Sounds like a contradiction in terms (optical evaluation of noise) but this development could really speed up the time it takes to measure noise levels in the production process.
Our previous blog in these pages talked about the increasing demand for higher tolerances, particularly in automotive. Part of this, is the greater importance of minimising gear noise. It talked about new grinding processes becoming favoured over traditional processes in achieving this. But how do you measure this accurately without extending production time?
Klingelnberg has developed optical metrology for gears. They incorporate this into a hybrid combining both tactile and optical systems. The former to deliver flexibility and robustness, the latter to reduce time. Thus the optical is employed for time consuming Index Measurement reducing this procedure by up to 80%. This gives a gain of up to 40% for the whole cycle hybridmetrology.klingelnberg.com.
The article expands on the above and goes on to other facets of noise evaluation with regard to noise as a quality criterion and not part geometry, introducing Gear Deviation Analysis, read more.