Induction Hardened Layer Characterization and Grinding Burn Detection by Magnetic Barkhausen Noise Analysis

The quality of the ball screw shafts used in the aeronautical sector has to be controlled and certified with the most advanced non-destructive techniques. The capacity of magnetic Barkhausen noise(MBN) as a non-destructive technique to control the quality of ball screw shafts by assuring the appropriate induction hardened layer depth and detecting local overheated regions, known as grinding burns, which may occur during grinding processes is shown in the present work. Magnetic Barkhausen noise measurements were made with a system designed and implemented by the authors and the derived parameters were compared with microhardness measurements made at various depths after the different induction hardening treatments and the grinding processes were applied. A multiparametric study of the MBN signal as a function of the magnetic field in the surface of the sample is done in order to estimate the thickness of the hardened layer and to detect the grinding burns produced during grinding processes. The hardened layer thickness can be characterized with an error of +/- 200 mu m in the range between 150 and 2500 mu m by the position of the first peak of the MBN envelope in terms of the tangential magnetic field measured at the surface and the grinding burns can be detected with the position of the second peak of the MBN envelope in terms of the tangential magnetic field measured at the surface.