The austempered ductile iron (ADI) is a ferrous cast material that provides best combination of low cost, design flexibility, good machinability, high strength to weight ratio, good toughness, wear resistance and fatigue strength. It is being manufactured from high quality ductile iron through Austempering process. This Austempering process gives equivalent or superior quality ADI engineering component compared to components manufactured from other ferrous as well as non-ferrous material. It’s unique property gives engineers a scope to design in a more versatile and economically viable way.
To understand the benefits of digital Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) quality inspections in casting we need to first look at the paper-based alternative. Most foundries, whether Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) casting, sand casting, die casting or permanent mold, perform visual inspections of cast parts throughout the production process. These inspections could take place in Shake-Out, Finishing, FPI, X-Ray, Final or at other Quality Gates.
Wherever the Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) inspections happen, paper forms or simplistic in-house made software is often used to record defects and produce reports.
There will always be a lag time between when defects are produced and detected. However, the additional lag time to react associated with manually recording data and keypunching into Excel or a similar program to analyze trends or spot ongoing problems adds to Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) cost. Non- conforming parts with an expensive price tag can easily build up in your WIP.
THE BENEFITS OF DIGITAL Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) QUALITY
To reduce lag time, and so get the full value out of the data being recorded, you need to perform a digital Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) transformation of your quality processes which will eliminate the paper “tic” sheets associated with the manual recording of data.
With a digital quality solution, inspectors can enter defects onto an image or 3D CAD model of Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) casting, noting the location and type of defect together with any related information that can aid repair or analysis. Repairs and rework can then be recorded using the same image or model.
A digital quality solution also allows you to integrate Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI) casting inspection processes with your repair processes. Repairs and rework performed in finishing, weld and blend or other similar process steps can be recorded using the same process in the same system. This provides standardisation and places all inspections, repairs and analysis in a closed-loop quality management system.