FOERSTER STATOGRAPH TCL Eddy Current Crack Detection System

The FOERSTER STATOGRAPH TCL is an ultra-compact, high-performance eddy current crack detection instrument engineered for 100% non-destructive inspection of safety-critical and operation-critical components. Designed for both fully automated inline series production and flexible manual testing, the STATOGRAPH TCL delivers exceptional flaw detection sensitivity across an expansive test frequency spectrum from 4 Hz to 20 MHz.

Smart and Intuitive Eddy Current Crack Detection

Modern production steps along the value chain—such as casting, forging, drawing, inductive hardening, machining, and precision grinding—subject metal workpieces to immense mechanical and thermal stresses. These processes often introduce microstructural flaws, including quenching cracks, grinding burns, stress fractures, and material separations. Left undetected, such flaws cause substantial downtime and scrap costs in manufacturing lines and carry severe liability risks in mission-critical end applications.

The STATOGRAPH TCL solves this challenge through contactless, non-destructive inspection. By combining a 24-bit high-resolution ADC, wideband signal processing, and vector/phase-selective threshold gating, it captures even the finest surface discontinuities in real time, automatically triggering sorting gates to divert defective parts before downstream processing.

Operating Principle & Dynamic Crack Testing

Dynamic crack inspection requires controlled relative motion between the sensor and the test piece. The STATOGRAPH TCL accommodates versatile production setups:

• Rotating Workpiece / Stationary Sensor: Ideal for symmetrical cylindrical components such as shafts, pistons, and bearing rings rotating at high peripheral speeds.
• Rotating Head / Linear Feed: The component is fed axially through rotating eddy current probe heads for comprehensive longitudinal surface coverage.
• Multi-Axis Robotic / Linear Scanning: Flexible probe arrays or articulated robot arms scan complex contours, fillets, valve seats, and localized high-stress zones.
• Contactless Testing through Coatings: Capable of inspecting conductive materials directly through non-conductive surface treatments, including paints, varnishes, oil films, and protective coatings.

Key Benefits & Operational Advantages

• 100% Inline Quality Inspection: High-throughput, contactless testing capable of keeping pace with the shortest machine cycle times in high-volume series manufacturing.
• Expansive Frequency Range (4 Hz – 20 MHz): Allows precise penetration depth tuning for both ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic alloys, detecting microscopic shallow surface fissures as well as subsurface discontinuities.
• Innovative Automatic Probe Recognition: Integrated Data Chips in FOERSTER probes automatically transfer coil configuration, calibration factors, and optimal operating parameters directly to the instrument, eliminating human setup errors.
• Adaptive Clearance Compensation: Learns material-specific distance curves to automatically suppress lift-off fluctuations caused by mechanical vibration, rotational eccentricity, or part wobble.
• Optimized Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Ultra-compact hardware allows placement directly adjacent to the test station, drastically shortening probe cabling and eliminating external electromagnetic interference.
• Multi-Channel Scalability: Easily scale up to 4 synchronized TCL channels within a single compact industrial enclosure or panel PC, allowing simultaneous multi-zone inspection.
• Seamless Line & Industry 4.0 Integration: Standard digital I/O, Industrial Ethernet, and remote-control protocols allow direct handshake with PLCs, sorting diverters, SCADA, and robotics.

Comprehensive Defect Detection Capabilities

• Hardening Cracks & Stress Fractures: Longitudinal and transverse cracks formed during quenching and heat treatment.
• Grinding Burns (Thermal Damage): Localized metallurgical overheating and re-hardening zones occurring during high-speed finishing.
• Drawing & Forming Defects: Seams, laps, scoring, and micro-tears resulting from cold heading, stamping, and deep drawing.
• Porosity & Inclusions: Near-surface pores, blowholes, and non-metallic inclusions in forged and cast parts.
• Material Discontinuities: Localized permeability shifts, conductivity variations, and localized hotspots in sintered metal components.

Target Industries & Critical Components

• Automotive & E-Mobility: Transmission shafts, camshafts, drive shafts, shock absorber rods, steering knuckles, brake calipers, and rotor shafts for electric traction motors.
• Powertrain & Fasteners: High-tensile bolts, structural fasteners, engine valves, valve spring retainers, and gudgeon pins.
• Bearing Industry: Inner and outer bearing races, needle rollers, spherical rollers, and tapered roller bearing elements.
• Aerospace & Defense: Precision hydraulic valves, turbine fasteners, actuator pistons, and landing gear pins.
• Sintered / Powder Metallurgy: Sintered gear wheels, oil pump rotors, sprockets, and precision structural parts.

STATOVISION TCL: High-Resolution C-Scan & AI-Ready Imaging

When paired with the optional STATOVISION TCL software, raw inspection signals are transformed into intuitive, high-resolution 2D/3D C-scan surface contour maps. Inspection teams gain clear visual confirmation of defect location, depth profile, and geometrical distribution across the component. The software architecture is AI-ready, enabling the deployment of custom machine-learning classification models to automatically differentiate between harmless geometric transitions and critical rejectable flaws.

Downloads

STATOGRAPH TCL Brochure (EN)