A new method for specular curved surface defect inspection based on reflected pattern integrity

Defect inspection of specular curved surface is a challenging job. Taking steel balls for example, a new method based on reflected pattern integrity recognition is put forward. The specular steel ball surface will totally reflect the patterns when it is placed inside a dome-shaped light source, whose inner wall is modified by patterns with certain regular. Distortion or intermittence of reflected pattern will occur at the defective part, which indicates the pattern has lost its integrity. Based on the integrity analysis of reflected pattern images？ surface defects can be revealed. In this paper, a set of concentric circles are used as the pattern and an image processing algorithm is customized to extract the surface defects. Results show that the proposed method is effective for the specular curved surface defect inspection

Surface form inspection with contact coordinate measurement:a review

Parts with high-quality freeform surfaces have been widely used in industries,which require strict quality control during the manufacturing process.Among all the industrial inspection methods,contact measurement with coordinate measuring machines or computer numerical control machine tool is a fundamental technique due to its high accuracy,robustness,and universality.In this paper,the existing research in the contact measurement field is systematically reviewed.First,different configurations of the measuring machines are introduced in detail,which may have influence on the corresponding sampling and inspection path generation criteria.Then,the entire inspection pipeline is divided into two stages,namely the pre-inspection and post-inspection stages.The typical methods of each sub-stage are systematically overviewed and classified,including sampling,accessibility analysis,inspection path generation,probe tip radius compensation,surface reconstruction,and uncertainty analysis.Apart from those classical research,the applications of the emerging deep learning technique in some specific tasks of measurement are introduced.Furthermore,some potential and promising trends are provided for future investigation.

Online application of automatic surface quality inspection system to finishing line of cold rolled strips

An automatic surface quality inspection system installed on a finishing lineof cold rolled strips is introduced. The system is able to detect surface defects on cold rolledstrips, such as scratches, coil breaks, rusts, roll imprints, and so on. Multiple CCD area scancameras were equipped to capture images of strip surface simultaneously. Defects were detectedthrough 'Dark-field illumination' which is generated by LED illuminators. Parallel computationtechnique and fast processing algorithms were developed for real-time data processing. Theapplication to the production line shows that the system is able to detect defects effectively.

Laser ultrasonic testing for near-surface defects inspection of 316L stainless steel fabricated by laser powder bed fusion

The laser powder bed fusion(L-PBF)method of additive manufacturing(AM)is increasingly used in various industrial manufacturing fields due to its high material utilization and design freedom of parts.However,the parts produced by L-PBF usually contain such defects as crack and porosity because of the technological characteristics of L-PBF,which affect the quality of the product.Laser ultrasonic testing(LUT)is a potential technology for on-line testing of the L-PBF process.It is a non-contact and non-destructive approach based on signals from abundant waveforms with a wide frequency-band.In this study,a method of LUT for on-line inspection of L-PBF process was proposed,and a system of LUT was established approaching the actual environment of on-line detection to evaluate the method applicability for defects detection of L-PBF parts.The detection results of near-surface defects in L-PBF 316L stainless steel parts show that the crack-type defects with a sub-millimeter level within 0.5 mm depth can be identified,and accordingly,the positions and dimensions information can be acquired.The results were verified by X-ray computed tomography,which indicates that the present method exhibits great potential for on-line inspection of AM processes.

Surface Inspection System for Cold Rolled Strips Based on Image ProcessingTechnique

A new surface inspection system for cold rolled strips based on image processing is introduced. The system is equipped withtwo different illumination structures and CCD matrix cameras. The structure and image processing of the inspection system are described. Some efficient algorithms for image processing and classification are presented. The system is tested with strip samples fromcold rolling plants. The results show that the system can detect and recognize six common defects of cold rolled strips successfully.

