LongPower 4.0

The service life of individual components plays a decisive role in the production of sustainable goods. As part of the ‘LongPower 4.0’ scaling project, a holographic quality assurance system that can be used in series production was developed on the basis of the measurement system set up and tested in ‘LongPower’. For the first time, the developed sensor offers the possibility of measuring the deformation behaviour of electromechanical systems under cyclic loads close to production.  The measurement data obtained in this way provides a good basis for predicting the probability of failure of the measured systems - and thus the expected service life. Using a specially developed optical sensor system based on electronic speckle interferometry (ESPI), even the smallest quality defects (e.g. delamination of individual layers), which are largely responsible for the premature failure of these components in later operation, could be detected using the example of power electronics under thermal load. In addition to the suitable ‘excitation’ of the components either by an external heat source or by simulated high-performance operation, the highly sensitive but also very robust sensor technology is particularly responsible for the success of the project. The measurement method - ESPI - is a special form of interferometry (measurement method that uses the superposition or interference of waves to determine the variables to be measured) and, by using modern cameras and graphics cards (to analyse the measurement data), allows deformations in the range of 0.01 μm to be recorded over a large area at frame rates of over 1 kHz.

The system developed in the project makes it possible to increase the reliability of complex electromechanical systems - e.g. power electronics or micromechanics - and makes a significant contribution to sustainability through the associated reduction in waste. The system has also been further developed for alternative industrial applications in the field of analysing the strength of building structures (façades, support systems, etc.). Here, the technology can make a significant contribution to the early detection and assessment of refurbishment requirements - and thus to increasing operational safety and reducing the scope of refurbishment work.