A method for surface quality assessment of die-castings based on laser triangulation

This paper presents a new method for the surface quality assessment of safety-critical die-castings. We have developed a measurement system that measures the surface of a die-casting and provides quantitative surface quality assessment within a die-casting cycle of 70 s. The measurement system, based on the laser triangulation principle, has an asymmetrical measuring range and is capable of high-resolution measurements of the casting surface (0.02 mm). Geometry specific parameters (flatness of the particular surface region, average deviation of the measured points and height of the surface defects) are calculated from the acquired surface data and then checked whether/how they fit within the tolerances specified in a technical documentation. The method has been tested in the laboratory by examination of a sample of castings taken randomly from the production process. A comparison of the results obtained by this method and by a qualified operator has shown good agreement.