Advanced Material Solutions
'Next Level' Flaw Detection with SmartTest™ Advanced Resonance Inspection

For more than 20 years Advanced Material Solutions (AMS) has been a leader in high speed, high volume non-destructive testing of components for manufacturers in the automotive, transportation, aerospace, consumer products and medical device markets. AMS inspects tens of millions of parts each year seeking to identify and contain parts with structural defects. The company also builds and sells inspection systems for clients to use in house for the same purposes.

“There are many non-destructive testing methods. Among these, Ultrasonic (UT), Electromagnetic (ET) and Acoustic Resonance Inspection (ARI) are the best suited to high speed, high volume testing and are therefore the most used methods here at AMS” says Peter Miller, President of AMS.

While there have been many technical advancements in both UT and ET Inspection over the years the same cannot be said for ARI. “In one form or another ARI has been in use for more than twenty five years now. Over that span the technology has evolved, but not nearly at the same pace as many other aspects of manufacturing and inspection technologies. In fact, the last meaningful changes were introduced nearly twenty years ago. Today though, a significant advancement in ARI technology is available - SmartTest™ Advanced Resonance,” says Miller.

AMS realizes that there is a never-ending need to detect smaller flaws in industrial parts and with equal importance to achieve higher inspection productivity. SmartTest™ takes both defect detection and productivity to the next level with game changing advances in several areas:

• Extended inspection bandwidth – which enables more failure modes to be discovered

• Ultra-high inspection resolution – enables detection of ever smaller flaw sizes, reduces false rejects, and improves inspection confidence

• Modern, reliable hardware – a giant leap forward in processing power means faster inspection with less downtime

• Integral manufacturing process compensation – fast, reliable, and effective enhancement to defect detection

• Confirmed reject capture – SmartTest™ systems feature ‘positive capture sensing’ of all rejected parts, ensuring they cannot escape

• Productivity suite – a host of features and utilities that maximize throughput and profit

SmartTest™ systems are the most advanced acoustic resonance inspection systems available anywhere

Miller summarizes these features by simply stating “SmartTest™ is the most advanced acoustic resonance inspection technology available anywhere”. “By reinventing acoustic resonance inspection technology we’ve achieved much better defect detection, lowered inspection costs and boosted productivity, for ourselves and for our clients”, he added.

For manufacturers who make or whose product is comprised of powdered metal, cast, metal injection molded, forged, machined and other component types SmartTest™ Advanced Resonance provides a fast, effective and affordable means to detect a variety of flaws, whether arising from material property issues (composition, contaminants, microstructure) or from process related issues (hardness, heat treat, low nodularity, cracks, cold shuts, missing or incorrect features, residual stress, mishits, dimensional concerns, mixed parts).

AMS and their clients are achieving ‘next level’ benefits with SmartTest™.

“We have acoustic resonance test systems from three companies. None of them could detect the small defects that SmartTest™ can. SmartTest™ has allowed us to eliminate additional inspections needed with other systems”, -US based metal injection molded component manufacturer serving the automotive and consumer product markets

“Finally, a system that is fast, user friendly, and accurate. This system has improved our company’s quality and productivity. SmartTest exceeds our expectations”, - Mexico based manufacturer of castings for the automotive industry

According to Miller, these success stories reflect AMS’s commitment to its core values. “We believe in ‘Safety Without Compromise’ which to us mandates a never ending desire to improve both flaw detection and productivity – to be able to protect our customers by detecting and containing all flaws of interest”. For many years the NDT industry has had several options for outstanding ultrasonic and electromagnetic inspection technologies but has lacked an option for adequate acoustic resonance inspection technology. Now, with SmartTest™, advanced resonance inspection is at hand.