Tooling efficiency through 3D scanning

BorgWarner is an automotive components manufacturer dedicated to supporting its customers in their quest for clean propulsion and efficient technologies. The company works with OEMs producing passenger cars, marine equipment, heavy-duty vehicles, and vehicles for off-highway applications.

Numbering among those customers such high-profile names as Scania and Volvo, BorgWarner is committed to meeting and maintaining the highest standards of quality and performance. To help BorgWarner meet this commitment, T3DMC has been collaborating with the company for almost a decade providing our 3D scanning service and 3D and measurement, quality analyses and benchmarking reports.

Boosting Performance with 3D Scan Data

A recent project T3DMC has been involved in, adopting our 3D scanning service, was to scan the volute surfaces of a turbocharger, which is used to boost engine performance on vehicles. BorgWarner’s dual volute turbine allows complete segregation of exhaust pulsations, which means that the turbine can use a larger proportion of the exhaust gas pulse energy, thereby operating more efficiently.

“Our key role is to find out whether components from the production line accurately match the design intent”, explained Neal Taylor, Technical Director at T3DMC. “We first scan the components internally and externally in our temperature stable measurement room. After that we work with section property measurements to create an analysis that BorgWarner uses to inform tooling changes and product optimisations.”

T3DMC provides inspection reports that include precise internal and external data for turbine housings. The performance of these components must be maintained in the eventuality of a tooling change being required. The report saves BorgWarner time by delivering the accurate and reliable data needed to support a tooling change. The collaboratively developed method enables fewer loops of tooling rework and performance testing and ensures a right first time result. This represents a significant reduction in cost and carbon emissions for BorgWarner.

“T3DMC has been an invaluable partner in helping us to improve our processes,” added Hanif. “The data provided by T3DMC about our products is easily embedded into our procedures and allows us to become more efficient by pinpointing potential issues from the outset. Our relationship with T3DMC works exceptionally well, not least because of the company’s professional consultative and collaborative approach. We hope to continue working with the T3DMC team for many years to come.”