Accelerating Inspections

Operators at Turbocam International (www.turbocam.com; Barrington, NH) – a turbomachinery supplier to aerospace, automotive and industrial markets – were hitting a product development snag. They were unable to integrate the code from their previous coordinate measurement machine (CMM) software vendor with their CAD programs, a limitation that prevented them from making fast program changes. The solution was found through the purchase of a Wenzel 8.10.7 CMM equipped with the REVO Renishaw 5-axis scanner probe system from Xspect Solutions  (www.xspectsolutions.com; Milford, MI). The system uses Xspect’s OpenDMIS CMM software, which works with CAD programs.

The REVO uses synchronized motion to minimize high-speed scanning errors. Its hollow stylus is designed to bend, deflecting the return path of the laser beam, which is monitored by a position sensing detector mounted in the probe body. Turbocam uses it to measure impellors, rotors, turbine blades and compressor stages.

“Our ultimate goal of significantly reducing the time required to write inspection programs has been achieved. We are now looking at a new level of improvement by analyzing ‘families of parts,’ which we believe we can associate with our customer’s design processes to reduce the manufacturing time even more,” says Dave Romain, quality assurance manager for Turbocam’s Barrington operations. Turbocam has since purchased another Wenzel CMM and REVO probe system, and plans to add another at its two-shift operation.