Process for Nondestructive Evaluation of the Quality of a Crimped Wire Connector

A process for nondestructive evaluation of the quality of the crimped wire connector, comprising;

• providing a crimping tool having an anvil on which a wire circumscribed by a terminal is positioned, an upper jaw movable relative to the anvil to compress the terminal between the anvil and the jaw, a transmitting ultrasonic transducer mounted on one of the anvil and the jaw, and a receiving ultrasonic transducer mounted on the other of the anvil and jaw;
• moving the jaw relative to the anvil to close the distance between the jaw and the anvil, and thereby compress and crimp the terminal against the wire;
• transmitting ultrasonic waves from the transmitting ultrasonic transducer while moving the jaw relative to the anvil, such that the ultrasonic waves are propagated through the terminal and wire;
• receiving ultrasonic waves at the receiving transducer while moving the jaw relative to the anvil;
• detecting and recording the amplitude of the ultrasonic wave that is received at the receiving ultrasonic transducer as a function of time as the jaw is moving relative to the anvil;
• and
• predicting the quality or character of a crimped wire connector based on a comparison of the amplitude of a wire connector having a known quality characteristic.