The automotive industry is continuously pushing the boundaries of joining and welding technology. Welds are becoming smaller and component geometries and materials more complex. Find out how to use the latest materialographic techniques to prepare welds for quality assurance investigation quickly and effectively.

Examination of sparkplugs requires a longitudinal cut located exactly in the middle of the component. For precision sectioning of an elongated cylindrical geometry, the clamping solution as well as minimizing the width of the cut is essential. This solution demonstrates a precise cut with the correct clamping and cut-off wheel.

Induction hardening lines often operates in high volume production facilities where waiting time is costly and therefore is desired to minimize. Verification of the hardening process on steering racks is done by CHD measurements on specific areas of the component were the materials characteristics are critical.

It is challenging to cut a geometrically complex crankshaft. Re-clamping procedures are time-consuming and it is difficult to align the shaft for multiple cuts. This solution shows an automated and reproducible process, which reduce total cutting time down to only 90 minutes, when preparing crankshaft downsized specimens for materialographic testing.

The geometry of a CV joint and the required areas to be sectioned, make sectioning difficult and pose a risk of pinching the cut-off wheel due to the parts internal stress from the hardening process. This solution demonstrates a reproducible process using smart clamping and automated equipment for testing the hardness.

The lifetime of the Lithium-ion batteries strongly depends on microstructural elements such as particle size differences or layer thickness fluctuations. These characteristics are therefore important to study systematically to optimize production process parameters and to derive manufacturing tolerances based on knowledge.

Gears comes in many different sizes and shapes, they are often hardened to increase the wear resistance. Helical gears offer additional challenges in respect to the sectioning, since it is often required to inspect perpendicular to the teeth surface with a risk of pinching the cut-off wheel. This solution shows a reproducible process.

High yields and efficiency paint operations is crucial for reaching high quality standards in automotive business. Evaluation of small defects in the paint layer, that is not necessarily visible, can be done in an automated solution, eliminating the risk of grinding away the target relevant for the examination.