Letter 21026

Measure Surface Area of 3D parts? [Illinois] 

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I have been retained by a local plating company to develop a procedure for measuring the surface area of complex 3D metal stampings. We do not have access to the drawing of the original flat part, so can not use a planimeter. The parts are up to 10"x4". I am considering measuring volume by immersion in water and dividing by thickness to get surface area. Is there a better way? Any equipment or software out there?

Thank you,

Martin Oakes
- Freeport, Illinois

I think you are on the best and simplest track if the article is of constant thickness.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, NJ

You could determine surface area by plating your sample together with a flat sheeet with a known surface in an electroless nickel bath. You should weigh sample and sheet before and after plating and calculate the unknown surface by the simple relations.

Daniel Livshitz
- Tel Aviv, Israel

Thank you for this idea, Mr. Livshitz, it's a great one!

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

Could you find the surface area with metal thickness and weight. Is there a conversion chart.

Tom Scherr
- Cleveland, OH

Certainly, Tom. Just divide the weight of the article by the density of the metal in question, and you have its volume. Divide the volume by the thickness and you have the area.

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

We are in a similar situation at the company which I am working for. We also have 3-d objects in which we are trying to plate, but some parts are fabricated before they come to us. We are in need of a way to find the surface area of our parts for plating. Right now we are using the standard form of surface area measurement.

Darla Roberts
Darla Roberts - Ohio, USA

hi, I noticed all your questions and answers on this subject were quite old and wondered if you had found a simpler/better way to work out the surface area

many thanks,

kt

kt grant
designer - england

Three pretty good ways were proposed, KT -- I especially liked the one about plating the part with electroless nickel. A better way would be a camera and software that could inspect the part and calculate its surface area. It doesn't sound hopelessly difficult but I haven't seen such a thing marketed yet. Good luck.

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

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