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Airborne Ultrasound is a deterministic test method for seal quality inspection and analysis of material types such as aluminum, foil, paper, plastic, poly, film & Tyvek. In accordance with ASTM F3004-13, airborne ultrasound is a standard test technique for evaluating seal quality and integrity. It has been proven to be one of the most successful non-destructive testing methods for flexible package seals. As per research the standard seal inspection methods are inaccurate because they fail to detect invisible defects and mistakenly reject well sealed pouches. Airborne Ultrasound technology, on the other hand, has been proven in the field of both online and offline solution options

How does Airborne Ultrasound Technology mitigate the risk of food and nutrition packaging?

Packaging has been an integral part of food and nutrition preservation in recent decades. Food is packaged with the intention of being transported and stored. Quality, brand, safety, and value of a product are all affected by packaging. To ensure the safety of their products, food producers pack their products in a way that ensures they are correctly constructed, tamper-proof, defect-free, and complete.

In Airborne Ultrasound technology, sound waves are reflected when ultrasound waves are allowed to travel through the packaging seal. Change in the intensity of the reflected signal is used to identify defects. The seal is positioned in a straight line between a pair of transducers, then moves them along the seal. Transmission and reflection of the ultrasound occur at the transition from one medium to another. When the difference in acoustic properties between two materials is greater, only less sound is transmitted, and more sound is reflected. Thickness variations have a minor impact. It is possible to identify a wide range of defects, including those that are visible and invisible, leaking and non-leaking, process-related and random.

As one of the most successful methods for non-destructive testing of flexible packaging, Airborne Ultrasound technology was awarded the ASTM Test Method F3004-13 in 2013. The flow of gas or liquid through the seal is an example of seal defect. Inability to discover non-leak defects is a basic problem with leak testing methods. However, Airborne Ultrasound technology gives a complete way to evaluating seal quality, even when a seal has a defect but may not leak.

Key benefits of Airborne Ultrasound Technology

• Deterministic inspection technique resulting in quantitative results
• Non-destructive, non-subjective, zero sample preparations
• Detects defects in the final pouch seal in real time
• This method works with any material and combination, regardless of color, porosity, surface finish, transparency, and print
• The subjective manual vision inspection procedures are no longer necessary
• Results are repeatable and reliable
• Testing the final pouch seal integrity at a low cost
• Characterizes the seal's overall quality and consistency