Reverse engineering is the processes of capturing the physical shape of a part by measurement and digitisation and then using this to recreate or remanufacture the part, or an assembly of similarly processed parts. The captured data is more often than not recreated as a 3D CAD model with an accompanying specification, and at this point it is perfectly possible to update this information or make design changes to improve the part.
Reverse engineering is generally employed when a legacy part is required, but for which the tooling has been misplaced or lost, when the original part was made by hand or not strictly to the design data provided at the time, or when no design data actually exists at all.
Mechanical Reverse Engineering
The absence of a CAD model or drawing is therefore not an impediment, as Rapitypes can Reverse Engineer an original component or a model, by laser scanning the surface, and then reconstructing the component in 3D CAD as a solid model. Our ‘fixed’ surface data capture envelope is 3m x 6m x 2m, but our portable data capture systems can scan much larger envelopes and this can also be carried out off-site or at our clients’ facility.
CAD models created using this methodology allow for perpendicularity and concentricity of features together with exact dimensions and the facility to recreate draft angles for remanufacture. Typical uses include mechanical components requiring machining, and the production of new technical drawings. Geometric models can be created using history based parametric or solid modelling, and 2D manufacturing drawings can also be supplied.
Sectors:
Design and prototyping
Tool-making and modifications
Design changes and material re-specification
CNC milling and machining
CAD Formats:
All common CAD systems are supported and files can be exported in any of the following formats:
Pro Engineer (.prt )
SolidWorks
Catia V5 (.Catpart)
Rhino (3dm)
Open Formats (.IGES / .Step / JT Open/ 3D PDF)
