During the PANNDT event, Marc Choquet, Tecnar’s Vice President of Products, shared the vision and capabilities of a company that has positioned itself as a benchmark in non-destructive inspection technologies. Its approach is based on laser ultrasound-based solutions adapted to the most demanding conditions of the industry.
A history of applied science
Tecnar was founded in 1989 as an extension of the National Research Council of Canada and since its inception, its model has been based on turning advanced science into functional industrial products, with a portfolio that today encompasses four key divisions, automated weldingthermal spray, LIBS spectroscopy and laser ultrasound.
Over the years, its solutions have been adopted in more than 30 countries by more than 500 industrial customers. This sustained growth has its origin in a culture oriented to technical innovation with direct application in the plant.
Ruggedness for extreme environments: the DuraBeam case
One of the main barriers to the adoption of ultrasound with laser systems in industry has been their fragility in harsh environments. To overcome this challenge, the company developed DuraBeam technology, a proprietary optical technology that allows the system to be adjusted from the outside of the equipment, without the need to open it or compromise its sealing.
This is essential in industries such as hot seamless tubing, where operating conditions include high temperatures, water, dirt and vibration. In this context, DuraBeam allows operators to achieve the optimum signal without exposing the system or stopping operation.
This allows us to have a much robust, more robust system, especially in a field like we’re working in, which is, for example, hot seamless lines where you have to deal with the heat, the dirt, the water and everything else where everything has to be sealed.
Marc Choquet.
Weldspector: Critical decisions in seconds
One of the products that best exemplifies the practical value of ultrasound with laser is the Weldspector, an industrial non-contact inspection system that analyzes the quality of metal coil splice welds in real time, right as they are being made.
Designed for continuous processes such as steel and aluminum, the Weldspector is installed on the production line and evaluates the internal integrity of the weld using laser-ultrasonic technology. The system provides a diagnosis in less than 10 seconds, allowing the operator to decide if the joint is reliable enough to continue the process.
Designed for continuous processes such as steel and aluminum, the Weldspector is installed on the production line and evaluates the internal integrity of the weld using laser-ultrasonic technology. The system provides a diagnosis in less than 10 seconds, allowing the operator to decide if the joint is reliable enough to continue the process.
This drastically reduces the risk of ruptures that would force the line to stop, avoiding operational losses of several hours. In addition, the system generates reports with full traceability, integrating the results into the plant’s quality system.
Collaborative science for real applications
Another of the company’s key pillars is its approach of working in partnership with leading international research centers. This strategy enables them to innovate faster and access cutting-edge scientific knowledge without assuming the full development burden internally.
Among the institutions with which it collaborates are:
- National Research Council of Canada (NRC): scientific origin of Tecnar and source of many of its technologies, including laser ultrasound.
- RECENDT (Austria): European center specializing in photonics technologies and non-destructive testing. It uses the company’s systems as a platform to explore new applications.
- Research entities in Sweden: strategic partners to validate the use of ultrasound using laser in specific industrial contexts.
The collaborative process begins in the research centers, which use Tecnar’s equipment to design new applications or functional prototypes, which, once tested, the company takes over to transform these advances into plant-ready industrial solutions. This allows the company to anticipate market needs and incorporate functionalities that have not yet been requested, but which offer high future value.
Integrating AI and non-invasive sensors
For the future, the combination of laser ultrasound sensors with AI algorithms opens up a new field of possibilities. The goal is to have systems that generate valuable data, even in scenarios not originally envisaged.
Being non-contact technologies, these sensors can be integrated at critical points of production, delivering real-time data that will then be processed by artificial intelligence systems to anticipate failures, optimize times and increase productivity.
Data to transform the industrial operation
Tecnar‘s solutions demonstrate that success in industrial instrumentation is not in selling hardware, but in generating useful, reliable and available information in real time. Thanks to developments such as DuraBeam, Weldspector and collaborations with research centers, the company has consolidated a value proposition focused on robustness, adaptability and high operational impact.
With the incorporation of artificial intelligence, its laser ultrasound line is set to play a key role in the optimization of complex industrial processes.
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Source: Inspenet.