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.