A well‑known auto parts manufacturer needed to carry out reverse design for an automotive component. The company used the Holon self‑developed 3D scanner to acquire high‑precision 3D data, and adopted reverse‑engineering software to accelerate the development of new products.

1. The cavity size of the mold is relatively large, and the cavity will undergo substantial deformation during production. Conventional measuring tools cannot meet the requirements for addressing the deformation issue of the rear‑view mirror housing.

2. Since rear‑view mirror plastic parts need to be mass‑produced, a 3D scanner must be adopted for secondary product design to facilitate processing and reduce mold costs.

On‑site scanning image of plastic parts for automobile rearview mirrors

       In response to the characteristics of auto parts, such as complex free‑form surfaces, drastic curvature variations and numerous hole positions, the technical engineers at Hualang 3D proposed a solution that adopts the HL‑3DS+ 3D scanner (to rapidly acquire high‑precision 3D data of automobile engines) and reverse‑engineering software (to convert engine point‑cloud data into triangular meshes). For the plastic part of an automobile rearview mirror, the outer surface of its housing is a streamlined curved surface for aesthetic purposes, featuring sophisticated geometry. Its other faces are mostly constructed from curved surfaces. In the middle, there are two hollow cylindrical holes for mounting as well as multiple reinforcing ribs. Uniform wall thickness is required for this injection‑molded part. Non‑uniform wall thickness will trigger various defects in the plastic component including internal stress, warpage and sink marks. If the wall thickness is too small, high flow resistance occurs during molding, making it difficult for complex products to fill the mold cavity. If the wall thickness is excessively large, it will not only consume more raw materials and raise costs but also extend the cooling time for molded plastic parts.

STL data diagram of auto parts

Comparative Analysis Diagram of Auto Parts