It is important to have a way to test spot welds quickly and accurately to determine the integrity of the weld. This is also true for the development of the inspection plan that are used to do the inspections.
The Problem:
There are many systems available that do NDT inspections of spot welds, but many fall short in one of these critical areas:
- If a system is not quick and easy for your operators to learn and use can be costly to operate.
- If a system that is not accurate, you can’t count on it for critical feedback, which could result in much scrap and/or rework.
Many systems require that you do lengthy training and to keep operators fresh and alert to provide accurate results. You want a system that can pass a spot weld only if it is good so you can count on it to make process improvements.
The Solution:
You can reduce the chance for human error by choosing the right NDT inspection system. You want to be able to create good inspection plans consistently. Good inspection plans give you good, consistent results regardless of who is doing the inspections. A system that requires a lot of training and experience can give you varying results, depending on the level of expertise of the operator.
You will also want the ability to store and retrieve results so you can track equipment and operator performance. Results should be regularly evaluated for accuracy so adjustments can be made to the welding process or inspection process as needed.
You should also inspect and calibrate your system against well established standards to make sure the results accurately reflect reality.
Conclusion:
It is important for you to do proper research to find the right NDT for spot weld inspection to aid in good quality control for the production of spot welds with good integrity.