Dimensional measurement based on rotating wire probe and acoustic emission

• Dimensional measurement using a rotating wire probe and acoustic emission sensing.
• The probing system is capable of less than 1.0 μm repeatability.
• Automated scanning of calibration artifacts and machined features have been achieved.

Due to increasing trends of miniaturization, components with micro-scale features are in high demands. Dimensional measurement of these parts is important but conventional systems are quite costly and time consuming. Therefore, a new cost-effective way for dimensional measurement is needed. This study presents a novel concept of three dimensional measurements using a rotating wire as a probe and acoustic emission (AE) for contact sensing. Experimental results show that the probing system can measure a part with high repeatability. A controller algorithm has been developed for automated scanning within a machine tool. The performance is verified against calibration artifacts.