Automated CNC Measuring System Evaluates Surface Roughness and Contour

The Jenoptik Wavemove from Hommel-Etamic is an automated surface roughness and contour measuring system. It includes as many as seven CNC axes for high-accuracy measurement and evaluation of complex shaft or prismatic parts, such as automotive crankshaft, cylinder heads, engine blocks and transmission housings, on the production floor. The system is designed to produce detailed analysis of the measuring results, which can be exported, to eliminate reproducibility concerns and enable the user to track part quality through the entire manufacturing process.

In the ergonomic measuring station, large workpieces can be positioned in a tilt fixture mounted on a rotary table on a granite base to reach all features of complex parts in the automatic measuring cycles, the company says. A stable motorized measuring column automatically positions pickups, and the system automatically verifies the proper orientation of each part prior to measurement.

Roughness and contour measurement is accomplished through the arrangement of probing systems for each type of measurement. The drive bar positions the roughness pickup even in hard-to-reach measuring positions, the company says. The contour probe is designed for easy change and can be operated parallel to the roughness pickup, if necessary.

The system provides a uniform user interface for roughness and contour evaluations; calculation of more than 90 common profile, roughness and waviness parameters; evaluation of geometric characteristics, such as distances, angles and radii; and traverse lengths of 120 or 200 mm for measurement.

The system uses Turbo Wave software, an icon-based interface for CNC measurement runs and automatic evaluations. The software enables interactive control of the measuring station, individual measuring programs with automatic measurement runs and profile analysis functions for profile and material ratio curves and Fourier analysis.