XRF Rental Helps Assure Component Quality

A specialist manufacturer of high quality components for critical industrial applications has employed the latest analytical technology to guarantee the metallic composition of the products it provides. Employing a portable XRF analyser from Ashtead Technology (UK), based in Wulfrun is able to quickly check the quality of raw materials, work in progress and final products, in order to meet the tight specifications required by the market sectors for which quality is critical.

Wulfrun’s Bastien Wacogne says “An in-house XRF analyser is employed for routine quality control purposes, but some of our contracts necessitate a higher level of analysis, so we sometimes hire the latest XRF instruments from Ashtead, which ensures that we have access to the most advanced technology without the capital cost of ownership; a good example would be the ability to test Titanium Grade 5 for all light metals including aluminium.”

Positive Material Identification or PMI, is an integral part of process safety management in a wide range of industries including the oil, gas and petrochemical sector, which is one of the most demanding markets for component quality. Bastien says “There are three reasons for this. Firstly a high level of component traceability is required; secondly health and safety requirements are extremely tight and thirdly the cost of component failure is high.”

XRF analysers provide fast, non-destructive, qualitative and quantitative assessment of metals and alloys in a variety of materials, and Ashtead’s Alan Hasson says they are becoming increasingly popular in a wide variety of applications: “In addition to quality control in manufacturing, these include metal evaluation in waste management, weld testing, contamination testing of soils and airborne particulates, electrical equipment testing under the RoHS and WEEE directives, the screening of consumer goods for contaminant materials such as lead in paint, toys, packaging etc. and the qualitative analysis of precious metals. Having invested in the latest XRF technology, we are now able to deliver anywhere in Europe with 48 hours.”

Ashtead’s XRF analysers are able to provide a quick, accurate screening method coupled with a pass/fail display and data logging with encryption to ensure the validity of data. Furthermore, instant Certificates of Compliance are made possible with the 'NDT software' that is supplied with the analysers free of charge.

Delivering high levels of accuracy and precision, these advanced instruments are portable and able to quickly measure all metals with a higher atomic weight than Aluminium. In addition, several hundred alloys are stored on the instrument's library and customised settings are available for unique alloys, including a 'pass/fail' mode.

Summarising the importance of portable XRF technology to the manufacture of high quality components, Bastien says “Quality control is vital to the success of our business; Wulfrun is LRQA certified to ISO 9001 and quality is built in to every stage of the production process so that we can provide our customers with complete confidence.”

Ashtead Technology’s range of XRF analysers can be viewed at the company’s new website: www.ashtead-technology.com.