LINQ has developed a new flexible, robust, and reliable industrial non-destructive inspection system for steel parts, capable of characterizing surface hardness and case depth in steering racks while reducing the environmental impact and operating costs of their manufacturing process.
The STEERNDT system increases steering rack manufacturers’ productivity by 15%, reducing the required line downtime for each inspection from 60 minutes to just 6 minutes.
At the same time, this system reduces destructive inspection costs by 80% by drastically minimizing the number of destructive tests. This also has a strong environmental impact, as it will eliminate 8 tons of CO₂ emissions per year in every steering rack production plant where a non-destructive inspection bench is implemented. The reduction is achieved thanks to the more than 4,000 parts that will no longer be destroyed annually and the elimination of consumables used in traditional inspection processes, including gloves, discs, acids, and fluids.
Esta tecnología ha sido desarrollada junto al centro de investigación Ceit, miembro de BRTA, en el marco del proyecto STEERNDT, que ha sido financiado por gracias al programa FastTrack Innobideak de ayudas para proyectos de investigación industrial o desarrollo experimental del Gobierno Vasco.