Possibilities of 3D-scanning technologies in the repair of agricultural and forestry equipment

Abstract

The share of the main types of agricultural machinery with a service life of more than 10 years in the total volume of equipment remains high. The maintenance the performance of machinery and equipment are performed mainly by repair and restoration processes. In recent years, there used a 3D-scanning technology in the repair of machines. (Research purpose) The research purpose is in searching for the possibility of using 3D-scanning technologies in the repair of equipment based on the analysis of information materials. (Materials and methods) Authors used open information sources from various scientific and educational organizations for analysis. The great attention has been paid to the analysis of 3D-scanning technologies presented at various international specialized exhibitions. It was found that various laser scanners have been developed and used for 3D-scanning, mainly for quality control of parts manufacturing. It was also found that they can be used to control the geometric, physical and mechanical parameters of agricultural machinery parts during the input control of spare parts and repair of machines. (Results and discussion) It has been found that 3D-scanning improves the accuracy and performance of measurements in comparison with contact devices. The article notes that the use of 3D-scanning in convergent modeling technologies and in additive manufacturing is becoming a modern trend in mechanical engineering. (Conclusions) A promising direction for the introduction of 3D-technologies in repair production is the integrated use of additive technologies and 3D-scanning; when parts are defective after disassembly of the repaired units, the machine uses a 3D-scanner to determine the wear, and a 3D-printer to restore the worn surface, taking into account the uneven wear. The advantages of this repair technology include increasing the accuracy of measurement, reducing the range of measurement tools used, and the ability to restore parts of complex geometric shapes. Spot application of a layer of additive material to the wear site reduces material consumption by 20-90 percent.