Composite Products Worth Seeing

2009 is about to come to a close. As you look forward to the new year, take a look at some of the last composites products of the aught.

Synergy Composites is hoping a new autoclave system will bring some of its own synergy to manufacture advanced composite components. The autoclave can achieve a maximum temperature of 450 degrees Celsius and is capable of very high pressures (300 PSi). The system has been specifically purchased to provide research and development plus production capability. The company has also invested in an aerospace specified class 7 cleanroom and large (3m long x 1.2m wide x 1m high) coordinate measuring machine.

ContiTech Vibration Control collaborates with BASF and BMW to create the first transmission cross beam for the BMW Gran Turismo 550i

Composites are now on their way to cross beams, as ContiTech Vibration Control collaborates with BASF and BMW to create the first transmission cross beam made of plastic polyamide for use in the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo 550i. The transmission cross beam is the direct link to the engine-transmission mount, and contributes to the overall rigidity of the vehicle and supports the forces and torque of the engine-transmission unit. ContiTech produces the component from strong polyamide in an injection molding process, which they say results in a 50 percent weight savings over aluminum.

Homeland security, government and military agencies’ applications need protection too, and PPG Industries is filling that void with Mil-Tough inorganic composite binder panels. These precast, fiber glass-reinforced ICB panels enhance blast and ballistics resistance in thinner, lighter forms with traditional steel-reinforced concrete systems. The panels can be custom manufactured based on the customer-defined threat level, and they can be incorporated into either modular systems for rapid force protection or permanent structures. Modular designs provide an interconnecting infrastructure to support use in multi- and single-level buildings as well as freestanding perimeter wall system.

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Fujigiken Achieves Lean Product Development Objectives With PTC® Product Development System

Improved Quality, Shorter Time-To-Market and Reduced Costs Boost Competitiveness.

The Product Development Company, today announced that Fujigiken Inc., a leading Japanese automotive component manufacturer has been using Pro/ENGINEER® and Windchill®, key components of the PTC® Product Development System, to help streamline its product development processes in support of its lean product development initiative.

Based in Mie Prefecture, Japan, Fujigiken has staked out a unique position in the automotive metal component manufacturing industry by providing its customers with technical support for precision automotive components and other products that must conform to strict advanced technology standards, leveraging its engineering and management capabilities to meet customer requirements for quality, cost-efficient products. Fujigiken adopted Pro/ENGINEER in 1996 to create a 3D engineering environment and transition to a full 3D CAD/CAM-based process. At the same time, it developed a methodology for using engineering and NC data for mold machining. Today, the company uses the Pro/ENGINEER 3D design system for engineering and geometry simulation all the way through NC data creation, centrally managing all data to provide engineers with comprehensive process support.

In 2007, Fujigiken deployed Pro/Coordinate Measuring Machines (Pro/CMMTM) to automate its 3D measurement process. Pro/CMM, an optional module for Pro/ENGINEER, allows customers to automate their inspection processes by using Pro/ENGINEER design data to generate programs for coordinate measuring machines. Automated coordinate measuring eliminates the inconsistencies inherent with manual measurement, which relies heavily on operator skill and results in time-consuming dimensional adjustments. Pro/CMM and automatic inspection programs generated with the tool make it possible for Fujigiken to perform real-time measurements, improve machine use efficiency, reduce inspection cycles, and enhance measurement quality. As a result, the company was able to reduce the coordinate measuring cycle from 5 - 6 days to 1 day, an 80% improvement.

Fujigiken has been using Windchill to manage a variety of data and enhance process levels and efficiency, achievements that followed a comprehensive evaluation and review of its systems based on usability, maintainability and cost factors. During the first phase of its Windchill deployment, the Fujigiken team realized improvements in component and BOM management and reduced approval processes. As a next step, the team plans to leverage on improvements in project status management and multi-CAD data management to raise process efficiency.

