Automotive Manufacturing

To verify the alignment, surface quality, dimensional profile and functional qualities of machined parts, automotive manufacturers must rely on a wide variety of microscopy techniques. These can include such fundamentals as stereomicroscopy and the use of inverted microscopes to more complex analytical instruments such video measuring systems, dedicated metrology microscopes and polarized light microscopy. These can each be employed to assess the key functional parameters of components including:

• camshaft and crankshafts bearings,
• fuel injectors and injection nozzles,
• plastic mouldings,
• cylinder surfaces,
• brake disks,
• transmission components,
• pistons, pins and rings, and
• connecting rods

Ensuring the accurate manufacture of parts can extend their operational lifetime and allow for more economical, production-oriented manufacture, which, in the end, can improve quality while raising bottom lines.