Non-destructive measurement of three-dimensional polymeric parts by magneto-Archimedes levitation

In a magneto-Archimedes levitation device, a three-dimensional (3D) polymeric part can be levitated with a posture that is closely related to its shape and internal defects. Here, a novel non-destructive measurement method for 3D polymeric parts via magneto-Archimedes levitation is proposed. FLUENT-EDEM multiphase software was adopted to simulate the levitation process. From the EDEM software results, curves of levitation height, equilibrium posture and potential energy versus simulation time were obtained. The final levitation height and equilibrium posture of the polymeric part were determined by the principle of minimum potential energy. Several experiments with various polymeric parts, materials, paramagnetic media and different internal defects were carried out to verify the proposed method. Experimental results showed that the proposed method has high accuracy in measuring equilibrium posture and levitation height. For defective parts with small voids (2 mm3), the maximum deviation between the calculated tilt angles and experimental results was less than 4.7°. In general, the proposed method has prospects of broad application in shapes and defects testing for 3D polymeric parts.