How to Save Time and Money with Faster Measurements

Today’s mold manufacturer is often looking for time and cost savings on many levels. There are solutions—whether it is to reduce development times, accelerate the configuration of entire initial sample test reports or shorten reaction times for damage analyses.

The amount and completeness of data delivered by metrotomography—highly accurate CT measuring technology that optimizes processes—opens the door for enormous time and cost savings. These solutions are for the complete measurement of parts and tool correction.

The ability to non-destructively generate a 3-D model of a real part has led to the use of computer tomography for the inspection of industrial tools. A 3-D image of a workpiece represents the entire part, including the exterior and interior features. Metrotomography systems also enable highly precise dimensional measurements of complex tools. It is no longer necessary to cast the parts in synthetic resin and destroy them step-by-step to subsequently perform a 2-D plane-by-plane measurement.

The results obtained through metrotomography are also easy to interpret. In addition to traditional measurement logs, color displays enable the operator to quickly and clearly recognize deviations from the nominal results for the entire part—a real time and money saver.

Optimizes Mold Building
Due to shrinkage, material properties and pressure, injection molded parts do not correspond to the negative of their models. Therefore, the tools are manufactured using an iterative process consisting of many steps. Metrotomography enables a clear reduction of these cycles and thus development times. Measuring software also features a tool correction function. As a result, deviations from the nominal geometry are not only recognized, but also reflected on the nominal surface. This represents the level of shrinkage in the model and thus integrates the measurement immediately into the tool correction process. The reduction of the number of tool corrections leads directly to noticeably faster availability of the parts on the market and thus shorter innovation cycles. The time savings potential here is in the range of 50 to 70 percent.

In addition to measuring technology, metrotomography makes it possible to perform different analyses. The porosity of materials can be determined as easily as the general condition of the material and the correct assembly of the single components. This permits optimization and monitoring of the entire production process.

Outlook
The ability of computed tomography to capture the entire volume of a workpiece in a single scan is unique. This is particularly beneficial for tools with complex geometries, for which traditional measuring machines are unable to capture certain dimensions.

Metrotomography automates measuring and inspection processes, objectifies measuring results and combines several procedures in one machine. For the inspection of lightweight materials such as plastic, magnesium, foam and ceramics, metrotomography opens up entirely new perspectives.