It’s Helping Speed Up Manufacturing
Quality control is very important in aerospace engineering. Costs and complexity are rising, but tolerances must remain tight. As a result, top aerospace manufacturers are looking for ways to prevent bottlenecks and ship more products while still working at a high level of quality. 3D laser scanning services are becoming more popular as a solution to this quandary for a variety of reasons:
- 3D scanning services speed up the production process and help produce a better quality 3D printed part.
- 3D scanning services can also be used for at-line inspection, which can be very time-consuming if attempted by other means.
- 3D scanned parts will always have the same dimensions without any paint or other materials, crucial to aerospace engineers.
3D LASER scanning services vs. a manual inspection
Unlike manual or human inspection, 3D scanned parts provide a quick yet accurate representation of the component, free from external interference or obstructions, which reduces errors in identification and dimensioning and allows engineers to pinpoint problematic areas in an environment that humans cannot access easily.
3D scanners provide a digital 3D model of the part or product inspected, allowing for faster analysis and more data than traditional paper-based processes or inspections done by hand (i.e., “eyeballing”). The main benefit here is obtaining high accuracy results in less time, which speeds production rates while saving costs and ensuring parts meet requirements.
Example: Creaform’s R-Series 3D solution
One such 3D laser scan service is Creaform’s R-Series 3D scanning solution, which can integrate into any production environment. In addition, Creaform’s R-Series 3D scanning solutions are customizable and turnkey, making them convenient options for any aerospace company looking into bringing manufacturing back onshore from overseas suppliers who may not have the same level of quality control as US companies do.
The service also allows companies to see things they can’t with human inspection, such as shape, dimensions, and tolerances. These services can speed up manufacturing, increase quality control, and reduce costs.
Such services are adaptable and can be configured to handle many different types of production environments, such as 3D printing, CNC machining, casting, and injection molding. In addition, the scanner captures data using lasers and can be used for online inspection (e.g., check for defects) or at-line inspection (a check after production).
Benefits of upgrading to 3D scanning for quality assurance
There are many benefits of 3D scanning services versus human inspection. 3D scanning services are more efficient, faster, less expensive to train workers for 3D printing jobs because there is no training involved in the 3D inspection. 3D scanners can also measure too small or thin features to be measured by human inspectors (e.g., microstructures). Such features often show up in advanced aerospace designs.
3D scanning services have been advancing rapidly, with 3D scanners that can be integrated into any production environment, at-line inspection capabilities, turnkey solutions that are customizable to customer needs and can even replace human inspections entirely. These services have transformed the aerospace industry and made high-quality production options available to more firms.