Phase3D
Phase3D has announced the successful deployment of a quality control inspection system for cold spray-based additive manufacturing.
The development of Fringe Inspection: Cold Spray has been supported by 1.25 million USD in funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and is expected to provide improved precision and reliability for repair and production applications across military and aerospace.
This inspection solution, which uses structured light technology to provide real-time deposit inspection, is said to focus on real-time defect detection, surface flatness measurement, and process optimisation.
Phase3D has been working with US AFRL for some time and began developing its cold spray quality inspection system back in 2023. During RAPID + TCT in Detroit this week, the company said Fringe Inspection: Cold Spray had been tested and validated in an operational setting at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) and Ellsworth Air Force Base where it achieved key milestones under a STTR Phase II Proposal F2-16465 – In-Situ Monitoring for Blown Powder Additive Manufacturing contract.
“The successful completion of this project underscores the importance of real-time inspection in additive manufacturing,” said Niall O’Dowd, Founder and CEO of Phase3D. “The deployment at Ellsworth AFB proves that structured light inspection is a game-changer for cold spray applications. This technology not only ensures higher-quality repairs but also delivers significant cost and time savings for the Air Force.”
The hardware is designed to attach to a robotic arm and capture millions of measurement points related to layer thickness, roughness, and shape in real-time. The accompanying Fringe Operator software inspection suite is then used to identify spray defects and records part-centric quality data. Phase3D says it worked alongside Air Force engineers at Ellsworth Air Force Base to establish data-driven quality thresholds, incorporating a go/no-go gage for evaluating surface and shape characteristics.
Phase3D says its aims to expand the applications of structured light inspection across other AM and industrial repair sectors, and is currently working with the Department of Defense and other private industry partners. Last May, the company was awarded a Phase 1 contract by the US AFRL to conduct further research into AM quality inspection in collaboration with the University of Dayton Research Institute.
