Wheel quality control: Inspection Efficiency

Before vehicle wheels roll into the market, up to 80 geometric features relevant to their function, such as radial and axial runout, width and diameter, are typically inspected randomly with tactile measurement devices under laboratory conditions away from the production line. The procedure consumes about 45 to 60 minutes per wheel, making 100 percent inspection of the wheels impossible.

The “Wheelinspector” overcomes those inspection obstacles, reports the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF, which developed the measurement system with Ascona GmbH, Meckenbeuren, Germany, a manufacturer of optical profile measurement systems.

Courtesy of Fraunhofer IFF

The “Wheelinspector” makes noncontact measurement of vehicle wheels directly in the production process.

“The system makes fully optical, noncontact measurement of light- alloy wheels directly in the production process possible for the first time,” said Ralf Warnemünde, deputy manager of the measurement and testing technology business unit at Fraunhofer IFF. “Immediately after they have been machined, that is, turned, milled and drilled, the new 3-D laser technology compares finished products with their 3-D CAD model. It scans a multitude of geometric features and, with a cycle time of 20 seconds to inspect one wheel, can be fully integrated into the production flow.”