Sectioning technique for contour measurement

Citation

(2000), "Sectioning technique for contour measurement", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 72 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2000.12772bab.012

Sectioning technique for contour measurement

Sectioning technique for contour measurement

Keywords: Disc, Optical Gaging Products, Measurement

It is reported that a new development in fully automatic non-contact measurement of complex shapes or profiles of a component that cannot be readily seen by conventional non-contact optics has been developed by Optical Gaging Products (OGP) of America.

Now available through Disc (GB) of Hatton in Derbyshire, the non-destructive Versaline system is said to be some five-times faster than conventional probe and tracing techniques and is believed to be ideal for components as diverse as gear tooth profiles, measurement of leading and trailing edge radii of jet engine blades, dovetail and fir tree roots, thread, spline and cutting tool forms as well as plastic and deformable rubber components.

The Versaline optical system is used in conjunction with the OGP range of SmartScope video-based non-contact three-dimensional measuring machines. It uses two slit projectors which in effect wrap a sharp horizontal band of light around the contour or profile of the part to be measured. As the light beam strikes the target area, a sharp demarcation line is created which, in effect, cuts a section across the profile to be measured.

This part section is then captured as a two-dimensional profile by the CCT video camera of the OGP SmartScope and then measured as an optical edge feature with the vertical Z-axis dimension taken from the SmartScope's auto focus system. Points are captured at a rate of 50 per second and automatically processed by the Windows-based MeasureMind and SmartFit contour analysis software.

As the component profile is moved through the measuring band, the cross-sectional profile is continuously recorded and the sectional image updated.

The dual slit projector design allows a wide range of component types and profiles to be measured automatically while the sophistication of the OGP SmartScope illumination system ensures that maximum brightness of the sectional image is controlled. And, with the flexibility of the zoom facility, sections can be programmed for measurement at varying magnification levels. In addition, an optional tiltplate allows sectioning to be performed at different angles relative to the part centre line and, with the addition of the optional rotary positioning table, full 360° coverage of a target component can be achieved.

Details available from Disc (GB) Limited. Tel: +44 (0) 1283 520127.