Rapid Non-Destructive Testing of Ceramic Multilayer Capacitors by a Resonance Method

Abstract

A rapid non-destructive test method for ceramic multilayer capacitors made from piezoelectric materials such as barium titanate or lead containing materials is described and evaluated. The test method is based on the internal excitation of standing acoustic waves in the capacitors. The standing waves are severely dampened by defects such as delaminations and pores. An undampened resonance is a good indication of a defect free ceramic multilayer capacitor. This finding was used in a nondestructive test set-up to evaluate about 1,000 capacitors. The test set-up has the potential to test over 100,000 capacitors an hour. Through metallographic (cross section) examination a sorting accuracy of 2% false accepts and 8% false rejects was determined for the high speed test set-up.