MTQ' Dortmund '96 - Report
by Rolf
Diederichs
Introduction
The biennial MTQ Exhibition in Dortmund, Germany shows products and
services for Material Testing and
Quality. Exhibitor participation was up 23% at the 6th exhibition, held
November 12-15, 1996.
Most of the 313 exhibitors were from Germany, with only 18 coming from
other countries. 8250 visitors attended, reflecting a decline of 12 %,
not surprising, since there are
a lot of other European
exhibitions in this field, even some in Germany itself - Control
Sinsheim, Mircrotec Frankfurt, Mesucora Paris [1] MTQ
Birmingham [2]. What is a surprising is that both the
Dortmund and Birmingham MTQ shows always take place in the same year.
European Community coordination, maybe? The German economic disaster is
surely also a
reason for the decline in the number of visitors.
NDT companies were the biggest group, demonstrating new developments
in all fields of NDT methods. We counted about 50 real NDT companies, 43 of
them
members of the DGZfP [3]. All other
companies showed various products in quality-related fields, like
measurement, destructive material testing and total quality managemet (TQM). There were companies
present
showing advanced IR measuring equipment, or visual and leak testing,
unaware of its use for NDT applications.
At the DGZfP booth the UT-onlineJournal demonstrated "NDT on the
Internet" and introduced the new NDT-online
exhibition on www.NDT.net as well as the UT'96 CD-ROM.
Many visitors were interested in this new medium, and we got to meet a
lot of
readers. Let's see if the following can present new information even
for those who visited the exhibition. Other information related to the MTQ
can be found
at the end of this page [4].
Review
We will begin with ultrasonic information
followed by
other NDT methods. Finally, we'll take a brief tour (with pictures) of some
other booths. |
IRT
| -
Inspection Research & Research Technologies showed new products at the Vogt
Werkstoffprüfsysteme GmbH, the German distributor and
European service center. The company manufactures Scan Master-based
ultrasonic inspection systems. At the spacious booth, many equipment applications were demonstrated. There was a great deal of interest in the portable ultrasonic scanning system for many on-side applications
requiring B and C-scan imaging, on-site data analysis, documented reporting
and remote data transmission. The upi-50 ultrasonic instrument is a center
which serves for all ultrasonic testing applications.
| 
|Picture| |Press Release|
|
Contact
IRT in NDT
online |
Krautkraemer
| -
Krautkraemer showed a new version of the field proofed
USD 15. A big order
from the US Air Force for 681 flaw detectors released the design for the new
USD 15 SQ. The new features are: (1) Adjustable Square Wave Pulser which
gains a higher echo amplitude. (2) Improved wall thickness measurement
functions, such as alarm levels and datalogger. (3) Set up files (alpha numerical) for saving
all equipment parameters under a
alpha numerical file name, for added reproducibility. (4) A really useful
display feature is a
of two simultaneously visible A-Scans. It lets you easily compare two
test results. It's all powered by 8-hour rechargeable batteries or can be
plugged into the
standard voltage supply.
|
- The PC based USPC 2100 found a great
interest; see more about it in the
Seattle report - however, here we've added pictures of the screen menus.
|
USPC 2100 in Seattle
|
- The new
resonance testing equipment provides an innovation in nondestructive
testing. It leads to new testing applications: in
automotive industry for example, spark plug ceramic or air bag containers, or
in the medical field for ceramic implants - just to name a few. In
addition, the
resonance test method can significantly improve the inspection of many
parts currently being tested with conventional methods.
| 
|Picture| |Press Release|
|
Contact
Krautkraemer in NDT
online | |
Panametrics
-
Wall thickness measurement is a domain of Panametrics Ultrasonic business.
The 26 MG Thickness gauge is inexpensive and offers excellent features by
means of: ease to operation due to automatic calibration, 0.5mm to 200mm
range, 0.1/0.01 mm resolution, and a long battery life of 250 hours.
|
Picture 26 MG
|Press Release|
|
- For more advanced demands the 25 DL is the solution. It highlights best
performance (extremely thin) and this function is achieved by "echo-echo"
which means a time of flight measurement between multiple backwall echoes. An
example for more functions are an alarm monitor and data logger, and that all
hand-held and battery powered.
|
Picture 25 DL
|Press Release|
|
Contact
Panametrics in NDT
online | |
Q NET
| - Q Net has extensive experience in the field of NDT.
