The Benefits of 3D Component Scanning

The demand for 3D component scanning in manufacturing, testing, surveying and reverse engineering among other fields is growing significantly, and this is expected to continue in the coming years. If the manufacturing facility of your company is not yet using this technology, it might be time you became familiar with it and the potential benefits.

The simple fact is 3D scanning of complex high-value parts saves materials, time and money. It is the most sophisticated form of metrology in manufacturing available today. With high quality 3D parts scanning, you end up with superior products that fit better, work better and cost less to manufacture or process, versus products that are measured via conventional gaging.

3D Scanning for Productivity Improvement

Once a CAD model is used to create a prototype part, which is then tested and refined, the final prototype is used to put the part into production. When the parts in question are very complex, or are of high value, being used in planes, trains, power plants or sophisticated engineering systems of many kinds – the tolerance for error in the production of each part is very small. This is when automated 3D scanning solutions can provide significant benefits toward identifying production issues in the manufacturing of complex, high-value parts, and ultimately with improving productivity on the assembly line.

The idea of using a built component to produce a CAD model is known as reverse engineering, a technique that is necessary when original CAD models or prototype parts are no longer available. In some cases, reverse engineering allows new concepts and designs or old and trusted designs to be put back into production and reproduced quickly without the need to build everything from scratch.

Prototype and 3D Scans

3D automated parts inspection for reverse engineering has become more common, but it’s not the only area where component scanning has made inroads. The process is highly effective in quality assurance, as it can significantly reduce the time required to inspect an object or product, verses micrometer measurement or even photogrammetry. A component built with the assistance of 3D scan data often can be on the market faster because of the reliability and reproducibility of the data, as well as the speed of the scanning systems.

3D scanning may also be combined with prototyping for physical object scaling. Armed with 3D scan data, an object may be sent to the engineering stage quickly. 3D scanning, in fact, is often used to conduct FEA, CAE, CFD and other types of engineering analyses on physical parts and objects of all sizes.

3D scanning is essential during production as it is capable of capturing variations that require tooling modifications. With a scanning solution, the necessary modifications can be identified and then applied to each part to ensure consistency and uniformity of dimensions and measurements across all parts with the same type and specifications.

Conclusion

Today, accuracy and repeatability are the name of the game for high-value manufacturing that includes high productivity and quality assurance levels -- and automated 3D scanning makes up an integral part of the process. As the information above shows, this sophisticated scanning technology can be applied in different ways and in various industries, underscoring its value.

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