Leitz CMM measures components of wind energy plants

Only fifty microns is the tolerance on the axle bores of a 4-ton transmission case used in a wind turbine. The Belgian manufacturer TVL achieves reproducible measurement of the complex and nearly inaccessible geometry in about 30 minutes on a Leitz precision coordinate measuring machine made by Hexagon Metrology, Wetzlar.

TVL Toeleveringsbedrijf van Landuyt NV has been finishing transmission housings for wind turbines in Wetteren, Belgium, for several years. When they started, around 100 housings were completed within the year 2000; today they have reached 900 housings annually.

TVL produces transmission housings up to 2500 mm length with bores having diameters of up to 2000 mm. As an example, the tolerance for a 650 mm bore is only ± 25 μm and must be measured verifiably on every housing. This means that drilling is toleranced at a mere 0.008 % of nominal size. Managing Director Geert Van Landuyt says: “We couldn‘t measure the big transmission housings in-house. So we were working together with a service provider with the necessary equipment in Germany.” But as production quantities grew, transportation to the service provider became a costly proposition. “We have decided in favor of our own coordinate measuring machine.”

Each of the 4-ton transmission housings has been measured on a Leitz PMM-F high precision cmm, manufactured by Hexagon Metrology GmbH,Wetzlar since November 2005. . . . .