Quick Summary
Challenge: Inspection of an oversized anvil block for repair and restoration
Solution: 3D laser scanner KSCAN 20, 3D scanning and inspection software ScanViewer
Results: Thanks to KSCAN 20’s built-in photogrammetry and robust performance, the company captured highly precise data of the anvil block to efficiently 3D inspect it, thus saving time and costs.
The Purpose of 3D Laser Inspection
Kraft Industriehandel GmbH was searching for an optical 3D scanner for industrial inspection. They contacted our reseller to inspect an anvil block with our KSCAN portable 3D scanner to repair it.
The object needed to be scanned to check the parallelism of several guide bars and deliver precise measurement information to perform welding processes to optimize the usability of the later forge hammer.
The company provides efficient and optimal equipment for the production chain. Its key business areas include industrial equipment, spare parts, engineering, and services.
Types and Principles of Inspection
Before we dig into the details of the case, we would like to clarify the common types and principles of inspection in the market. Generally, inspections are used to identify and correct errors in a completed deliverable.
The principle is to inspect and approve various details of parts during each manufacturing phase to detect and correct quality problems. The quality inspection falls into three main types: pre-production, in-line, and final inspections.
The purpose of scanning a mechanical component in this case was different from the common usage. It was conducted to repair and optimize the part for an extended life cycle.
Challenges of 3D Scanning a Large-scale Anvil Block
The anvil block is about 6.5m long, 4m wide, and weighs several tons. The measuring volume is about 1.5m for each guide bar.
It’s essential to ensure the precision, parallelism, and perpendicularity of guide bars since they enable the straight vertical motion of the hammer. A piece of portable measurement equipment with a large measuring volume is needed for this massive anvil block.
Due to the need to perform some precise welding work, the required accuracy to scan the guide bars is 0.05mm, which is quite high-demanding for a part as long as 1.5m.
Accurate measurement results are critical for a smooth inspection. A comprehensive 3D solution is a must to overcome the challenge of 3D scanning.
Workflow of the Project
What we need to do
Due to the enormous size, our technician needed to build up a stage around the object to be able to scan everything from half of the object. They scanned half of the part, and the other half was then available by mirroring the scanned part.
Due to the high accuracy demands at the guide bars, these parts of the object also needed to be cleaned very well to get no disturbing dirt into the scan data.
Since the rest of the object was scanned to create a 3D model for visualization purposes, it was less critical in terms of accuracy when compared to the guide bars.
Photogrammetry
To perform a precise 3D scan of such a large object, it was necessary to use photogrammetry with the handheld 3D laser scanner KSCAN 20.
Here particular reference points and bars were used to perform the photogrammetric calibration. These points allowed the 3D scanner to orient itself in space and combine individual scans into a global point cloud.
The built-in photogrammetry made it possible to photograph all the components at different angles. Using the triangulation principle and the length standard, it precisely calculated the coordinates of all glued targets.
Thanks to this, we were sure about the measurement stability and control over the deviation of the transformation of single scans in the global coordinate system.
Advantages of Scantech’s 3D solution
Since our composite 3D scanner KSCAN20 is a stand-alone device, it can be brought anywhere to 3D scan parts. It saved the hassle of moving the massive anvil block around.
The sizeable measuring area of Scantech’s KSCAN20 handheld laser 3D scanner allowed for a quick data acquisition.
Thanks to the previously performed photogrammetry, the 3D measurement could be started anywhere without worrying about the accuracy of the scan transformation.
With this function included in the KSCAN 20, the technician was able to meet the customer’s high accuracy requirements of 0.05 mm.
The result of the scan was a polygonised STL triangle mesh, which consisted of nearly 3.0 million measurement points.
It had been prepared for the next stage, in which measurements like parallelism and angles of different guide bars were calculated. A 3D model of the entire anvil block were also created with CAD software.
