Featured Product
This Week in Quality Digest Live
Innovation Features
Jeanne Quimby
Kids can be the source of new ideas
Matt Fieldman
Vocational programs and apprenticeships show the way
Jacob Bourne
Combining computers, robotics, and automation drives efficiency and innovation
Gleb Tsipursky
Here’s the true path to junior staff success
Nathan Furr
Here’s how to balance psychological safety and intellectual honesty for better team performance

More Features

Innovation News
Introducing solutions to improve production performance
High-performance model extends vision capability
10-year technology partnership includes sponsorship of quality control lab
Research commissioned by the Aerospace & Defense PLM Action Group with Eurostep and leading PLM providers
MM series features improved functionality and usability
Features improved accuracy, resolution, versatility, and efficiency
Meeting new package configuration trends
New report rethinks hydroelectric solutions

More News

Quality Digest

Innovation

Waygate Technologies Launches Krautkrämer SpotVision

Image-based spot-weld inspection with flexible probe head provides deeper insights in automotive welding

Published: Wednesday, October 12, 2022 - 11:58

(Waygate Technologies: Huerth, Germany) – Waygate Technologies, a Baker Hughes business and world leader in nondestructive testing (NDT) solutions for industrial inspection, introduces Krautkrämer SpotVision, a new phased array ultrasonic solution for spot weld inspection.

Krautkrämer SpotVision was developed specifically for the requirements of spot weld inspection in the automotive industry: By using the inspection device, car companies can reduce downtime while ensuring that their products meet high quality standards and product safety is guaranteed. The Krautkrämer SpotVision solution combines a new phased array probe with the latest software and the Krautkrämer Mentor UT flaw detector.

“For the development of Krautkrämer SpotVision, we have worked closely with automotive manufacturers to ensure that the solution adapts to the requirements of their inspection processes and provides outstanding inspection accuracy and repeatability. Thus, SpotVision not only meets the inspection requirements of today, but is also prepared for those of tomorrow, for a better and more productive workflow and safe quality products,” says Weiwei Zhang, Director of Product Management Ultrasound at Waygate Technologies in Huerth.

A unique product design for easy-to-handle operations

Features of Krautkrämer SpotVision include the completely newly designed 2D matrix phased array probe. Its fluid-filled membrane adapts to uneven surfaces and the overall complex geometry of spot welds better than any other probe and ensures optimal acoustic coupling to the test specimen. The flexible probe head design prevents false negative results, minimizing unnecessary changeover or calibration times. Combined with the new Total Focusing Method (TFM) image processing, higher resolution and measurement accuracy is achieved. The easy-to-handle probe operates at a frequency of 13 MHz and is supplied with an effective array of 32 elements and a pitch of 1.25 mm.


The flexible Krautkrämer SpotVision probe (right) in comparison with a standard probe (left).

Compatible with the Krautkrämer portfolio

The portable instrument also features Mentor PC Live software, an intuitive and user-friendly interface that displays the data acquired by the instrument in real time. Krautkrämer SpotVision is designed to be used with the Krautkrämer Mentor UT phased array flaw detector that walks the inspector through every step of the instrument setup and is part of the solution. Customers already using a Mentor UT flaw detector have the option to upgrade. SpotVision can also be combined with other components from the Krautkrämer portfolio for joint inspection, such as the Krautkrämer Bond Scanner.

Learn more about Krautkrämer SpotVision here.


Krautkrämer SpotVision on a car chassis: The membrane of the probe head is filled with fluid, allowing it to adapt to uneven surfaces and enhancing ease of use.

Discuss

About The Author

Quality Digest’s picture

Quality Digest

For 40 years Quality Digest has been the go-to source for all things quality. Our newsletter, Quality Digest, shares expert commentary and relevant industry resources to assist our readers in their quest for continuous improvement. Our website includes every column and article from the newsletter since May 2009 as well as back issues of Quality Digest magazine to August 1995. We are committed to promoting a view wherein quality is not a niche, but an integral part of every phase of manufacturing and services.