Please note that our test laboratory will be closed from December 24th, 2020 to January 6th, 2021 and our secretariat will only be accessible to a limited extent during this time.
Coxem recently presented a new backscattered electron detector (BE) for their SEM-EDX systems, which impresses with its excellent sensitivity. The new BE detector is particularly interesting for applications that benefit from a high contrast of the atomic number Z.
Bruker microCT has published a very interesting video about the new 3D X-ray microscope SkyScan 2214. The video shows the amazing possibilities of non-destructive 3D imaging down to the sub-micrometer range.
In October 2019, the Association of German Engineers (VDI) published a new guideline on the purity of medical devices (VDI 2083 Sheet 21:2019-10). In this article we inform customers and interested parties about essential aspects of the new directive.
In its recent issue from April 28th, 2020, the Badische Neusten Nachrichten (BNN) published an article very much worth reading about our involvement in the development of a procedure for the refurbishment of medical protective masks.
Given the continuing shortage of protection materials for hospital staff during the Corona crisis, Helios experts have in the past weeks developed a safe procedure for refurbishing FFP masks. Helios is making this method publically available, so that all medical staff can be supplied with sufficient protective materials.
It is often surprising for our customers when we find hard mineral particles on their components during technical cleanliness analysis. Customers ask: "How can that be? We didn't find anything in our own cleanliness tests." The contamination of hard minerals is so important, because these particles have an abrasive effect and thus massively damage mechanical systems such as gears and motors.
Researchers from Bremen provided us with this interesting sample of volcanic ash, which we analyzed with our Coxem Tabletop SEM-EDX. In addition to the spongy structure of the fine ash particles typical of volcanic eruptions, we identified various microfossils, so-called diatoms.
The determination of the technical cleanliness according to VDA-19.1 or ISO-16232 is now an integral part of quality control and error analysis - because the cleanliness of components is decisive for the quality and error-free function of the product. In addition to particles, filmic contamination poses a problem, as the following example from quality assurance in the manufacture of electric drive systems shows.
