Design of Custom Accessories for a Diesel Engine
THE COMPANY
EMI Conception is a small business specialised in making custom‐made accessories for heavy duty machinery. No two projects are the same for them and they need to adapt to different customer machines and requirements. They were traditionally taking measurements by hand and working by simple trial and error until their accessories were a perfect fit.
THE SOLUTION
Uncertain how 3d scanning would integrate into their design process, EMI conception opted for the peel 3d scanner rather than a higher end 3d scanner. “This scanner is the perfect balance between pricing and accuracy; it is exactly what we need for our business” said Benoit Belleville, president. Already using Inventor as a CAD software for product design, peel 3d was a perfect fit. STL files can be directly imported into Inventor and used as a reference to design accessories mating perfectly with the existing components.
PROBLEM
Design and fabricate high performance accessories for an existing 6,7L Cummins Diesel engine for which no CAD model or drawings were available.
CHALLENGES
- Traditional hand measurements can be tricky and take a lot of time
- Complex curves are very difficult to measure
- Available space around the part needs to be understood
- Requires fabrication of multiple fit templates to validate the hand measurements
- Hand measurements lead to a simplistic design
SETUP
Only 3 hrs of work were required to produce a complete 3D model of the cylinder block using peel 3d. The part was scanned with the help of targets to ensure optimal accuracy over the entire model. The data was cleaned and finalised with the free included peel 3d software.
peel 3d BENEFITS
- Avoided 4‐5 hrs of traditional metrology to measure the critical surfaces
- Eliminated back and forth trips between the shop and office for missing measurements
- Saved 300‐400$ of template fabrication (to validate measurements)
- Provided complete information about the existing part for optimal design of the accessories
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
- At least 50%‐time saved vs traditional measurement
- Avoid the use of test templates ‐ $$$
- Easy learning curve, up and running in no time
- Improved quality and fit of designed accessories
- Increased productivity throughput, quicker ROI
- No expensive returns‐to‐site for missed measurements
“Payback for a peel 3d scanner was under 10
projects, it was justified in only a few weeks of
work.”
RESULTS
3D scan helped save hours vs traditional manual measurement while providing much more information about the part. The peel 3d solution provided all the necessary data to design and fit any accessory to the existing engine block with a high level of confidence. Additionally, the use of a 3D scan eliminated the previous time and cost of validating the hand measurements and ensured the final designed accessory would fit perfectly, first time.