"Our primary focus has been on building an organization capable of identifying market needs before anyone else does," said Shigeru Sato, Executive Managing Director, Fujigiken. "We've been successful in doing so, and able to cut costs while improving quality and reducing time-to-market. We believed PTC offered the best solution to support these initiatives, and plan to enhance our competitiveness by accelerating our engineering process and improving efficiency."

"Even though the automotive industry is facing an increasingly tough market environment, customers like Fujigiken can benefit from adopting lean product development techniques at this difficult time by accelerating PTC's Windchill and Pro/ENGINEER deployment" said Sin Min Yap, director, product and market strategy, PTC. "PTC is committed to providing best-in-class, easy-to-use and scalable solutions that help customers to leverage their technology investment to gain competitive advantage."

Fujigiken works with Hitachi System and Services, LTD. a PTC channel partner, to deploy PTC solutions.

Zeiss Adds Extreme Metrology

Expanding its reach in the field of measurement technology, Carl Zeiss IMT Corp. is planning to roll some of its existing products into a new extreme metrology group.

The new group will offer manufacturers solutions for products that are “different from the run-of-the-mill stuff,” said Kevin Legacy, the company’s manager of computed tomography and engineering.

Manufacturers will be able to send their products, components and prototypes to a new lab in Brighton, Mich., where Zeiss IMT experts will provide metrology services. Thus, companies who might not be able to afford to purchase Zeiss instruments outright still will be able to benefit from their accuracy and precision.

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Leica Absolute Tracker Yields Groundbreaking Accuracy and More

New Absolute Interferometer Enables "Dynamic Lock-on" to Tracker Beam

Miamisburg, OH - Leica Geosystems, a Hexagon company, today announced field measurement results have culminated in the highest distance accuracies of any Leica laser tracker in the company's history. This new line of Leica laser tracker introduces a distance accuracy specification of 10 µm (MPE) within the full measurement volume of up to 80 meters (262.47 ft). Compared to the previous-generation laser tracker from Leica Geosystems, the Absolute Tracker's distance accuracy has been improved by greater than a factor of two. The Leica Absolute Interferometer, which measures both relative and absolute distances, is responsible for this substantial performance improvement. It has several redundant systems built in, thus assuring the highest dependability of measurement data.The typical measurement volume of the Leica Absolute Tracker models AT 901-B and AT 901-LR is now 160 meters. Measurements of very large objects can now be performed without repositioning the laser tracker. The laser tracker's advances in thermal stability, minimal warm-up times and the weight of only 22 kg render the portable CMM to be extremely stable and flexible for a wide range of industrial metrology applications in aerospace, automotive, power generation, shipbuilding and general engineering.

The Leica Absolute Tracker integrates future-oriented technologies providing the basis for several new metrology features and products being developed by Leica Geosystems. One such advance is the Absolute Interferometer or “AIFM” in the Absolute Tracker. The AIFM combines the ability to instantly re-establish an interrupted laser beam and immediately start measuring a moving target. “Dynamic lock-on” capability is a significant improvement to user productivity. Until now, no single distancing unit was capable of dynamic lock-on, previous generation laser trackers were forced to use both laser interferometers (IFM) and Absolute Distance Meters (ADM) in combination. With the Absolute Tracker, Leica Geosystems has taken the strengths from both of these technologies, and combined them together to produce the AIFM. What makes the Absolute Interferometer revolutionary is that it can measure absolute distances to a moving target with the instantaneous update rate and the dynamic performance of a laser interferometer.

This new functionality will be released later in the year. All existing Absolute Trackers will be upgraded with a simple software upgrade. Laser trackers from Leica Geosystems have played a leading role in industrial metrology since 1991. Since then, the technology inside the laser tracker has been undergoing continuous improvements, yet many of the original laser trackers from the first series are still in use today, a testimony to their dependability in the field.
About the Metrology Division of Leica Geosystems

The Metrology Division of Leica Geosystems is a global supplier of comprehensive hardware and software packages to the industrial metrology market. These products integrate with popular CAD programs, various build-and-inspect tools, and reverse engineering software. Using state-of-the-art laser technology, Leica’s laser trackers and theodolites make quality control, part mating, assembly and construction of large and small parts easier and more accurate than ever. The U.S. headquarters for Leica Geosystems' metrology products is located at the Hexagon Metrology Precision Center in Miamisburg, Ohio. For more information about Leica Geosystems' metrology products and services, visit their web site at www.leica-geosystems.com/metrology, or call 937-353-1218.

