Quality 101

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GD&T is the only tool we have with which to manage machine part geometry perfectly. In particular, it’s the only tool we have with which to impose truly functional limits of imperfection on machine part features and actually guarantee assembly and operation prior to drawing release.

It’s certainly not news that more and more gages are being forced out onto the shop floor. Tight tolerance measurements that were once performed by a trained inspection technician are now being done right next to the machining center, most likely by the machine tool operator.

There was a time when choosing a gaging solution for shaft-type parts was a relatively straightforward task. High-volume parts received a custom-built gage and everything else received a manual or automatic “snap-on” or ring gage of some sort. 

Smart organizations are taking a holistic view of their manufacturing operation and a hard look at their inspection and quality practices. As technology has progressed, so has the manufacturer’s ability to closely align their unique needs and applications to the selection of a coordinate measurement machine (CMM).

It’s easy to take many of today’s technological marvels for granted, 3D measurement among them. The idea of simply pointing a “ray gun” of sorts at an object and obtaining all of its geometrical measurements would once have been solely the domain of Star Trek-ian science fiction.

Sir Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion, published in his thesis Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin for Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) in 1687, are what modern-day physicists and metrologists refer to when they describe force as any interaction that, if unopposed, will change the motion of an object. 

Calibration is not just about having stickers on your equipment with dates that say everything is okay.

Up until the late 1970s, the contour projector or optical comparator was the mainstay of automated two-dimensional inspection systems. 

When material surfaces are in mechanical contact and slide against each other, complex microscopic interactions occur between the surfaces that lead to friction and wear.

Why leak test? Leak testing is performed to ensure that when in service, the component or assembly has zero leakage or a leakage that is acceptable over time for the fluid/gas that it is meant to contain, or conversely to prevent material on the outside from leaking in.