Nondestructive testing of welded electrical connectors
A description is given of a project to develop a nondestructive inspection technology for welded electrical connections. Emphasis was on percussive arc welds. While inspection of piece parts was the primary goal, nondestructive inspection of special samples used to control production also was considered. During the early phases of the project, efforts were entirely directed toward establishing a correlation between data from nondestructive tests and the tensile load required to break the weld. Later work confirmed that the ultrasonic pulse echo pattern of a percussive arc weld was changed when the weld schedule was changed. This technique discriminated between samples made by different schedules with better than 99 percent reliability. The finding that ultrasonic pulse echo techniques correlated with weld schedule parameters such as arc time and peak current prompted re-investigation of previously studied NDT techniques. The average infrared emission from several samples of the same schedule was also found to correlate with schedule information. During a brief search for alternative destructive tests, it was found that a 30 g vibration test at the resonance frequency of the welded sample showed promise. This test showed good capability for discriminating between weld schedules and always resulted in failures of the weld, not the wire.
- Research Organization:
- Bendix Corp., Kansas City, Mo. (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- E(29-1)-613
- OSTI ID:
- 7148245
- Report Number(s):
- BDX-613-1190(Rev.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
420500 -- Engineering-- Materials Testing
420800* -- Engineering-- Electronic Circuits & Devices-- (-1989)
ACOUSTIC EMISSION TESTING
ACOUSTIC TESTING
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
INFRARED RADIATION
INSPECTION
JOINTS
MATERIALS TESTING
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
TENSILE PROPERTIES
TESTING
ULTRASONIC TESTING
WELDED JOINTS