What Is Metrology and Why Is It Needed?

What is Metrology and Why is it Needed?

Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. This field of study defines measurements under a common understanding, applies these measurements in practice, and uses them in analysis across industries. Because of its broad applicability, metrology is used worldwide to establish accuracy and precision in many critical fields.

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What Is the Reverse Engineering Process and How Does It Work?

How Does Reverse Engineering Work?

Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing and deconstructing something to see how it works. An example would be taking apart an alarm clock to understand what each piece does – and how the pieces work together.

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What are my Part Digitizing Options? Buy a Scanner or Use a Service

Most companies that have a need to digitize parts ask the “Make/Buy” question.  Do I purchase part scanning equipment and train staff (Make) or do I find a good service provider (Buy)?  Or are there levels in between this?

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What are Casting datums?

We have all seen prints with many datum reference frames on them. The fact that there are multiple sets of datum’s is not an issue and is put in place for functional design reasons. There can be so many that they look like an alphabet soup. But what about raw castings? Generally the functional part datum reference frame(s) have not yet been cut into the parts yet.  This where casting datums come into play.  They are typically designated as X-Y-Z or Z-Y-X.

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CT Scanning Void Detection – What to Ask for and What to Expect

Radiographic testing is a widely accepted method for finding voids and defects in materials. Makers of castings and solder connections on printed circuit boards have used radiographic testing to detect voids in 2D images and Computed Tomography (CT) in 3D images with excellent results that are well documented. As CT scanning continues to evolve and emerge as the inspection method of choice new challenges arise. Many times customers are unaware of the difference and apply old specifications on their drawings that may no longer apply. Or they do not know the full capabilities of the newer technologies or have not yet defined the specifications for their application.

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ISO17025 Inspection Using Metrology CT

Industrial CT scanning has gained prominence in dimensional data collection technologies with the advent and continual development of additive manufacturing. Now, CT scanning processes are being added to ISO17025 scopes of accreditation and the emergence of Metrology based CT is gaining recognition and acceptance across many industries.

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Using Laser or Structured Light Scanning to Preserve Your Tuned Molds and Dies – Just Like Notre Dame

Your Molds and Dies are critical to your business.  They were meticulously created and iteratively tuned until the parts they produce are within specification.  At that point, they were put into production and no documentation of the final tuned geometry was captured.  This is actually the standard operating procedure for most of the world.  The problem occurs when a part gets stuck and the equipment is cycled again and the tool cracks!  Now you are stuck with having to go through the entire tuning process again.  Or are you? With laser scanning and structured light scanning you may be in luck.

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What Data Collection or Scanning Equipment and Technology is Needed for My Project?

Augmenting Structured Light

Many measurement and reverse engineering requirements require more than simple caliper or micrometer measurements.  Whether you are conducting a First Article Inspection (FAI), troubleshooting a manufacturing issue or reverse engineering a legacy part for improvements, one or multiple of the modern data collection methods may work – but what is best and what are you compromising on by using any particular method?  Do you do this work yourself or hire out an experienced service provider?

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Common Non-Contact Measurement Devices and Methods

Non-contact or touchless dimensional measurement devices are the modern new comer to an array of contact devices that have been traditionally used.  Contact devices are discussed in this link on Common Contact Measurement Devices.  All of the non-contact devices generate a point cloud or voxel data set as their most raw form of data.  The exception is the optical comparator which has been around since the late 1920s.  It does not expressly produce digital data, but some of the variant equipment that evolved from this equipment does.

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Continued CT Services Expansion

Continued-CT-Services-Expansion

3D Engineering Solutions (3DES), North Americas’ most Advanced & Proven Center of Excellence For Metrology & Engineering Services is pleased to announce their ongoing strategic partnership with Nikon Metrology, Inc (NMI) of Brighton, Michigan. 3DES recently purchased two additional advanced industrial computed tomography (CT) systems from NMI. These systems use X-rays to penetrate components and assemblies to retrieve all surface and internal details.
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