Quality Assessment of Thin Polymer Components using NonDestructive Testing : Degree Project for Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering with emphasis on Applied Mechanics

Abstract: Polymer components are used in many different applications, including in industries where critical applications put high requirements regarding quality assessment. Such applications might include medical or food where the presence of discontinuities might induce bacterial growth or other unpleasantries, thus certain manufacturers must be able to maintain a zero-tolerance towards damaged components. This leads to the need for efficient testing methods of nondestructive nature capable of testing large quantities of components in a production line environment. The authors have been tasked by Acoustic Agree AB and Trelleborg AB, a world-leading producer of polymer engineered solutions, to find a nondestructive testing method capable of detecting discontinuities in thin polymer components in a production line environment. Implementation in production line environments puts requirements on test cycle time and a goal is to complete a test cycle within 3-4 seconds. Due to restrictions regarding available equipment and expertise, the focus has been put on applying nonlinear acoustic methods for nondestructive testing instead of more conventional methods. These methods utilize the nonlinear distortion of acoustic waves which causes certain characteristics to appear, such as the generation of Higher Harmonics (HH), frequency modulation (NWMS), resonance frequency shift (NRUS), and amplitude recovery (IDAR). Visual testing was used to discern visibly damaged samples from seemingly undamaged ones. The only methods which showed the possibility of discerning damaged thin polymer components were NRUS and IDAR. Only the latter has the capability to maintain the prescribed test cycle time. Nonlinear acoustic methods seem to be capable of detecting discontinuities in thin polymer components within the given time frame. More work is required to properly investigate the performance of NWMS and IDAR. The configuration used in this work was mainly focused on IDAR, resulting in specific calibration for NWMS was neglected. The sample population was also too low to collect sufficient data to ensure statistical certainty regarding the performance for either method.