Early detection of damage: Infrared thermography for steel production

Thermographic inspections using thermal imaging cameras serve for a precise determination of the surface condition of crude steel.

Steel is used wherever high performance is required: in the sector of mechanical engineering and plant construction, in the automotive industry or for the construction of trains, railways and accessories. The demand for steel increases steadily. But in order for the steel processing industry to be able to offer high-quality products, the requirements put on crude steel are extremely high. A reliable and non-destructive quality inspection can be accomplished by using thermal imaging cameras. Infrared thermography renders damages at the crude steel surface visible. The high-quality thermal imaging cameras from Trotec are perfectly suited for these applications.

Monitoring and checking the quality of crude steel is a complex and cost-intensive undertaking. Normally, these inspections are carried out manually and visually. Such a visual inspection – also of finished steel products – means, though, that the options for meticulous, full-scale examinations are limited. After all, the naked eye spots hardly more than larger fractures and cracks at the material surface. Hence, the extent of fault detection depends on the eyesight of the responsible employee and his expertise. Another problem is that these processes are not documented and thus cannot be traced back. In the automobile and railway industry, the calls for quality control procedures that are quicker, more reliable and also safer for the employees are growing ever louder. A definite asset for quality inspections in the steel production in the automobile and railway industry is the application of infrared thermography. For even with steel thermal imaging cameras go into great detail. The Trotec Group's product range includes several thermal imaging cameras taking a closer look at the material.

Quality check: Infrared saves time and money

It takes no more than a slight heating of the crude steel or steel product to roughly 20 degrees to render defects of the steel visible for a thermal imaging camera. In next to no time blemishes at the surface become apparent on the images, for the open surface defects are warmer than the remaining material.

Top class thermography

A very high geometric resolution coupled with a high-performance image sensor and a high thermal sensitivity: This is how the thermal imaging camera IC125LV from Trotec presents itself. The 110,592 independent temperature measuring spots of the high-resolution infrared sensor allow for a geometric resolution of 1.1 mrad in the temperature range between -20 °C to +1,500 °C.

Thanks to their high thermal sensitivity of 0.05 °C even minimal temperature differences and consequently even the most subtle of damages at heated crude steel or extremely hot steel products can be rendered visible. Yet, it is simple to operate the IC125LV. The 3.5 inch colour display permits a convenient, non-contact inspection from all sides. Naturally, it is also possible to take real images or record high-quality infrared videos – for an in-depth, detailed documentation.

Part of the standard equipment are an integrated real image and DuoVision option for the real-time indication of infrared and real image overlays with different display options. Thanks to the miniSD memory card the memory space will not be a problem even in case of more extensive measurements. And like all thermal imaging cameras of the IC series, the IC125LV, too, comes equipped with a high-capacity battery for longer measuring operations.

Further solutions

Automotive industry

Railway

Steel industry

Infrared thermography for steel production

standard equipment

optionally available

not available

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