Case Study: Advanced Simulation Technology achieves rapid recovery of legacy railroad casting design intent with 3D Systems' Geomagic

AST Recovers Legacy Design Intent on Railroad Castings with Geomagic

Advanced Simulation Technology (AST) was asked to reverse-engineer a 40-year-old railroad tamper casting whose original drawings bore little resemblance to the physical part. The casting had missing draft information, hidden internal features and surface imperfections, and some areas could not be directly scanned — yet AST had to produce a fully editable, accurate digital pattern set (including cores and core boxes) within two weeks.

AST combined GOM ATOS scanning with Geomagic Design X to generate symmetry planes and orthogonal sections, then built a parametric model in Pro/ENGINEER so features could be easily edited. Geomagic Control/Qualify was used for “reverse inspection” and iterative correction. The result was a validated, editable CAD model that captured lost design intent, enabled HUB to generate CNC toolpaths and patterns, and delivered finished patterns to Southern Cast on schedule — a cost-effective solution that avoided offshore rework.

Advanced Simulation Technology

Chip Potter

President