NDT-RAM Medical MIM/PIM

No where like the medical device manufacturing industry is the potential liability of shipping a defective part as catastrophic to you, your medical partners, and the patients. Non-Destructive Test--Resonant Acoustic Method (NDT-RAM™) inspection is designed to help you manufacture 100% fully inspected metal injection molded or cast component parts, giving you assurance in the integrity of your product and performance. Learn more about NDT-RAM

The principle of NDT-RAM is simple. Every part has a unique resonant signature or pattern that reflects its structural integrity. A familiar example is a cracked bell, which no longer has a clear ring and cannot hold its tone. When comparing the resonant signature of a batch of parts, any deviation from the expected signature indicates the presence of a variation. The variation can be either acceptable process variation or nonconforming variations like missing features, cracks or other structural flaws. An empirical sort is developed with a sample set of both good and bad parts to develop a screening criterion to reject the nonconforming parts. Contact us to provide you with a no charge parts evaluation test, to assess the suitability of NDT-RAM for your part and flaws.

In metal injected molded (MIM) or powdered metal injection molded (PIM) parts, NDT-RAM detects variances such as cracks, voids, porosity, missing features and missing manufacturing processes. The entire procedure occurs as fast as a second per part, allowing for efficient quality assurance. Your performance is guarded, your liability is limited and your reputation in the industry grows. As a contributor to state-of-the-art innovative quality inspection The Modal Shop is a member of the Metal Powder Industry Federation.

Who needs NDT Resonant Inspection?
Medical manufacturers or users of metal injection molded (MIM/PIM) parts that
• Have substantial liability in quality or failure
• Require 100% inspection of their parts
• Have high cost of imaging inspection methods (CT, RI, etc)
• Desire to continuously improve quality of their parts and manufacturing processes

What does NDT Resonant Inspection detect?
• Cracks, chips, and holes
• Porosity
• Missing features
• Variations in hardness
• Bonding, welding, or brazing failures
• Missing machining or heat-treating processes

Benefits to NDT-RAM method
• Confidence in 100% quality assurance inspection and test
• No "part preparation" required
• Parts are fully inspected in seconds
• Easy to learn and use application software
• Report generation, including statistical analysis
• Industrial package - NEMA4 enclosure
• Contact or non-contact test many different parts
• Same system can test many different parts
• Process compensation for common process variables

Abstract

Resonant inspection measures the structural response of a part and evaluates it against the statistical variation from a control set of good parts to screen defects. Its volumetric approach tests the whole part, both for external and internal structural flaws or deviations, providing objective and quantitative results. This structural response is a unique and measurable signature, defined by a component’s mechanical resonances. These resonances are a function of part geometry and material properties and are the basis for Resonant Acoustic Method for Flaw Detection. By measuring the resonances of a part, one determines the structural characteristics of that part in a single test. Typical flaws and defects adversely affecting the structural characteristics for powdered metal as would be introduced in the green state are geometry related and typically a result of handling. This paper introduces the physical basis of the technique.

Download paper here

Currently, there are four available configurations of the NDT-RAM™ system:

NDT-DTF1 – integrated drop test solution for high volume, small part inspection

NDT-AUTO -- for integration into high-volume process lines
NDT-SEMI -- for integration into existing production lines
NDT-MAN -- mobile solution for spot-checks and field troubleshooting

Non-Destructive Test

Quality inspection of medical device components