Extruder Die Flatness

Description

Introduction:

Extruder dies have a flatness specification that must be maintained or the parts being extruded will be out of tolerance and non-conformant, resulting in scrap and disruptions. Periodic inspection of the die for flatness, deformation, burrs, or other irregularities is required.

Situation:

A tool and die company approached MTI Instruments, requesting assistance with a new method for inspecting their 20 ft long die. Contact gauges on a gantry had been the previous method; Non-contact was now the preferred practice.

Solution:

MTI Instruments recommended using a laser sensor operating in specular mode to scan the die. High gloss surfaces cause a strong specular reflection of light; a specular laser sensor is tilted to accept the directly reflected laser beam often with a filter to reduce glare and saturation.

Given the range and objective, a Microtrak 3 was selected (LTS-25-02) and was attached to the gantry in place of the existing contact probe. After connecting it to their data acquisition system the company proceeded to verify, validate and ultimately order several more sensors for plants throughout their organization.

MTI Instruments has a team of application engineers ready to shed some light on your measurement objectives.