Reverse Engineering
1936 Studebaker Cylinder Head Scan to CAD
Our customer Bill Allard is the owner of a 1936 Studebaker. The cylinder head was no longer functioning and needed to be replaced but replacement parts were no longer available to purchase and the CAD drawings had not been saved.
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Using advanced 3D X-Ray / Industrial CT technology, Delphi Precision Imaging was able to CT scan the 30” long aluminum head and help create a model that included the internal flow passages. The final CAD model was used to make a new mold and cast a new cylinder head.
Original Cylinder Head
CT Scan Data of Cylinder Head
Industrial CT is a reverse engineering method where a series of thousands of x-ray images are taken during a 360º rotation of the part.
Both internal and external details are captured during the CT scan process.
After scanning, Delphi interpreted the CT results using Volume Graphics software. The result was a high fidelity triangle mesh file (STL file).
The STL file was then brought into a CAD application for further editing for final design content and converted into a CAD representation.
By using x-ray/CT technology, the designers modeled complex surfaces with precision. The internal flowpaths as well as the external surfaces were captured and recreated.
No assumptions were required to fill in missing geometry from conventional external 3D scanning methods.
New Cylinder Head
Using Volume Graphics software, we are able to isolate the water jacket and quantify the volume and surface area to confirm design intent.