Location: Brebach, Germany

Year: 2017

Finest hairline cracks in cast iron pipes quickly grow into big problems: once the pipes have been laid, it is extremely costly to replace them – not to mention further consequential costs that can be caused by a leak. For this reason, Saint-Gobain, as a manufacturer of piping systems, attaches great importance to quality assurance during production. Following the casting and finishing with rough visual inspection, since 2017 all pipes in the Brebach factory have additionally been automatically tested before delivery with the help of an eddy current testing system. During the representative examination of the pipes over a length of one metre, a sensor head records deviations in the magnetic field built up by the test system. These deviations or eddy currents indicate cracks that are not visible to the naked eye. ADITOR is responsible for implementing the system and the requirements were high: the test system has only 20 seconds in which to detect possible hairline cracks. As an experienced automation specialist, not only did ADITOR satisfy this condition, the new eddy current testing system also impresses with 100 percent reliability.