Application of automatic surface inspection system in cold-rolled strip production

The detection and classification of real-time surface defects play an important role in automotive sheet inspection and production. In this paper, an automatic surface inspection system （ASIS） based on signal processing in Baosteel NO. 4 cold-rolled plant is briefly presented. We demonstrate that the strip surface defect properties such as image, type, pitch, and position can be accurately calculated and classified by the automatic surface inspection system. In the manufacturing of the high-quality cold-rolled strips, it is necessary that the real-time surface defects can be detected and transferred by the automatic surface inspection system combined with annealing lines and recoiling lines.

Research on automatic inspection system for defects on precise optical surface based on machine vision

In manufacture of precise optical products, it is important to inspect and classify the potential defects existing on the products’ surfaces after precise machining in order to obtain high quality in both functionality and aesthetics. The existing methods for detecting and classifying defects all are low accuracy or efficiency or high cost in inspection process. In this paper, a new inspection system based on machine vision has been introduced, which uses automatic focusing and image mosaic technologies to rapidly acquire distinct surface image, and employs Case-Based Reasoning(CBR)method in defects classification. A modificatory fuzzy similarity algorithm in CBR has been adopted for more quick and robust need of pattern recognition in practice inspection. Experiments show that the system can inspect surface diameter of 500mm in half an hour with resolving power of 0.8μm diameter according to digs or 0.5μm transverse width according to scratches. The proposed inspection principles and methods not only have meet manufacturing requirements of precise optical products, but also have great potential applications in other fields of precise surface inspection.

Automated visual inspection of surface defects based on compound moment invariants and support vector machine

The traditional inspection methods are mostly based on manual inspection which is very likely to make erroneous judgments due to personal subjectivity or eye fatigue, and can＇t satisfy the accuracy. To overcome these difficulties, we develop a machine vision inspection system. We first compare several kinds of methods for feature extraction and classification, and then present a real-time automated visual inspection system for copper strips surface （CSS） defects based on compound moment invariants and support vector machine （SVM）. The proposed method first processes images collected by hardware system, and then extracts feature characteristics based on grayscale characteristics and morphologic characteristics （Hu and Zernike compound moment invariants）. Finally, we use SVM to classify the CSS defects. Furthermore, performance comparisons among SVM, back propagation （BP） and radial basis function （RBF） neural networks have been involved. Experimental results show that the proposed approach achieves an accuracy of 95.8% in detecting CSS defects.

Investigation of the factors affecting the limit of detection of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for surface inspection

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS) was examined to detect a trace substance adhered onto Al alloys for the surface inspection of materials to be adhesively bonded. As an example of Si contamination, silicone oil was employed and sprayed onto substrates with a controlled surface concentration. LIBS measurements employing nanosecond UV pulses(λ?=?266 nm) and an off-axis emission collection system with different detecting heights were performed. Because surface contaminants are involved in the plasma formed by laser ablation of the substrates, the relative contribution of the surface contaminants and the substrates to the plasma emission could be changed depending on the conditions for plasma formation. The limit of detection(LOD) was evaluated under several detecting conditions for investigating the factors that affected the LOD. A significant factor was the standard deviation values of signal intensities obtained for the clean substrates. This value varied depending on the measurement conditions.For the Al alloy(A6061), the smallest LOD obtained was 0.529 μg?·?cm^(-2). Furthermore, an improved LOD(0.299 μg?·?cm^(-2)) was obtained for the Al alloy with a lower Si content.

ON-LINE INSPECTION TECHNIQUES OF MANUFACTURING QUALITY OF ROLLED-STEEL SHEET

On-line measurement of manufaturing quality of rolled steel needs the performances of noncontact, high-responds, high-resolution and high aceuracy. The reccntly developed hardware makes it possible. This paper gives a review of the development of this techniques and introduces four kinds of developed measurement systems. And the future development trends in this field was also discussed.

