Cloud manufacturing architecture for part quality assessment

Abstract

In this work, a cloud manufacturing architecture aimed at offering on-demand services for part quality assessment is presented and demonstrated with reference to an aeronautical industry application. The developed architecture is based on a three-level structure and considers two non-contact metrological procedures to be integrated via cloud service: laser-based 3D metrology and ultrasonic non-destructive inspection. The combination of these two techniques allows to measure part features and detect possible defects associated with the outer part geometry as well as the inner material structure. The data coming from the two metrological procedures and pre-processed at fog level are sent to the cloud that performs their integration with the aim to allow for the 3D visualization and manipulation of the heterogeneous metrological data into a single-user interface for the holistic part quality evaluation. The validation of the cloud manufacturing architecture for part quality assessment is performed on a composite material component employed in the aeronautical industry. Through the cloud platform, the heterogeneous data from the two non-contact metrological techniques are integrated, and the newly developed user interface allows for the simultaneous visualization and analysis of the 3D metrology and ultrasonic information for detecting geometrical defects and internal flaws of the inspected component.