About Hexagon Metrology

Hexagon Metrology serves the high precision measurement and inspection needs of Worldwide manufacturers with its extensive line of metrology hardware, software, accessories, and customer services. The company's name-brand portfolio of quality assurance products include Brown & Sharpe, Cognitens, Leica Geosystems, ROMER, Sheffield, PC-DMIS, DEA, Leitz and TESA. Hexagon Metrology has an unrivaled installed base of more than 1.5 million handheld, stationary and portable measurement devices, and over 30,000 seats of PC-DMIS metrology software. The company is a subsidiary of Hexagon Measurement Technologies, a business unit of Hexagon AB (Nacka Strand, Sweden), a publicly-traded company (OMX Nordic: HEXA B). The Hexagon group consists of nearly 8,200 employees located in 30 countries.

Call 800-426-1066 or visit http://www.hexagonmetrology.us/ for more information about Hexagon Metrology Inc. and its trusted brands.

Bowes Uses Delcam Software for Airbus Interiors

BIRMINGHAM, UK, Mar 19, 2009 - Delcam’s CADCAM software has been used by Bowes Design and Development in most projects it has undertaken for the last 15 years, including two projects within the development of the cabin interiors for the Airbus A380. The first project was to develop a concept interior; the second to manufacture replica cabin linings for climate-control testing.




The interior project, which was undertaken in association with a team of design consultants, involved the development of the complete cabin, including the seating, lighting and a bar, within 20 weeks. To complete the work to deadline, the cabin was divided into a number of sections that were manufactured, checked and finished with the Delcam software before being shipped to Toulouse for assembly.




Some of the aircraft interiors developed by Bowes with Delcam software
The cabin linings had to be delivered to the Airbus engineering division in Hamburg with an even shorter deadline of 16 weeks. Unlike mock-ups for sales and marketing, the engineering prototypes had to perform under real-life conditions and be subjected to the full range of environmental conditions that could be experienced in the cabin. The replica cabin met and exceeded customer expectations, in both temperature and humidity testing, and so provided an important contribution to the development of the A380.

While this type of work may provide some of Bowes’ most high-profile projects, it only makes up half of the company’s business. The remainder comes from the automotive, marine and other industries. The range of processes used is equally diverse, including direct machining, reaction injection molding, vacuum casting, resin transfer molding, thermoforming, and carbon fibre-reinforced plastics molding and hand lay-up.


This diversity is an important part of the company’s success according to Director Dave Thompson. “Most of our clients provide a CAD model that needs to be turned into a physical prototype,” he explained. “With our range of processes, we can choose the route that is most cost-effective and that will also meet the customer’s quality requirements.”


To provide all these services, Bowes has thirteen CNC machines, six of which are five-axis. These are used to give a very fast, accurate turn around. The largest is a CMS router that is 4.8 x 2.4 x 1.2 meters. “We use the different machines for different materials and applications,” said Mr. Thompson. “For example, our newest piece of equipment is a DMG DMU 100 that we chose for machining aluminum injection moulds for short-run production. This is a growing part of our business and the results from the new machine have been very impressive.”
In contrast, in its18 years of using CADCAM, Bowes has always stuck with Delcam software.

The company now uses the PowerSHAPE modeling software to design all its different types of tooling from the CAD models supplied by its customers. Delcam’s PowerMILL CAM system is used for all the machining, whether it is the direct production of finished parts or the manufacture of tooling. Similarly, all inspection is carried out with the PowerINSPECT inspection software, both on a conventional coordinate measuring machine and on a portable FARO inspection arm.


