Testing: Desktop SEM Helps Manufacturers Improve Quality Control Efficiency, Accuracy, and Material Cleanliness

A versatile and intuitive desktop scanning electron microscope (SEM) from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Hillsboro, Ore. reportedly provides automotive suppliers and additive manufacturing companies faster QC analyses of materials used to develop automotive parts or other products. The Phenom ParticleX includes a broad range of automated SEM analyses to identify faults in materials or gauge the impact development and production changes have on a final product. By keeping production continuity and quality control in-house, the instrument’s users can analyze materials up to ten times faster than outsourcing.

Says Trisha Rice, v.p. and general manager of materials science at Thermo Fisher Scientific, “Obtaining timely information is a prerequisite for lean manufacturing, and the new automated system in the Phenom ParticleX offers multiple sample analyses, including chemical and morphological classification, outlier detection, and identification of contamination, that validates produced goods against industry-approved standards. The decrease in validation time enables manufacturing companies to produce inventories that meet customer commitments without developing unnecessary inventory.”

The high-resolution imaging and chemical analysis capabilities in the Phenom ParticleX are said to deliver more detailed failure analyses than is possible using optical microscopes. Additive manufacturers can characterize size distribution, particle homogeneity and foreign contaminants to evaluate the purity of metal particles at the microscale. Industrial manufacturers can use it to confirm components that fulfill technical cleanliness specifications according to the VDA19 or ISO16232 standards. It also provides detailed feedback on the cleanliness or purity of final product without having to share this confidential and valuable data with third parties.

The Phenom ParticleX package consists of a high-performance Phenom XL Desktop SEM with automation software packages for additive manufacturing and technical cleanliness. There are two models available: Phenom ParticleX AM and TC. Both AM and TC models are said to be up to ten times faster than outsourcing, offer in-house control of your data, and are multipurpose desktop SEM said to deliver purity at the microscale. Model AM offers automated analysis while Model TC includes VDA19 or ISO16232 confirmation.