Many of our customers are looking for methods for non-destructive material testing or process monitoring and discover the versatile capabilities of acoustic testing methods. Our experience shows that acoustic testing is successfully used where, for example, optical systems fail due to technical limitations and manual testing by employees is too costly and uneconomical.
A changed sound can provide information about leaks in containers, cracks in materials such as metal, ceramics or glass, geometric defects and other quality differences in products. Acoustic methods are used to monitor production processes to ensure the quality of end products.
Furthermore, the acoustic behaviour of production lines and other large-scale facilities, often combined with the operating parameters, provides essential information about the condition of the facilities. Based on this, sound sensors can also make decisive contributions to the development of concepts for predictive maintenance.
The advantages of our developments are a high processing speed for the delivery of acoustic analyses in real time and, if required, in-line. The possible applications are manifold. Currently DS sound systems are used in the food and packaging industries, for example. We develop individual solutions for specific applications.
Sound sensors
Exciter unit
Application and distribution partner
Project questionnaire
The aims of process monitoring are to improve the quality of the products, to increase the availability of the production process and to improve the safety of products, machines and systems.
The progressive automation requires an automatic and continuous process monitoring. Structure-borne and airborne noise can be measured quite easily, even below and above the human perception threshold. Evaluating the measurements requires specific knowledge. Together with our customers, we determine sensor settings to enable fact-based decisions on process intervention.
Monitoring the process with the aid of sound sensor technology enables the customer to react to deviations or malfunctions in a timely manner.
The monitoring of operating parameters, such as speed, vibration or temperature, is used to detect faults in production lines. In addition to identifying the causes of deviations, condition monitoring serves to replace the previously common preventive or reactive maintenance with condition-oriented maintenance. Compared to reactive maintenance, downtimes are minimised and, in contrast to the preventive approach, existing residual running times of the components are used more effectively.
Condition-based maintenance requires continuous machine monitoring to protect the machine and its components. Due to component wear, property changes occur in the machine structure that need to be detected. The behaviour of the machine and its components serves here as a signal source that enables the use of sound sensor technology.
Due to various factors in the manufacturing process, such as fluctuations in material characteristics and process parameters or tool wear, quality differences occur in the series production of small parts.
Producers need a non-destructive, often 100% testing, of their proucts to avoid the delivery of faulty products.
With the help of sound sensors, this test can be displayed for specific products. Some customers use this test as the sole check, in other applications the acoustic test is complementary.
The dsound® sound sensors enables the destruction free testing of materials as well as the process monitoring in a number of different applications.
The dsound® USS4 can detect the slightest changes in the sound of noises and can detect for example cracks, inclusions or geometric faults even in the presence of heavy ambient or disturbing noises. Also the cause of a changed sound can be a first sign of a fault.
To detect the tearing of material, the breakage of tools or the snapping of parts acoustically the dsound® USS5 can be used.
Due to the high degree of protection and their compact design, the sound sensors are predestined for use in industrial environments. After training or configuring the sensors, their integrated signal processing and signal evaluation enable them to independently perform the respective measurement task. Available analogue and digital inputs and outputs enable uncomplicated connection to external systems such as controllers, actuators or similar.
If required, the sensors can communicate with our configuration software, which is optionally available, via more complex interfaces and visualise and record the processed audio signals.
A high processing speed of the sensors enables acoustic analysis in real time. The sensors are continuously developed further in order to be prepared and adapted for individual customer requirements.
The dsound® sensors are available as structure-borne and airborne versions.
To ensure that the use of dsound® sensors runs smoothly, we are at your side with the following services:
