The Brabender FQA system visually evaluates the quality of blown and flat films. It is suitable for the development of new plastics and quality assurance in the processing of recycled or biodegradable polymers. The FQA unit is attached to Brabender peripheral equipment such as the Univex flat film take-off unit, the blown film take-off unit and the Brabender Auto Grader.

The FQA detects and classifies defects such as black specks, gels, holes and extrusion lines. A film quality index (FQI) is continuously determined based on the detected number and size distribution of defects. The FQA is operated via Brabender MetaBridge software, which allows integrated viewing and evaluation of FQA and process data.

Inhomogeneities in the films create specific transparency images with typical gray value levels. The camera system detects the difference between the gray value of the undisturbed film background and the inhomogeneities. It automatically detects the area and edges of the film and optimizes the light intensity according to the natural lighting conditions.

The evaluation software determines the defect type based on the gray value, measures the length, width, area and circle diameter of the defect. The images of the detected defects are marked in color. The effects of parameter variations such as temperature on film quality can be directly observed.

Parameter Name	Parameter Value
Technology	optical
Applications	for plastic films
Sector	for the packaging industry
Other characteristics	defect
Width inspection range	80 mm (3 in)