3D Scanner Speeds Measurement of Power Plant Components
A new 3-D scanning device that has been tested in Russia will cut down the time taken to verify that heavy steel components are shaped exactly according to design. “It makes it possible to take a large step towards Industry 4.0 measurement at our plant,” said Andrey Kuntysh – Quality Director of Petrozavodskmash..
Atommash is part of AEM-Technology, which is a unit of Atomenergomash, Rosatom’s power engineering subsidiary. The Petrozavodskmash plant is capable of making and finishing heavy power plant components including steam generators and reactor pressure vessels.
Using a 3D scanner, the geometric dimensions and deviations from the shape of products of different dimensions were measured. After processing the measurement results for each of the products, a digital model and a graphic report were obtained, confirming the absence of deviations,
“The main advantage of 3D scanning is the high speed of the scan and data processing,” said Atommash. Taking the example task of measuring a pressure compensator, the company said its workers typically needed 8-12 hours for measurement using previous laser trackers, and then a further 4 hours for data processing. The new device takes just 2 hours for scanning and 2 hours for data processing.
The new hand-held unit can scan components up to 6 metres in diameter, so it complements other systems already used at the factory for small items up to 1.5 m and for large items as much as 50 m long.
Given the positive experience with the scanning system, Kuntysh said it would “make it possible to obtain high precision digital twins of the products and take a large step towards Industry 4.0 measurement at our plant, Taking into account the positive experience of using the scanning system in the Volgodonsk branch, the purchase of a new 3D scanning system in Petrozavodsk will significantly increase the speed and quality of control measurements, making it possible to redistribute the work between the coordinate measuring machines and to obtain high-precision digital twins of the controlled products.”
