STEEL - CORD CONVEYOR BELT NDT

Conveyors are prevalent in many sectors of industry, especially in mining. Steel-cord rubber belt is one of the most important parts of a conveyor. Durability of the belt depends mainly on the steel-cord durability. The steel-cord consists of hundred or more steel wire ropes. When a conveyer belt is in use the ropes can be broken or corroded. Besides, rope splice damage is possible. The most of steel cord defects are not visible because of their location inside rubber. Magnetic method of NDT is usual to detect the steel rope brakes inside the belts. But the existing magnetic NDT instruments are rather heavy. The new INTROCON instrument was developed in 2003-2004. A scanner with set of eddy current probes installed at the belt under test surface is significantly lighter than magnetic one and can work at the gap up to (10-20) mm between them and the belt. The INTROCON was tested at iron and coal pit conveyors. It allows to get, to remember and to display data on steel cord condition in-situ. Using the WINCON soft an operator can get information on rope breaks, corrosion, splice damages and their locations. The INTROCON has been using in mining industry in Russia with high efficiency since 2004.