Geomagic Design X boosts accuracy and time efficiency for custom mining solutions

While the world continues to embrace digital manufacturing, there are many processes that are still conducted manually. One of these key examples can be found in the mining industry. Due to the custom and individuality of mining platforms, measurements are often taken using traditional methods. Not only is this time consuming, but it also opens the door for greater inaccuracies.

However, the latest developments in 3D scanning offers a window of opportunity for the industry. Instead of using older methods, 3D scanning can speed up the measurement process whilst also improving accuracy levels. Titan Engineered Solutions is just one firm that has seized this opportunity.

About Titan Engineered Solutions

Founded in 2012, Titan Engineered Solutions first established its presence in the mining industry in its home state of Arizona. Since its inception, Titan has also expanded into neighbouring states: New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada, as well as in Mexico and South America.

Titan offers a wide range of services, from engineering and fabrication solutions to the repairing of abrasion resistant equipment and custom steel construction. “We do one-off solutions, whether it be lifting devices, wear parts, safety platforms, transfer chutes… You name it – we do it. We’re kind of a one-stop shop for everything mining-related,” said Brandon Koch, General Manager of Titan.

Due to the remote and treacherous locations of mining facilities, organisations that operate within the sector have a diverse set of needs.

How has the addition of 3D scanning helped improve engineering solutions within the mining industry?

While they were looking for ways to automate their manual tasks, Titan incorporated an Artec Leo, Artec Ray, and Oqton's Geomagic Design X software into their design and production process. As a result, they were able to remove tape measurements and blind fabrications during production. 

Now, they are able to scan the location where the safety platform needs to be fitted, check for inaccuracies, and ship the product to the client’s site, which is a more streamlined process. Additionally, Titan have been able to broaden their product offering, as it now offers reverse engineering obsolete equipment.

The engineering solutions provider was already familiar with the design software SolidWorks, which is compatible with Geomagic Design X. Having adopted the additional software, the company is now able to utilise it for reverse engineering obsolete equipment, analysis of potentional collision between safety platforms and the surrounding area, and to check tolerance levels.

“I can go straight from solid bodies in Design X to SolidWorks, and that helps a lot for aligning, we can align those bodies in SolidWorks as we’re more familiar with that software. We can align those in SW and bring them back into DX and see the tolerances,” said José Corrales, a Designer at Titan.

Due to the individuality of mines, Titan produce highly customisable safety platforms. However, the company often must manufacture these platforms without seeing the surrounding area of where they will be installed. This tends to increase the likelihood of inaccuracies occurring. Now, with 3D scanning, Titan has access to full, in-depth scans of the entire area.

“This will show us the conflicts between the area and the platform we designed. If we were to use a tape measure instead, we might check one thing but miss another. Scanning has helped us in this aspect a lot,” Koch explains.

  Key Features of Geomagic Design X:

• Create feature-based, editable CAD models from a 3D scan.
• Prototypes, pre-existing parts, and other objects can be scanned quicker, saving days or potentially weeks.
• Geomagic Design X can easily be added into your current design process.
• Scan your older designs into the CAD system to learn from and develop previous ideas.
• This software will allow you to add reverse engineering into your design process, broadening your horizons.
• Reduce costs by speeding up the design process and minimising the chance of inaccuracies.

How has Geomagic Design X impacted Titan Engineered Solutions?

One of the most significant benefits that the Geomagic Design X software has brought to Titan, is how much time the engineering solutions provider can now save during the design and production stage. The software works to verify the tolerance levels of fabricated parts, a process that was previously completed manually via tape measurements. Now, it is completed automatically through the scanning software.

“In the image you can see how we use the scanners and the scanning software to ensure the fabrications are within tolerance,” said Koch. “It’s crucial to do this before we ship them to the site since most products are large and heavy and shipping is costly and time-consuming.”

Additionally, the new software has brought heat mapping and reverse engineering to Titan. The former allows for greater accuracy when it comes to identifying tolerance levels, while reverse engineering reduces the time frame of the production of replacement parts.

“It allows us to set tolerance to plus or minus 1/16 inch and see how far out we are, and if it’s a critical area or non-critical. Heat mapping is a much more efficient way of ensuring that we’re within tolerances than using a tape measure,” explains Koch. “Our clients also really like the heat mapping. They can see from blue to red how far off we are in some areas and how close we are in others and if you’re hitting those critical points.”

By adding Geomagic Design X into their design process, Titan have not only improved the accuracy levels of their custom platforms, but the manufacturer will experience a faster production time. 

Now that the company relies upon 3D scanning, rather than traditional tape measurements, tasks that previously took two employees to complete now have reduced to one. Which, in turn, limits the risk of a human error occurring. 

“When you measure manually, people make mistakes and sometimes transcribe the numbers incorrectly. Then you produce the item, ship it on-site and it doesn’t fit. But 3D scanning doesn’t lie and there’s no room for human error – it's one of the most trustworthy employees we have.”