Views: 756 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-10-16 Origin: Site
Hidden micro‑leaks in automotive chassis sensors can trigger costly field failures and vehicle recalls. Standard pressure‑decay airtight tests often fail to capture ultra‑fine leaks that only degrade gradually under long‑term vibration, thermal cycling and harsh road environments. For safety‑critical chassis sensors used in braking, steering and suspension systems, only high‑sensitivity helium‑mass‑spectrometer leak testing can reliably verify long‑term sealing performance.
HOLS delivers dedicated automated helium leak‑testing equipment built for mass‑production inline inspection of automotive chassis sensors. Optimized for pressure‑temperature sensors, brake pressure sensors and other safety‑relevant chassis components, our systems integrate vacuum‑chamber leak‑detection workflow, intelligent helium recovery, automatic calibration and full‑process data traceability to meet strict automotive‑grade quality requirements.
We support multiple mature helium‑detection technologies and select optimal solutions according to your product structure and production conditions:
Spray‑helium method: Evacuate the internal cavity of workpieces; spray helium onto outer surfaces for accurate leak‑point localization. Suitable for laboratory or offline troubleshooting.
Sniffer‑probe method: Fill components with helium; scan outer surfaces with sniffer probes to locate leakage points without vacuum chambers.
Bombing pressure‑helium method: For fully‑sealed finished sensors, parts are pressurized inside helium tanks before leak inspection, ideal for hermetically‑closed assemblies.
Helium hood method: Evacuate test pieces and fill hood space with helium; high throughput and high repeatability for inline automation.
Vacuum‑chamber method (Mainstream for mass‑production lines): Fill workpieces with helium and place them inside evacuated vacuum chambers. Any escaped helium will be captured by the mass‑spectrometer detector for quantitative leak‑rate measurement. Easy calibration, stable repeatability and perfect for high‑volume automotive sensor production.
HOLS mainly adopts vacuum‑chamber and helium‑hood processes for inline automated production, supporting combined big‑leak pre‑detection and micro‑leak fine‑detection.
Workpiece loading & fixture positioning
High‑pressure gas filling for big‑leak pre‑test. Products with excessive leakage will trigger alarms and be rejected immediately.
Vacuum‑chamber evacuation & background‑zeroing. If residual helium background is too high, automatic nitrogen purging will be executed.
Workpiece helium filling and vacuum‑chamber micro‑leak detection, quantitative leak‑rate output.
Automatic helium recovery after testing. Qualified parts move to downstream stations; unqualified parts trigger alarms.
Vent vacuum chamber and complete one‑cycle testing.
Our system adopts high‑performance Roots‑pump rotary‑vane pump groups from Leybold, equipped with exclusive helium‑purge technology to reduce helium background inside vacuum chambers and improve measuring stability. Pump‑group exhaust is connected to factory waste‑gas discharge to protect workshop environment.
Helium is expensive; continuous consumption brings high operating costs for mass‑production workshops. HOLS independent helium‑recovery unit consists of recovery pumps, compressors, recovery tanks and high‑pressure storage tanks. After testing, helium gas inside sensor workpieces is recovered, compressed and stored for repeated reuse.
Up to 98% helium recovery rate, cutting per‑piece testing cost drastically. Theoretical calculation shows that with recovery deployed, the quantity of testable workpieces per helium cylinder increases nearly 54 times.
Real‑time monitoring for helium concentration and pressure; abnormal status triggers interlock alarm to avoid invalid testing results.
Stable and reliable hardware architecture for long‑term non‑stop workshop operation.
Equipped with standard‑leak bottles matched with actual sensor leak‑rate specifications to realize automatic equipment calibration.
Supports offline manual daily‑check via external standard‑leak orifice.
Real‑time helium‑concentration intermittent monitoring to guarantee measurement accuracy batch‑by‑batch.
All test parameters including vacuum degree, helium filling pressure, detected leak rate are bound to workpiece serial numbers for full‑lifecycle traceability, complying with IATF 16949 automotive quality‑management‑system requirements.
HOLS helium leak‑testing stations have been deployed in mass‑production projects for multiple automotive chassis sensors:
Brake pressure sensors (SENT‑signal brake P‑sensors)
Multi‑function pressure‑temperature chassis sensors
Wheel‑speed sensors and suspension‑related sealed sensor assemblies
Our equipment supports multi‑station rotary‑table layout, robot automatic loading‑unloading, short cycle‑time down to 7 seconds. Quick‑change fixtures realize fast model‑switching for multiple sensor variants. The leak‑testing station can work as standalone offline equipment or seamlessly integrate into full automatic assembly‑and‑test production lines.
✅ Automotive‑oriented customized design, balancing leak‑detection sensitivity and production takt time for high‑volume manufacturing.
✅ Integrated helium‑recovery solution, greatly lowering long‑term operational expenditure.
✅ Multiple leak‑detection process options for different sealing‑structure sensor products.
✅ Complete data‑recording and traceability function, meeting OEM and Tier 1 quality‑system demands.
✅ Stand‑alone station or inline‑line integration available, flexible layout for your workshop.
If you have requirements for helium leak‑detection of chassis‑safety‑related sensors, please contact our engineering team for process evaluation and solution consultation.
