Common Contact Measurement Devices and Methods

Contact measurement devices constitute the majority of what is traditionally used for dimensional metrology.  These consist of devices that must be in physical contact with the object to be measured.  Below is a listing of general types of contact measurement devices.  This covers the vast majority of what is used today and is a good overview on what is possible and what to expect from data taken with these instruments.  We freely use these types of devices in our service business where it makes sense for any particular project due to quality, cost and timing.

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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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How is the Accuracy of Industrial CT Scans Verified?

Industrial CT scanning continues to gain popularity for use in measurements.  The real question to be asked is:  Is the data extracted from CT scans accurate?  Since its inception, CT scanning has been used to visualize internal structures from people to industrial items.  It is unparalleled in its ability to see those things that are hidden inside an assembly.  It is also important for measuring the effects of an assembly in its assembled state.  Using CT data to provide accurate measurements has always been around but there was no universally agreed upon ways to ensure the validity of the measurements.

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ISO9001 vs ISO17025 vs AS9100 – Why It Matters When It Comes To Your Metrology Needs

Every day, we in industry find ourselves in need of verifying the parts we have designed and built. Part of this verification comes in the forms of physical testing, as well as measurement and analysis. Whether you are looking at a prototype component or have a need to create an inspection plan for a production component, you will need someone who is proven capable in the science of measurement, otherwise known as the field of metrology. A simple Google search will reveal that there seems to be no lack of companies offering the services of metrology.

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How accurate is a CT scan? – Computed Tomography and Metrology

Metrology Grade CT Scan

Since shortly after X-Rays were discovered in 1895 they have been widely used in many diverse applications. The medical field was an early adopter of this technology, using X-Rays throughout the world within the first year. As it developed in medicine other uses emerged on the industrial side.

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Industrial CT Scanning: Defining Porosity of 3D Porous Structures for Medical Implants using Advanced Metrology Methods

With the advent of new ways of creating medical implants that promote bone ingrowth, an updated method of evaluating their effectiveness should be employed.  3D Printed Additive manufacturing and other creative manufacturing techniques have been developed to create porous structures that promote bone ingrowth. Traditionally, the effectiveness of these structures is tested by taking 2D cross sections of harvested implants and applying calculations to define pore size and interconnectivity.  In this way, researchers can test and compare the Osteoconduction ability of the new structure.
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Utilizing 3D Printed Fixtures in Industrial CT Scanning

Utilizing 3D Printed Fixtures in Industrial CT Scanning

The F400 Fusion 3 3D printer offers best-in-class print speed and quality. This equipment allows for the development of customized fixtures able to enhance efficiency, reduce cost, and increase repeatability of 3D Engineering Solutions CT scanning capabilities with our industry leading suite of CT Scanners.
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Measuring Large Volume Parts with the O-Inspect 863 – Patterns in Calypso

Large Volume Parts with the O-Inspect-Patterns in Calypso_Main

With the addition of our latest CMM, the Zeiss O-Inspect 863, we are now able to measure large volumes of parts with the high measurement accuracy that the system’s white light focal sensor, camera and scanning probe have to offer.
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Augmenting Structured Light System Data Sets with Alignments to Portable CMM Data Sets

Augmenting Structured Light

We often have to capture data for parts that have thin edges such as on turbine blades, airfoils, propeller cores, and many other items. This proposes an interesting problem, it is very common for these items to have tolerances that require them to be scanned using our structured light systems but wrapping data around these thin or “sharp” edges to bridge data from both sides of the part is very difficult.
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Seeing Your Part Through a Different Lens – Utilizing the Zeiss O-Inspect 863 for Optical Inspections Down to a Hairs Width

Utilizing the Zeiss O-Inspect 863_1

In the past year 3D Engineering Solutions acquired a Zeiss O-Inspect 863. The unit is a state of the art optical / tactile inspection system that adds to our scope of accreditation, for ISO 17025, a capability to measure parts on a scale that we were unable to accomplish prior to having this equipment.
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