Development of an automatic weld surface appearance inspection system using machine vision

In this paper, an automatic inspection system for weld surface appearance using machine vision has been developed to recognize weld surface defects such as porosities, cracks, etc. It can replace conventional manual visual inspection method, which is tedious, time-consuming, subjective, experience-depended, and sometimes biased. The system consists of a CCD camera, a self-designed annular light source, a sensor controller, a frame grabbing card, a computer and so on. After acquiring weld surface appearance images using CCD, the images are preprocessed using median filtering and a series of image enhancement algorithms. Then a dynamic threshold and morphology algorithms are applied to segment defect object. Finally, defect features information is obtained by eight neighborhoods boundary chain code algorithm. Experimental results show that the developed system is capable of inspecting most surface defects such as porosities, cracks with high reliability and accuracy.

Application of composite field imaging in strip surface quality inspection

In strip surface quality inspection systems based on the machine vision detection technology ,image quality is a key factor affecting the final detection performance. Composite imaging methods, such as bright and dark field imaging or reflection and transmission imaging, can reveal more information by emphasizing different image aspects. Defect detection rates and defect recognition accuracy can be improved by integrating and matching information from different image acquisition settings. Practical application shows that transmission and reflection composite imaging can improve the imaging quality of penetrative defects, while bright and dark field composite imaging can enhance imaging of defects such as color deviation and stains.

Intelligent Camera for Surface Defect Inspection

An intelligent camera for surface defect inspection is presented which can pre-process the surface image of a rolled strip and pick defective areas out at a spead of 1 600 meters per minute. The camera is made up of a high speed line CCD, a 60 Mb/s CCD digitizer with correlated double sampling function, and a field programmable gate array(FPGA), which can quickly distinguish defective areas using a perceptron embedded in FPGA thus the data to be further processed would dramatically be reduced. Some experiments show that the camera can meet high producing speed, and reduce cost and complexity of automation surface inspection systems.

CAD-DIRECTED INSPECTION PLANNING FOR FREEFORM SURFACE USING CONTACT PROBES

A methodology for CAD-directed measurement of freeform surface using a coordinate measuring machine equipped with a touch-trigger probe is presented, mainly including adaptive sampling of measurement points and registration of freeform surface. The proposed sampling method follows four steps： Freeform surface is fitted by bi-cubic B-spline; Curvedness measure of the surface is computed; Given a number of sampling points, an iterative algorithm is constructed for selecting a set of measurement points by employing the curvedness information; The measurement points is regularized for tradeoff between maximizing the measurement accuracy and minimizing the sampling time and cost. The aforesaid algorithm is demonstrated in term of a marine propeller blade. An offset surface registration method is presented to improve alignment accuracy of freeform objects, and Monte Carlo simulation is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the method.

On-Line Life Monitoring Technique for Tube Bundles of Boiler High-Temperature Heating Surface

High-temperature heating surface such as superheater and reheater of large-sized utility boiler all experiences a relatively severe working conditions. The failure of boiler tubes will directly impact the safe and economic operation of boiler. An on-line life monitoring model of high-temperature heating surface was set up according to the well-known L-M formula of the creep damages. The tube wall metal temperature and working stress was measured by on-line monitoring, and with this model, the real-time calculation of the life expenditure of the heating surface tube bundles were realized. Based on the technique the on-line life monitoring and management system of high-temperature heating surface was developed for a 300 MW utility boiler. An effective device was thus suggested for the implementation of the safe operation and the condition-based maintenance of utility boilers.

Surface coal mine permit application for successful reclamation, semi-arid shortgrass prairie （Wyoming, USA）

