GERMAN TOOLS INSPECTION LTD offers non-destructive testing (NDT) services across various industries. This time, the Customer requested an inspection of an automotive component — specifically, a transmission gear shaft.
The NDT of the automotive part took place in several stages:
Preparation of the part for control.
Visually-optical inspection to detect visible defects.
Determination of metal hardness using the Brinell (HB) and Rockwell (HRC) scales — an important step in this case.
Following the above procedures, the magnetic particle method was performed to detect any microcracks.
As a result, no microcracks were found during the inspection.
But, a decision was made to conduct a hardness measurement, which revealed that the metal's hardness did not meet the required specifications for this type of part (in our case, the transmission gear shaft).
Therefore, the root cause of the component failure has been identified. It was concluded that hardness measurement is essential when replacing such load-bearing parts.
