The challenge of measuring shiny and reflective rims

How to measure reflective car parts made of chrome more quickly and effectively.  Scanningspray temporarily dulls shiny surfaces.

In car construction, many components of high-quality bodywork are chrome-plated or coated with other shiny surfaces.  Though they gleam with quality, they are a challenge to optical quality controls. Because shiny parts can be hard to digitise. To achieve unambiguously usable measurement results, the surfaces must be pre-treated before scanning. To this end, the shiny parts are sprayed with a matting agent. The process is rapid and uncomplicated.

Volatile Scanningsprays facilitate and accelerate the pre- and post-treatment
With the volatile Scanningsprays from AESUB, components can be directly sprayed on the measurement machine, meaning no time is lost to extra transport. The greatest time saving is in the sublimation, i.e. the independent evaporation of the spray coating. After a few hours, the matt layer is completely gone. This protects the high-quality measurement device and saves time spent in cleaning the objects.

Two measurement challenges in one object: shiny rims with deep indentations
Polished or chrome car rims are a double challenge for measurement technicians. Both the high gloss, reflective surfaces and deep indentations are hard to record with optical scanners.

To remove the gloss on the surfaces and achieve high contrast values, the rim is evenly sprayed with a Scanningspray. A thin, homogeneous layer with a thickness of ~5 - 12 µm is created. The sensitive scanning equipment is not damaged by the spray mist. Thanks to the high contrast values now achieved, surface and indentations can be precisely digitized.  For the rims, the AESUB blue Scanningspray is used. This allows the rim to be scanned for about an hour before sublimation in the matt coating sets in. After a few hours, the layer has completely disappeared. The measurement object and environment are completely clean – just like before spraying. AESUB sprays have a high material compatibility, meaning high-quality materials such as chrome are not affected. Precisely with parts of difficult geometry and with deep indentations, the self-evaporating spray saves a lot of time. The removal of the dulling layer of standard sprays, which toughly adheres to the surface, would have taken a good one or two hours for a car rim.  

The evaporating AESUB sprays contain no titanium dioxide and no further pigments. The coating of AESUB sprays is touch-dry, making handling of the matt components easy. The layer does not wipeoff, meaning no undesired structures arise when it is touched.         

Source: AESUB