Sensors Measure Pipe Diameters for Passenger Cars

Confocal displacement sensors from Micro-Epsilon are being used to accurately measure the diameter of round and oval stainless-steel pipes destined for use as catalytic converters for passenger cars. Micro-Epsilon's Opto NCDT IFS 2400-20 confocal sensor is used here because of its high aperture, large stand-off distance and its ability to measure reliably on a variety of different surfaces. The confocal sensors of the series 2400 are designed for distance and one-sided thickness measurement.

The compact design, large tilt angle and large stand-off distance enable the sensor to be used in many different applications. Measuring distance on shiny and transparent objects or multi-layers, and for one-sided thickness measurement, this sensor is suitable for precision measurement against any diffuse or specular material such as film, liquids, glass, metals and polymers. The sensors can also offer high spatial resolution for microscopic surface profiling. Atex and Ex-approved versions are also available for use in hazardous areas.

In the manufacture of catalytic converters for cars, the diameter, minimum circumscribed circle (the circumscribed circle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon) and maximum inscribed circle must be accurately determined. The sleeve of the catalyst consists of either a gloss, matt or painted stainless-steel tube, which can be circular or oval in shape. Measurements must be extremely precise in order to permit later use in a catalytic converter. Measurement and inspection services company QS-Grimm uses Micro-Epsilon's Opto NCDT 2400 confocal sensor to measure round tubes. Once the operator has positioned the component on a measuring table and centred it using a suitable device, the measurements are started with a simple click of the mouse using the evaluation software.

The tube is rotated through 360deg, measured at three positions (beginning, end and middle) and evaluated. The outer diameter, the minimum circumscribed circle and the maximum inscribed circle of the pipes are directly determined by the evaluation software. The sensor moves in a horizontal direction, depending on the size of the catalytic converter. The measuring device is available as a vertical version for measuring at different positions. As well as determining the diameter, a tactile measurement of the length is also carried out.

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