Ultrasonic nondestructive testing (NDT) is a versatile technique that can be applied to a variety of material analysis applications. While ultrasonic NDT is perhaps better known in its more common applications for thickness gaging, flaw detection and acoustic imaging, high frequency sound waves also can be used to discriminate and quantify some basic mechanical, structural or compositional properties of solids and liquids.

Computed tomography systems for industrial applications, such as R&D, production and quality, can see inside parts and quantify characteristics normally inaccessible to probing or optical sensors. The same dataset can be used to inspect the structure of material, such as porosity or wall thickness; measure external features; and generate fully surfaced or solid computer-aided design (CAD) models.

In the past, calibration and compensation have been considered strictly quality issues. Today, adopters acknowledge that calibration and compensation directly relate to substantial improvement in throughput because feed rates can be set higher when machines are known to be in tolerance. As a result, calibration and compensation of computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools is becoming routine, particularly in shops producing parts for the aerospace and medical industries.

Noncontact measurement and inspection is a fundamental practice in many manufacturing environments and quality control labs. Understanding the available options is a continual learning process as the power of video and the PC, as well as other advancements, constantly change and improve. As measuring experts continue to leverage these technology advances, more system choices have emerged.

When the data to be analyzed for a Six Sigma project is flowing into other software systems, how do you chart it? This is a challenge for many quality-focused, variation-minded professionals.

Force gages are universal and versatile measuring instruments used across all industries. As its name suggests, a force gage is used to measure the force during a push or pull test. Applications exist in research and development, production and quality laboratory environments.

Measuring systems for manufacturing quality control can offer combinations of sensor technologies so those systems can do more thorough measurements of even the most complex parts. Selecting the sensor to use for a particular measurement must be based on its capabilities and the characteristics of actual parts to be measured.

Machine vision has evolved to become a fast and reliable tool for quality inspection. In many cases, a machine vision optical inspection system can perform quality inspections more quickly and accurately than humans and at a lower cost. However, can a machine “see” in color? And does introducing color into the equation help with quality inspection?

The main goal of quality improvement is improved profitability. Greater quality reduces manufacturing costs due to lower scrap levels, less rework and reduced raw material costs. It also increases customer satisfaction because of the quality level itself and faster deliveries, thereby increasing demand for the company’s products. For these reasons, high quality can provide a competitive advantage.

Often inexperienced coordinate measuring machine (CMM) operators will perform dimensional measurements without correctly establishing a part alignment. Manual and computer numerical control (CNC) CMM operators sometimes try to use the CMM as a 2-D or 1-D height gage.