The products are based on close communication with the Fraunhofer Institutes,
other Institutes and Industry partners. The IZFP Institute in Saarbruecken
is a very close partner, especially for NDT products and
services .
A special instrument (Zementitprüfer) serves for characterization of the
porosity of casting iron and is based on a micro magnetic testing method.
|
- For ultrasonics the new PC board PCUS 10 provides high
resolution and a dynamic range. Together with flexible MS-Windows software
the board is the key for your customized powerful Ultrasonic Testing
equipment.
|
|Picture
|PCUS 10 Leaflet| |
- The basic fundamental results for Hardness depth testing were
introduced by the FhG IZFP Institute. The final product is now the P3105
Härti which provides high accuracy, fast measurement and is ready for
portable manual testing as well as for automated in-process testing.
P3105
Härti Leaflet
|
- Stress in rail wheels can be determined with an automated ultrasonic
system UER. The system works with electromagnetic transducers EMATs
(without a coupling) and generates polarized waves. The inspection can
detect micro cracks that could grow and could cause a
dangerous accident under operation .
| 
UER
|
Contact
Q NET in NDT
online | |
Siemens
| -
Siemens highlighted new ultrasonic testing products based on extensive
experience in power plant applications. However, today the range of
applications is used in many fields of industry.
|
- The Ultrasonic Test equipment SAPHIR provides a flexible multi
channel hardware which is backed by a sophisticated software package.
Siemens takes care of all details of its products, just to be a partner in
providing a
complete solution.
|
- A new probe coupling method was introduced which prevents the splash of
waste water all over the specimen and the floor. The principle is based
on a vacuum pump which operates a water cycle through the probe holder. The
demonstration showed that this kind of 'dry coupling' didn't splash even a
drop of water on the floor.
|
- Another place showed the results of a new paintbrush probe that was
designed especially for plate and tube testing. One advantage of this
development is a very flat acoustic beam together with other improved beam
characteristics. Because those transducers cover a large surface area it
can reduce the number of testing channels.
Probe beam
characteristics |
- Mr. Ritter from Siemens KWU Erlangen was a speaker on the one day DGZfP
Symposium
"Research in NDT" during the Exhibition. He reported on the development of
new transducer arrays.
| Article
Universal phased array probe
for NDE
|
Contact
Siemens in NDT
online | |
Kraemer
| -
The company's business is growing fast in the NDT market. The range of
products which are distributed for the German/Neighbors market has
increased in
the last few years. Kraemer is proud to announce that they are now the
distributor for
NDT Systems Inc. in Huntington Beach CA. The company manufactures several new
ultrasonic and eddy current testing products (e.g., QUANTUM TE, QFT100, and
QFT200). In the field of X-Ray a new portable tube from I.C.M. Belgium
was a focus for many visitors. For MT and PT nondestructive testing methods
the products manufactured by MR Chemie were displayed.
|
Contact
Kraemer in NDT
online |
Philips
| - The world market leader in the field of
non-destructive materials testing with X-rays, Philips Industrial X-Ray,
demonstrated the state of the art in radioscopic X-ray inspection with the
120 kV X-ray system MG 121 VF, together with PXV 2000 system for interactive
image analysis and archiving. The high detail recognition of the MG 121 VF
was convincingly shown with the detection of microflaws in several high
precision and small components. The large range of image processing
functions like filtering, graphic overlay capabilities, or distance and
area measurement features of the PC based PXV 2000 system attracted the
attention of numerous visitors.
|
Contact
Philips in NDT online |
FWD
| -
FWD is a Literature Documentation Service for Materials Science and
Industry. Together with the Federal Institute for Materials Research and
Testing (BAM) and the Center for Technological Information (FIZ), DGZfP is
the co-editor of the NDT Literature Documentation Service. Information on
demand is a key to handling today's fast growing market for new technologies.
For this purpose the FWD provides many services for industries helping them
to find quality results in an economical way backed by the
know-how of many experts.
|
Contact
FWD in Library Archives |
USD 15