Paul Beckett, who has been using the Delcam software for fifteen years and is now Managing Director, said “Delcam is established as the leading system for toolmaking and cutter-path generation. Now it is even more dominant. Our Delcam software always does the job. It is extremely flexible, which is essential for our variety of processes, and gets faster with every release, which we need when customers want projects completed the day before they place the order. Over the years, we’ve looked at other systems but we’ve never felt any need to change from Delcam.”

For more information on coordinate measuring machines go to http://www.cmmquarterly.com/

CAD Modeling The Basics

By Mark Boucher, CMM Quarterly

I want to cover some basics about CAD models that might help us understand what is happening with some model features when you program from a CAD model using your coordinate measuring machine. By understanding surfaces we can better evaluate any anomalies we may encounter when we import a model into our CAD base CMM software.
There are several model types and we will cover two of the most common ones you would come across today, solid models and surface models. To be more accurate, they are parametric models and freeform surface models.

Parametric Models

Parametric models are created from features that are defined by parameters, or dimensions. These dimensions can be changed and the feature moves with the change. Prior to parametric modeling if a change was made then the feature was recreated, extruded, trimmed, etc…, in the new position and the old feature was deleted. Parametric modeling maintains the relationship of part creation, assembly, to output of the blueprint and a change anywhere along that process will update the model at every level.

Parametric models are referred to as a solid model, as opposed to a wireframe model. A wireframe model is made up of lines that represent the part but have no surfaces on them and makes 3d viewing somewhat tedious.

Parametric modeling revolutionized the CAD industry and allowed more affordable CAD software to become available to anyone. You can now pick up parametric CAD programming software up at your local Best Buy right off the shelf.

Freeform Surface Models

The second model type I want to cover is the surface model. With surface models curves are used to define the surface area and surfaces are applied between the curves then they are trimmed and merged, to make a solid. The problem with this method is to make sure all the voids between the surfaces are filled in. The surface definition changes as the need requires. Let’s say, you have a plane that requires basically four lines to define the boundary of the plane. A chamfer merging into a radius requires a greater amount of defining to create this type of feature. While creating the surfaces you may end up with a small void as you try to fill in the feature. Point placement from your CMM program will be dependant on where it sees the plane boundaries and a void will not be inclusive in this plane so the boundaries are redefined not giving you a true representation of the surface. In parametric modeling these types of transitions are automatically resolved.Some CMM CAD based software have a ‘healing’ or ‘repair’ functionality that will mend some of these errors. It is always advisable to use healing when using this type of model. If your software does not include this functionality there are third party softwares that do the job for you.SurfacesCreation of surfaces begins with a spline, aka curve. Splines are single lines that make up the shape of the surface. Imagine points that make up the shape of your surface and spline will fit through these points. These splines are then used to create the surface through a method known as ‘swept’ (using the curves as a guide rail) or meshed (lofted) through. A ‘swept’ surface follows the shape of the curve line. If you had a helical curve the swept surface will follow that helical shape as it extrudes the surface.

If your engineering department does any sort of reverse engineering they will ask for a series of curve files that they can import into their CAD system. The curve files are then used to ‘mesh’ or ‘loft’ the surfaces. The density or frequency of the curve lines along the surface will depend on the complexity of the surface being scanned. For flat planes only several are needed but scanning the chamfer to radius transition we discussed before would require a greater amount of curves to define the feature.

Another method is direct creation of the surface with manipulation of the surface control points. Points are created along the curves that can be grabbed and drawn in any direction to create a new surface shape. This inherently will create new surfaces to fit the new configuration.

It is important to note that the majority of CMM software in the market today do not have true CAD functionality and thus do not have the ability to manipulate surfaces as described above but it is important to know what is happening during model creation.


This article is copyrighted. For permission to reprint this article please contact Mark Boucher at info@cmmquarterly.com