Creaform has released a series of new products as their innovation takes form, ensuring a legacy of quality measurement products. Please note the links to webinars in the coming weeks to learn more about these new releases. MetraSCAN BLACK+ Series: Elevating the Quality Control User Experience Creaform, a business of AMETEK, Inc. and worldwide provider of automated and portable 3D measurement solutions, announces the release of the MetraSCAN BLACK+™, MetraSCAN BLACK+™|Elite and HandyPROBE Next+, latest versions of its suite of optical CMM 3D scanners and probes. Leveraging new ISO 10360 certi ..read more

Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) is restoring and building a Halifax bomber for the Bomber Command Museum of Canada (BCMC) in Nanton, Alberta. The Organization is dedicated to preserving the Handley Page Halifax bomber aircraft, used during air combat operations in WWII. Rapid3D was contacted by Karl Kjaarsgard, the Curator of the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, to help with a scan and modeling project to help recreate and reproduce the engine air scoop. The air intake, or air scoop, of an aircraft is a component which takes in air during flight to provide ventilation. The story behind finding the ..read more

Background: For pipelines that are transporting oil and gas, data collection is conducted from time-to-time to quantify the damage incurred by the pipeline over the years. Most of the time, an in-line-inspection (ILI) tool is used to identify the corrosion areas (Level 0, Level 1 analysis) and then pit-gauge measurements are conducted after excavating the pipeline section (Level 2, Level 3 analysis) to quantify the deepest points of the damages and calculate the burst pressure on the pipe section. These calculations are vital in making integrity decisions about the remaining life or fitne ..read more

In Parts One and Two, we talked about what types of inspections can be utilized from 3D scan data - both QC applications and NDT/integrity applications. In this post, we will discuss using the scan data in an entirely different way. Reverse Engineering & Design Applications It is a common misconception that once we have a scan of a part, it's possible to instantly create a CAD model and drawing and send the information to manufacturing. This is, unfortunately, not true - there is no current solution on the market that offers instant scan-to-CAD modeling, especially if there is a desire to ..read more

In our last post, we talked about using 3D scan data for inspection and quality control applications. In this post, we will explore a more specialized type of inspection - integrity and NDT inspections. Corrosion Analysis & NDT Applications Another important application for 3D scanning is integrity assessment. It is a form of inspection, but it is more specialized in the sense that there is rarely a nominal that can be used. Firstly, nominals are nearly never available to NDT companies as they are not part of the manufacturing process (at least not for damage assessment projects). Often ti ..read more

You've finally found a 3D scanner that satisfies your application requirements. It ticks off every box - accuracy, resolution, versatility, and portability. Whether it's a Creaform handheld scanner or a Surphaser hemispherical scanner, the scan data of your part looks great and you're ready to move forward with your project. Now what? Getting the 3D scan data is only half of the solution. The second half of the solution is what we can actually do with the data. Usually, how we handle the scan data is where the bulk of the workflow is situated. More often than not, the scan data itself is not ..read more

The Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, AB recently acquired a Creaform Go!SCAN Spark. The palaeontologists at the museum are using the scanner for many reasons, which Dr. Emily L. Bamforth, Museum Curator, explains in the CBC News video below. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/7a8615_8fd3cc3ce9ff475aa0183e114d11a402/720p/mp4/file.mp4 The Go!SCAN Spark is being used by the palaeontologists in the Pipestone Creek Bonebed, one of the richest fossil sites in the world. Researchers believe that a Pachyrhinosaurus herd may have died in an attempt to cross a river during a flood. By scannin ..read more

Rapid3D's very own James Jenkins put on an excellent webinar on June 20, 2023 discussing the innovative use-case of how Geomagic Design X can be used for scan-based design. Geomagic Design X is a powerful tool for reverse engineering and modeling from scan data. In this webinar, James demonstrated the complete retrofit design of a Mercedes Sprinter van conversion using the powerful tools and interface in Design X. He also discusses the various applications and industries where scan-based design can be used. Watch the FULL webinar here. Thank you very much to Oqton for hosting the webinar ..read more

Creaform has written a comprehensive article on how to choose the best 3D scanner for your application. Read the original article here. Courtesy of: You have been tasked with buying a 3D scanner. The only problem is figuring out where to start your search. You know what 3D scanning is but don’t know enough about it to make an informed choice. Here, we will provide the information to help you answer the following questions: How do 3D scanners work? What are the different types of 3D handheld scanners? What should I consider when buying a 3D scanner? How do I choose the best handheld 3D scanne ..read more

Now, more than ever before, NDT companies and pipeline operators are turning to new solutions to conduct fitness-for-service assessments of pipes; conventional methods often make it difficult to identify critical flows, including cracks, corrosion, mechanical fatigue, and mechanical damage. One such company that is making the switch from manual processes to more advanced 3D measurement technologies is Tilt Inspection & Consulting, a leader in Western Canada for pipeline integrity inspections. Tilt Inspection specializes in a wide range of NDE services, including pipeline integrity inspect ..read more