Case Study: Airbus achieves precise large-scale aerospace inspection with Hexagon DEA coordinate metrology

Airbus measures up with DEA coordinate metrology

Airbus, a major aircraft manufacturer, required advanced dimensional inspection capabilities to keep pace with the production of wing components, including for the new A380, at its North Wales facility. The challenge was to accurately measure extremely large aerospace parts in an open shop environment without sacrificing precision due to thermal distortions. To meet this need, Airbus turned to vendor Hexagon for a solution involving a DEA coordinate measuring machine.

Hexagon provided a large gantry-type DELTA AB CMM, equipped with innovative multi-sensor A.C.T.I.V. software to cancel the effects of thermal distortion in real time. The machine’s open structure allowed for fast loading of parts and easy integration with material handling equipment. By using Hexagon's PC-DMIS software and offline programming, Airbus accelerated its inspection programming and achieved high part program consistency, ensuring superior operating efficiency for inspecting critical aircraft components.

Airbus