White light scanner delivers design data in minutes

White light scanner delivers design data in minutes
Wednesday 18th August 2010

tool maker uses 3D white light metrology for quality inspect

Tower Tool Company Ltd (based in Leicestershire) is a specialist engineering toolmaker with a challenge - a commission to manufacture a super-accurate tool which would be used to produce a component for a helicopter. The tool had to be verified for correctness against a CAD model - all within a very tight budget, and against a deadline.

Once the tool was manufactured, it was critical for Tower Tool to verify its accuracy against the existing CAD model. Key to this was developing a highly accurate freeform measurement / 3D model of the new tool, for which Tower Tool investigated a number of methods. The use of a co-ordinate measurement machines (CMM) was discounted because of the inability of CMMs to measure more than one point at a time, meaning it would have taken days or even weeks to develop an accurate CAD representation. Laser scanning also considered and while speed was not an issue, there were concerns over the accuracy of the results the laser scanner produced.

However, by employing the Phase Vision Quartz range of white light scanners, speed and accuracy were combined, delivering a set of measurements within a few minutes - and creating a highly accurate CAD model of the new tool. An inspection report was then produced to show compliance to the requirements of the original CAD representation. Myles Ball of Tower Tool commented: “While the cost of the component was not enormous – about £500 – accuracy was key as it was to be used in a state-of-the-art aerospace application. We couldn't afford to wait for measurements from a CMM and weren't convinced by laser scanning on the tool's shiny machined surfaces either – but the Phase Vision equipment delivered on both speed and accuracy and allowed us to prove that our new tool was in line with the CAD requirements."

Ralph Weir of Phase Vision added: “This applications shows clearly the advantages of white light scanning over other measurement techniques, particularly when speed is of the essence and accuracy cannot be compromised.”

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