The Holon 3D scanner HL‑3DS, combined with reverse‑engineering technology, was adopted to conduct data acquisition and 3D surface reconstruction for existing automobile wheel hubs. This solves the problem that wheel hub surfaces are difficult to measure and design. Geomagic Qualify was applied to perform comparative analysis between the 3D model and the physical entity to obtain an accurate reconstructed model. As a result, the accuracy of product design is improved, the product R&D, design and processing cycle is greatly shortened, and the cost is reduced.

1. There is a need to quickly obtain a 3D digital model of an automobile wheel hub with a maximum manufacturing dimensional error not exceeding 0.1 mm. Traditional inspection methods (such as gauges, jigs, coordinate‑measuring machines, etc.) are extremely cumbersome and time‑consuming, and cannot achieve accurate and rapid measurement and inspection of the automobile wheel hub structure.

2. Wheel hubs generally feature complex spatial free‑form surfaces with multiple evenly‑spoked wheel sections. Each wheel section consists of multiple spokes with different curvatures. The mating surface between the hub centre bore and the drive shaft serves as the reference datum, and the pitch of the bolt holes is a fitting dimension subject to high accuracy requirements. This is a limitation of traditional measurement approaches.

3D scanning of automobile wheel hubs

Automotive wheel hubs are an important component of auto parts. The Holon 3D scanner HL‑3DS can capture complete 3D data of automotive wheel hubs. Full‑dimension analysis of automotive wheel hubs is performed using inspection software, and a detailed inspection report is generated in the end. Deviations at any position can also be displayed numerically. It can completely replace traditional inspection methods and be applied to quality inspection and reverse engineering of automotive wheel hubs.

1. Preparatory Work

     Spraying developer: to enhance the background contrast on the surface of the sample and obtain better scanning data.

     Pasting marker points: to enable positioning and stitching of the acquired data within the scanning software.

2. 3D Scanning

     The HL‑3DS 3D scanner features fast scanning speed. It only takes 10 minutes to acquire 3D data of an automotive wheel hub, with a high data accuracy up to 0.02 mm. The HL‑3DS 3D scanner adopts technologies including extrapolation‑based multi‑frequency phase‑shift grating technology, coded point calibration technology and automatic global stitching. The 3D data of the automobile bumper mould is imported into 3D reverse engineering software for processing.

Automobile wheel hub point cloud data

Automotive wheel hub STL data

3. 3D Inspection

Import the acquired 3D data of the automobile wheel hub into the inspection software Geomagic Qualify. It can quickly detect the differences between the CAD model of the automobile wheel hub and the manufactured part of the product. Geomagic Qualify is able to display their discrepancies through intuitive and easy‑to‑understand graphical comparison results. For instance, it shows where protrusions or depressions occur. The relative position information of each hole and assembly position can also be analyzed via the software.

Comparative Inspection of Automobile Wheel Hubs

Error Analysis of Cross‑Section of Automobile Wheel Hub

Column‑shaped analysis chart for automobile wheel hubs

Automotive Hub Error Analysis Table