Bespoke measurement strategies for complicated freeform components.

A customer approached NPL Huddersfield to measure a very complex part - a fragile ceramic core for an aerospace engine. NPL now regularly provides this customer with weekly batch checks of these parts to improve their quality control and manufacturing process.

The challenge

Ceramic cores of aerospace engines are very difficult to measure - they are very complex, abrasive, and delicate. The customer needs reliable, independent, measurement checks for these parts to be carried out on a weekly basis to identify any variations in the manufacturing process.

The solution

NPL's highly skilled operators and programmers use our high end Zeiss CMM to measure the ceramic cores, and provide data to the customer each week to feed into their statistical process control.

The NPL team developed bespoke strategies to measure specific features of the cores. These techniques are only achievable on the Zeiss CMM.

The impact

NPL's measurement strategy enabled the customer to improve their manufacturing process through integrating the new measurement data. This, in turn, improves the quality of the product, and reduces scrap.

Contact

For more information, please contact huddersfield_lab@npl.co.uk