Analysis of a method for monitoring multi-nozzle-arrays

Abstract

In casting technology spraying tools are used for cooling and cleaning purposes. Its heavy use is often accompanied by contamination and misalignment of the nozzles, which leads to the production of rejects and to production downtime. Therefore, control systems are necessary to check the function of the nozzles and in case of a problem to find the defect. From this starting point, we develop a new robust measuring technique. This measurement technic is based on the optical visualisation of the spray impingement on a frosted pane. A camera detects the resulting characteristic wetting pattern. From the camera recordings, conclusions can be drawn about the alignment and the mass flow of individual nozzles. To test the capabilities of the measurement method, we used a spray tool with 9 nozzles and equipped with different nozzles as shown in Figure 1. For this we have measure the position of spray impact and the size of the wetted area of the individual spray plumes on the frosted pane surface. As a result, we are able to show that the measurement results are reproducible and the measurement method achieves high sensitivity.