Nottinghamshire-based Solus Testing Ltd has improved the quality and accuracy of weld testing after investing in an Innovatest Falcon 507 Micro/Macro Vickers Hardness Tester supplied by Bowers Group, a leading UK supplier of quality precision measuring instruments.

Solus Testing, which has a mechanical and non-destructive testing (NDT) laboratory in Worksop, carries out weld procedure qualification records and welder qualification to ASME IX/BS EN standard, as well as offering material testing for engineering organisations and manufacturers of pressure vessels, rolling stock, bridges, lighting columns, iron and steel founders, power stations, structural steel work and oil and gas pipelines.

For Solus, quality and accuracy are critical and in this particular instance, the Falcon 507 is used to carry out weld testing, to check for any changes to the material properties that may have occurred during the welding process.

The testing of welds allows users to achieve an indication of two important parameters significant to the determine a successful weld joint, first being its strength and functionality and second, the microstructure of the material.

Testing on a weld’s heat-affected zones must be particularly precise, usually obtained on a microscopic scale, to ensure absolute safety and quality of the finished product.

Unique force actuator system
The Falcon 500 Series provide users with Micro Vickers, Vickers and Micro Brinell hardness testing functions, improving conventional methods by focusing on eliminating user-influence on the test results.

The unique force actuator system uses an electronically controlled closed-loop system and advanced force sensor technology to achieve its high accuracy.

With its automatic indent measurement, two indenter positions, four objective positions, five mega-pixel HD camera and anti-collision system, the Falcon 507 offers absolute accuracy reliability and repeatability, on each of the forces used for a test.

Solus operates the Falcon in a laboratory setting allowing the hardness testing process to be carried out in a space where external factors cannot affect the results.

The company’s technicians have not only found the machine to be easy to operate and that the machine copes well with the workload and the results that is produces are consistently accurate and reliable.

Solus ensures that this accuracy is achieved by having a direct verification calibration carried out on an annual basis, as well as a daily calibration, indirect verification, carried out on certified reference material and sent to further test houses for results comparisons.

Rob Tinsley of Solus Testing said: “The quality of the results the Falcon 507 achieves is paramount and the effectiveness of our service results means we can assure our customers that if production welding is carried out the same way as the welding test, the product will meet all standards required.”

For more information about the Innovatest FALCON 507, contact the Bowers sales team at or visit the website (www.bowersgroup.co.uk).