Production Line Inspection

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Any production line involves some form of inspection; the most basic form is manual visual inspection. This kind of inspection is not always the least expensive or the most reliable. For example, metal sheets are monitored visually by trained personnel, which require a very slow production line for reliable detection and to insure the inspector’s safety. Such systems are very costly due to the slower production speed; they are also labor intensive and labor dependent and need to be a separate stage to avoid production line interruptions. Thus a less expensive more reliable automated system is needed.

Several automated inspection systems introduced to detect and locate defects on production lines. Due to the high cost of inspection systems, the manufacturer needs guarantees that the system

works and can increase the quality of the products. Since the 1980s several international groups have worked to introduce such systems. One of the early collaborations was between nine steel making companies and three aluminum making companies; called “American Iron and Steel Institute for Surface Inspection Project” the collaboration produced an inspection system manufactured by Kodak. Other systems that include CCD cameras were introduced with a variety of image processing techniques [7]. Such systems are limited to certain defects i.e. those that include a color difference or geometry change, the main problems they can detect are pitting, roller marks and lubrication presence. [8] Usually such systems are implemented in the cold rolling stage as a precaution. Other systems propose constructing 3-D information about the steel sheet surface, ( Profilometer [9,10]). . Due to the small inspection area used ( 340 μm x 260 μm ), such a system is s...

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...rip so the strip will heat with regard to the resistance of the steel [16-18]; though such systems are very promising and can detect focal and deep defects, the use of electrical fields can generate some risk when working online.

For both cases of IR thermography sensing methods and due to the wide variety of production conditions and material processes, there is a need to determine the relation between the detectors (IR camera) and material properties. The aim of this study is to find scalable relations that can be used in developing inspection systems using infrared thermography. The materials used are steel, aluminum and plastic representing three main materials used in common products. The scaling

laws are drawn from reflection steady heating under three temperatures low, intermediate and high representing the most common heating conditions on a production line.

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