Method and system for using an irreversible thermo-chromatic indicator for quality assurance of a part subjected to heat treating

摘要

A system and method of verifying that a part is heat treated to strengthen the part. The part is marked with a thermo-chromatic composition before heat treating. The part is then heat treated to strengthen the part and change the color of the thermo-chromatic composition to indicate successful completion of the heat treating process. A detector may act to prevent the inclusion of a non-heat treated part in an assembly by disabling an assembly tool. A controller may also provide data related to the completion of the heat treating process to be recorded in a database.

主权项

1. A method of manufacturing a part that is strengthened by heat treating, comprising:
forming the part in one of the following metal forming processes:
stamping in a sheet metal forming process,extruding,forging, andhydro-forming; marking the part in a predetermined location with an irreversible thermo-chromatic composition; heating the part to increase the strength of the part and to change the irreversible thermo-chromatic composition from a first color to a second color; detecting whether the thermo-chromatic composition is the first color or the second color after the heating step; and controlling a subsequent manufacturing process based upon whether the thermo-chromatic composition is the first color or the second color.