Product Feature

Metal Dimensioning

Precision GD&T inspection for aluminum manufacturing

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Voyager's Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) capabilities bring dimensional inspection directly to Computed Tomography (CT) scans of aluminum parts. Automated feature extraction identifies surfaces directly from the scan data, including undercuts and internal geometry that calipers and visual inspection tools can't reach. Distance, angle, diameter, datum, flatness, and profile measurements can be pulled from those features automatically, eliminating the need for manual programming. The speed and flexibility of Voyager’s dimensioning tools carry across first article inspection, supplier qualification, and in-process tolerance verification across aluminum parts, whether cast, machined, or extruded.

Lumafield's dimensioning tools let organizations pull richer information out of the parts they already scan. Uploading a .STEP file into Voyager lets users evaluate a feature's profile directly against the original design, supporting a comprehensive read on tolerance across the part. Feature extraction also helps with reverse engineering aluminum components that have no usable CAD files, a common problem for automotive, aerospace, and defense companies whose hardware support needs can outlive the original suppliers.

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CT is the gold standard for inspection data, prized for the rich analysis it enables. A single scan can evaluate material integrity, assembly alignment, and dimensional deviations simultaneously. For example, in automotive manufacturing, a die-cast aluminum housing can be measured for bolt pattern location and mating surface flatness along with porosity in a single scan. In aerospace, first article inspection on an aluminum bracket can verify GD&T tolerances before the part moves on to further assembly steps, catching errors before they become more challenging and expensive to correct. Across industries, high-value metal components with demanding performance needs can be validated with Voyager’s dimensional analysis tools.

Metal dimensioning runs across Lumafield's scanning lineup. Triton Performance enables it for the production floor, scanning parts adjacent to the line at scale, while Neptune Performance supports peak accuracy in the lab. Neptune Performance's granite base, precision rotary stage, and linear encoder control loop allow users to achieve high accuracy reconstructions while inspecting internal features that contact metrology can't access. Results can go straight into a supplier qualification package or a regulatory submission, with NIST-traceable calibration available. Voyager brings it all together in one place, empowering engineers to pull up and share results from anywhere, and to analyze parts consistently across shifts and sites.

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Automated Dimensioning with X-ray CT for Aluminum Parts

Automated Dimensioning with X-ray CT for Aluminum Parts

‍Aluminum now makes up much of the automotive body structure, aerospace bracket, and electronics housing market, and most quality teams still check those parts with tools that are limited to reaching exposed surfaces. CMMs and OMMs can't probe internal bosses, cored passages, or undercuts, so those features get inferred, sectioned destructively, or skipped. This paper shows how Voyager pulls complete dimensional data from the same CT scan teams already run for porosity and material integrity.What's insideThis paper covers the measurement limits of traditional metrology on aluminum parts and how automated feature extraction with x-ray CT addresses this:

The constraints of CMMs and OMMs on cast and machined aluminum, including internal features that probes and cameras can't access and the hours of programming and setup required for every new part number
How Voyager's automated feature extraction identifies every plane, cylinder, and edge in the scan, including internal surfaces, so operators create measurements by selecting features instead of placing points manually
Four examples on real scans, including a profile check of a half ratchet clamp against its .STEP file
Hardware options for dimensioning, with Triton Performance for near-line scanning on the production floor and Neptune Performance for lab work
How saved dimensioning routines run identically at first article, supplier qualification, and in-process inspection

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