An Automatic Detection and Online Quality Inspection Method for Workpiece Surface Cracks based on Machine Vision

The wide application of intelligent manufacturing technologies imposes higher requirements for the quality inspection of industrial products; however, the existing industrial product quality inspection methods generally have a few shortcomings such as requiring many inspectors, too complicated methods, difficulty in realizing standardized monitoring, and the low inspection efficiency, etc. Targeting at these problems, this paper proposed an automatic detection and online quality inspection method for workpiece surface cracks based on the machine vision technology. At first, it proposed a vision-field environment calibration method, gave the specific method for workpiece shape feature recognition and size measurement based on machine vision, and achieved the on-line monitoring of workpiece quality problems such as feature defects and size deviations. Then, this study integrated the multi-scale attention module and the up-sampling module that can restore the locations of image pixels based on the high-level and low-level hybrid feature maps, built a workpiece crack extraction network, and realized workpiece crack feature extraction, crack type classification, and damage degree division. At last, experimental results verified the effectiveness of the proposed method, and this paper provided a reference for the application of machine vision technology in other fields.

Utilization of Secondary Jet in Cavitation Peening and Cavitation Abrasive Jet Polishing

The cavitation peening (CP) and cavitation abrasive jet polishing (CAJP) processes employ a cavitating jet to harden the surface or remove surface irregularities. However, a zero incidence angle between the jet and the surface limits the efficiency of these two processes. This limitation can be improved by introducing a secondary jet. The secondary jet interacts with the main jet, carrying bubbles to the proximity of the workpiece surface and aligning the disordered bubble collapse events. Through characterizing the treated surface of AL6061 in terms of the hardness distribution and surface roughness, it was found out that the secondary jet can increase the hardening intensity by 10%, whereas the material removal rate within a localized region increased by 66%. In addition, employing multiple secondary jets can create a patched pattern of hardness distribution. Another finding is that the hardening effect of the cavitation increases with the processing time at first and is then saturated.

Microscopic Wear Characteristics of Ceramic Grinding Wheel in Creep Feed Grinding

This paper deals with the microscopic wear characteristics of ceramic (Seeded Gel, SG) grinding wheels used in creep feed grinding. Creep feed grinding experiments with SG grinding wheels were carried out compared to rose-pink alumina (RA) grinding wheels. To clear the wear characteristics of the wheel working surface in creep feed grinding, changes in the shapes of grain cutting edges were observed by a field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). This is a self-sharpening phenomenon based on micro fractures generated on the top of SG grain cutting edges. On the other hand, large fracture and attritious wear effected RA grain cutting edges. In addition, the features of any grain cutting edges were evaluated using attritious wear flat percentage. Changes in attritious wear flat percentage of SG grits maintained constant value and were stable. From these results, the influence of wear mode of the grinding wheel on grinding characteristics parameter, such as grinding force and workpiece surface roughness, is understood.

Numerical Study on the Influence of the Plasma Properties on the Keyhole Geometry in Laser Beam Welding

Keyhole laser welding is the benchmark for deep-penetration joining processes. It needs high incident laser beam power densities at the workpiece surface to take place. The gaseous phase plays a fundamental role to keep the deep and narrow keyhole cavity open during the process. The plasma created in this process is a mixture of ionized metal vapors and the environmental gas and it develops inside the keyhole (keyhole plasma) and above the workpiece surface (plasma plume). The presence of plasma implicates absorption, scattering, and refraction of laser beam rays. These phenomena alter the power density of the laser beam irradiating the workpiece surface and thus affect the resulting welding process. In this work, a mathematical and numerical model has been developed to calculate the keyhole shape taking into account the plasma absorption effects. The model considers the keyhole walls as the liquid-vapor interface and computes the keyhole geometry applying a local energy balance at this interface. In addition, the model takes into account the multiple reflections effects inside the cavity through an iterative ray-tracing technique, and calculates the absorption mechanism due to inverse Bremsstrahlung for each ray along its segmented path inside the keyhole. Results show the effect of plasma properties on the keyhole shape and depth.

