International Truck and Engine Corporation
Melrose Park, IL
Shyam Santhanam
University of Illinois at Chicago
International Truck and Engine Corporation is an industry leader in manufacturing
diesel engines for the International brand of trucks and buses. The Melrose
Park Engine Plant has manufactured over a million engines. This facility
also manufactures some of the main and ancillary components that go into
diesel engines, such as crankshafts, camshafts and piston-cylinder sleeves.
The primary intern project was to conduct an economic feasibility analysis
on a non-destructive test (NDT) method to measure the depth of hardening
on the crankshaft. This method would eliminate the present cutting operation
for quality checking. The NDT method could also increase the frequency
of the measurement, thereby leading to better quality assurance. Steel
scrap waste would also be eliminated if the cutting operation were replaced
by a NDT testing process.
Result:
- A study was conducted to determine the economic feasibility of replacing
the present cutting operation with a NDT method for measuring the hardness
depth of induction hardened steel crankshafts. Cost calculations were
conducted and the results favored replacing the existing method with
a non-destructive procedure for testing. Ultrasonic backscattering was
selected as one of the many possible solutions for conducting this quality
check of the crankshafts.
- The intern identified the following opportunities to reduce waste
generation:
- Proposed NDT Ultrasonics would result in no metal scrap waste.
- A NDT method would significantly increase savings and also improve
quality and confidence in the product.
- The payback period for the project was determined to be less than
two year.
- By changing wedges on ultrasonic equipment, the non-destructive
testing procedure can be applied for quality checking of piston
sleeves, cam lobes/rings and the drive shafts/spleen area.
|
