How Is Metrology Used In Aerospace?

Products and components made for the aerospace sector are often mission-critical, both precision and reliability are all vital to ensure success. This places an onus on metrology tools to work and work well, feeding back measurement results that are right first time, and right every time.

One significant trend in the aerospace sector is towards the use of composite materials, typically materials that are made up of fibers in a resin matrix, such as carbon- and glass-reinforced plastic. Such materials need to be strong, stiff, tough, and low density.

Composite materials can be molded into more intricate geometries than more traditional metals such as aluminum and steel, but they are more expensive than standards metals. These advanced materials can be difficult to work with and assemble which means that manufacturing costs are also higher. This is where metrology plays a central role in developing and supporting more cost-effective production methods.