light! 004 | The car of the future

MANUFACTURING
BCB
Process and quality control
Process control involves measuring the temperature
and identifying the shape of certain products in a production
line, so that they conform to specifications.
Artificial vision can detect a production problem, but
not thermal irregularities. Indeed, thermography provides
much more information to production specialists
and decision makers, adding a new dimension to
computer vision.
Many automobile manufacturers use thermographic
cameras for quality control. New vehicles undergo
a multitude of tests for this purpose. Typical applications
include inspection of rear window heating,
heated seats, exhaust covers, air conditioning outlets,
etc. Thermography is essential in durability and
validation tests.
Hot forming stamping
and forging
The hot forming process is based on combining a
deformation operation of the base material (sheet
or billet) at high temperature with subsequent
quenching treatment. While hot, the material is
more ductile and the piece is deformed with smaller
forces. Subsequent rapid cooling gives it its highstrength
martensitic structure. The microstructure
and final properties of the manufactured part are
strictly linked to a good control of the temperatures,
times and deformations applied.
Large temperature differences in the part or in the
die during the process lead to the appearance of
non-homogeneous deformations that can put the
manufactured part out of tolerance. To avoid this,
the thermal monitoring of hot forming cycles is required
to evaluate the evolution of the temperature
in the part before and after deformation, as well as
the correct cooling of the die.
Quality control for car
components
A reduction in the failure rate of electronic vehicle
components is essential. The only way to guarantee
this reduction is to check each component individually
thereby offering 100% guaranteed quality control.
Thermography allows electronic component
manufacturers to detect hot spots, which is an indication
of defective products.
Additive manufacturing
Also known as 3D printing, it allows you to create
pieces directly from a digital model without the need
for traditional subtractive machining tools and with
minimal geometric limitations. Heat is an integral part
of the additive manufacturing process and needs to
be monitored to detect phenomena that have a direct
effect on both the dimensional and mechanical
quality and performance of the final product. The
diagnosis of thermal stress or distortions using typical
contact sensors such as thermocouples, RTDs
or thermistors, is complicated or even impossible.
Thermographic cameras help to study the process
and its thermal properties, correlating temperatures
measured during the process with quality parameters
for the finished product. With the help of thermography
it is possible to identify porosity, delamination,
retraction, poor surface finish or dimensional defects.
Comparison of thermal dissipation between electronic circuits
40 light! by secpho