ANALYSIS OF THE CHANGE IN ROUGHNESS ON A FACE-MILLED SURFACE MEASURED EVERY 45° DIRECTION TO THE FEED

In this article, we analyze the difference (inhomogeneity) of the roughness values measured on a nonalloy carbon steel surface milled with a parallelogram-shaped (κr = 90°) insert as a function of the the tool movement direction and the relative position of the examining points on the workpiece surface. The characteristic distribution of roughness and the magnitude of the deviations were examined by measuring at selected points along several planes on a surface characterized by the movement conditions of the workpiece and the symmetrically arranged tool perpendicular to the machined surface, which formed double milling marks. The selected points mark the lines with specified inclinations with respect to the feed direction, and their measured values were compared. In these directions, the magnitude of the difference in roughness measures was obtained.

Influence of Semi-Random and Regular Shot Peening on Selected Surface Layer Properties of Aluminum Alloy

This paper attempts to compare regular shot peening (RSP) and semi-random shot peening (SRSP). A characteristic of the first method is that the peening elements hit the treated surface in sequence, with a regular distance maintained between the dimples. The other method (SRSP) is a controlled modification of the shot-peening process, which is random by nature. The shot-peening method used in this study differs from conventional shot peening (shot blasting and vibratory shot peening) in that it allows controlled and repeatable determination of the configuration and distribution of impacts exerted by the peening element on the workpiece surface, which makes the process more repeatable and easier to model. Specimens of EN-AW 7075 aluminum alloy were used for testing. The following variables were used in the experiments: ball diameter, impact energy, and distance between the dimples. Microhardness distribution in the surface layer, 2D surface roughness, and surface topography were analyzed. FEM simulations of the residual stress distribution in the surface layer were performed. It has been found that regular shot peening results in reduced surface roughness, while semi-random shot peening leads to higher surface layer hardening.

Process design of a novel combination of peel grinding and deep rolling

Grinding is mostly considered as a finishing operation by which a high surface quality is achieved. An increase in productivity is therefore limited by maintained surface properties such as the roughness or tensile residual stresses. Thus, a roughing operation is inevitable followed by a finishing operation, while both operations are separated, leading to larger cycle times and process costs. In this paper, a novel process combination is investigated in which the roughing is done by grinding and the finishing operation by deep rolling within one tool setup. In this way, both processes are conducted parallel within the primary processing time. The objective of this study is the knowledge of the characteristics of this process combination with regard to the workpiece surface integrity. Therefore, shafts are ground in peel grinding with varying grinding wheel types and process parameters and subsequently machined with deep rolling. The process combination is evaluated with regard to the process forces and the resulting surface properties. In addition, experiments using the process combination were conducted in order to investigate the transferability of the results towards the process combination. By this approach, it was found that the surface roughness was reduced up to 80% by deep rolling showing the potential of the process combination.

Modeling metal removal from workpiece surface during centrifugal rotation processing

The modeling and analysis the removal of metal process in centrifugal rotational processing of workpiece in abrasive medium are considered in this article. The single contact interaction process between abrasive particle and the workpiece surface is researched through three-dimensional modeling taking into account dry coefficient of friction. The contact interaction problem is solved through Ansys software and Archard code programmed to analyze the data. The removal of metal from the workpiece surface is researched when changing the technological parameters: friction coefficient, machining time, speed. The dependences between metal removal from the workpiece surface and technological parameters are constructed, from which reasonable parameters can be selected when machining the workpiece, allowing to achieve high accuracy. Experimental results have been confirmed by simulation results. Through this research, essential and important data sheets will be provided for actual production and testing activities. Consequently, time and money are saved in achieving the desired surface quality.

Online Measurement of the Elastic Recovery Value of Machined Surface in Milling Titanium Alloy

In the machining of titanium alloy, the elastic recovery of the machined surface will cause strong friction between the tool flank and the workpiece surface, which will result in the tool wear and the poor machined surface. This paper designed a new online measuring system to monitor the elastic recovery behavior of Ti6Al4V alloy in dry milling based on the digital image correlation (DIC). DIC measurement principle were analyzed and the orthogonal milling experiments were carried out under different cutting conditions. Because of the complexity of metal cutting environment such as high temperature and chip splash, and the micro scale of elastic recovery of metal machined surface materials, DIC non-contact sensor was designed to measure the deformation of machined surface materials in titanium alloy milling. The displacement data obtained from the experiment were analyzed, and the calculation method of the elastic recovery value of the machined surface was obtained. The measured data were compared with those in other literature. The focus of this paper is to explore the availability of DIC measuring instrument for measurement of elastic recovery in titanium alloy milling. This method can be extended to the measurement of machining of other difficult machining materials.