed a weld inspection technology developed by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

The average car uses more than 4,000 spot welds. Manufacturers typically inspect welds with a pry-check, an expensive and destructive process that manually tears apart samples of welded parts.

ORNL’s infrared imaging system can help automakers check a weld without damaging the part. The infrared check can be performed in a few seconds, offering industry a low-cost and non-destructive way to monitor welds in real time.

“The idea is to measure every weld, or at least every critical weld,” says ORNL’s Zhili Feng, one of the technology’s developers. “It gives automakers an efficient method to immediately send feedback to the production lines.”

APLAIR Manufacturing Systems and ORNL staff plan to collaborate to improve and validate the technology under a proposed cooperative research and development agreement, including tests on an industrial-scale assembly line.

“The complexity of new technology in the vehicles being produced today is profound,” says Jack Sisk, vice president, APLAIR Manufacturing Solutions. “The infrared imaging system offers a technology that is exactly the type of innovation the automotive manufacturers are looking for. This technology will allow the automotive manufacturers and their suppliers to produce vehicles that are higher quality and safer for their customers.”

The ORNL technology can be applied to a range of steel welds, regardless of the material’s surface finish or thickness. ORNL researchers plan to expand the technique to other metals, which could help automakers explore the use of new high-strength, lightweight materials such as aluminum alloys and magnesium alloys. These materials typically require more stringent welding conditions and are more difficult to evaluate with the standard pry-check test.

“This technology will enable increased use of innovative materials in auto body structures to meet needs for fuel efficiency,” says ORNL’s Jian Chen.

APLAIR intends to make a commercial product based on the ORNL technology available within two years. With product validation nearly complete, APLAIR has selected several partners to move the technology forward. Currently, APLAIR has developed plans for process validation of the hardware and software and will begin building the prototype system in 2015.

“After some time working with the researchers at ORNL to understand the technology, we very quickly knew of many applications in manufacturing with the automotive industry being a prime candidate,” says APLAIR CEO Robert Watts. “We have had industry interest in the technology from the beginning of this project and are anxious to get the technology to market.”

The Vehicle Technologies Office in DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy supported ORNL’s development of the weld inspection technology.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

www.ornl.gov