Approximately 40% of USA coal originates in an ecologically sensitive area of semi-arid shortgrass prairie in Wyoming. Before a surface coal mine can begin operation in the USA, it must secure a mining permit and comply with regulations and performance standards under the USA Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act （SMCRA）, other federal environmental acts, and state programs. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality （WDEQ）/Land Quality Division （LQD） administers Wyoming＇s coal regulatory program. The permit application and bonding process for the largest surface coal mine permit in the USA, North Antelope Rochelle Mine （NARM） located in short grassland prairie in the northeast Wyoming, is discussed. The permit application process begins with the collection of baseline environ- mental data that characterizes premining conditions of the permit area. The permit application includes adjudication information, baseline information, mine and operation plans, and reclamation plans. Fulfillment of permit commitments and requirements of rules and regulations are inspected monthly by the LQD＇ s representative in the field. Before a mine permit is issued, the mine operator must submit a reclamation bond to secure the performance of reclamation obligations that is later revised annually. In Wyoming, four reclamation bond release phases indicate the completion of various stages of the reclamatikon process. NARM＇s specific bond release verification cirteria, performance standards, and field verificatoins of bond release phases are discussed. The Bond Release Geodatabase （a GIS/GPS approach） was developed for this mine to monitor progress in meeting criteria and performance standards for incremental bond release. The Bond Release Geodatabase significantly reduces the time needed to track bond release progress, reach agreement between operator and regulator, and improve the state inspector＇s ability to assess reclamation adequacy and progress.

Application of Thermal Science to Tongue Inspection in Traditional Chinese Medicine

The study on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)by the technology and method of thermal science is a new cut in point in interdisciplinary science, and its purpose is to study the tongue inspection in TCM from the view of the bio heat transfer theory. In this paper human tongues were studied with the infrared thermal imaging technology. And the characteristic relationship between temperature distribution and age, tongue color as well as infrared thermal tongue image concerning the characteristic of viscera was analyzed by the experimental data,which confirms that the change in temperature distribution in different positions of the tongue is related to the diseases of different internal organs of the body. From a series of invasive experiments in animals, the blood perfusion rate was measured with the equipment of CBI 8000 Doppler Blood Flow Meter and MP 100 Physiologic Research System for the first time and the characteristic relationship curve between the temperature on the surface of the tongue and the blood perfusion rate was obtained. From the experiments the temperature on the surface of the tongue reflects objectively the tongue color which is influenced by the blood perfusion rate. This will help to develop some new cognition in the theory of TCM.

Surfacer二次开发在叶片锻件检测中的应用

简要介绍了逆向软件Surfacer的内外部开发模式,并利用其二次开发功能,结合叶片检测技术,研究开发了针对叶片锻件的检测系统。通过示例程序介绍了程序编写方法。经应用测试,系统可以顺利完成测量工作,界面简洁清晰,便于操作,与传统测量方法相比具有速度快、精度高等特点。该系统的应用对逆向软件在实际生产中的发展有着很大的推动作用。

Constructing a data platform for surface defect management using a multidimensional database

Surface quality has been one of the key factors influencing the ongoing improvement of the quality of steel. Therefore,it is urgent to provide methods for efficient supervision of surface defects. This paper first expressed the main problems existing in defect management and then focused on constructing a data platform of surface defect management using a multidimensional database. Finally, some onqine applications of the platform at Baosteel were demonstrated. Results show that the constructed multidimensional database provides more structured defect data, and thus it is suitable for swift and multi-angle analysis of the defect data.

Adaptive-filter technology for detecting steel-strip surface roughness

To address the shortcomings of traditional filtering methods that utilize the scattering method for the online detection of strip surface roughness and to improve the accuracy of the identification of strip surface roughness,in this paper,a regression-smoothing adaptive-filtering method was investigated for use in the online detection of surface roughness in the cold-rolled strip. The results show that by the use of robust locally weighted regression to perform noise-reduction preprocessing of the initial parameters in the online detection of surface roughness,followed by the establishment of a kernel function,the regression-smoothing adaptive-filtering method can update the weight based on the relative positions of historical and current data. When the changes in neighboring data exceed the established threshold value of 0. 75 μm,the width of the smoothing window is automatically reduced,thereby realizing adaptive variable-step regression-smoothing filtering of online roughness detection data. By the use of this regression-smoothing adaptive-filtering method,the accuracy of detecting the surface roughness of a cold-rolled strip can be improved and the requirements of downstream users better satisfied.