Non-Contact Virtual Instrument Measurement System for Analyzing the Liquid Droplet Shrinkage Parameters

Recent trend in assembly techniques in automotive industry has shown that adhesive bonding is gaining new applications. The main problem faced with the usage of adhesives is the need to understand the effects of adhesive bonding on the dimensional tolerances. Adhesive shrinkage depends on various parameters like base metal’s surface roughness, reflectivity, curing intensity etc., to name a few. In order to allocate the shrinkage allowance, we need to establish the parameters affecting the shrinkage. For this, we need to design a set of experiments and design a measurement system for calculating the adhesive shrinkage. This paper discusses the development of typical real time measurement system used for volumetric shrinkage measurement. The system is integrated with specialized laser, rotary mechanism, imaging system, data acquisition and virtual instrument. The paper details a systematic methodology that can be easily duplicated, the initial design stages planned and executed, and the repeatability and reproducibility test results done on the initial system. The test data is stored in spreadsheet format along with other parameters under consideration like the base plate’s surface roughness, reflectivity, and curing intensity. Based on the initial study, the root cause analysis will be done and further tests will be conducted on the new system utilizing the taguchi method. The tests would help us find the parameters controlling the shrinkage and also their interdependence factors.