MEASUREMENT | COLOUR
Right: The ERX130 is an in-line spectro- photometer from X-Rite for continuous measurement
regard to formulation and correction software. In addition, recycling and eco-concerns are forcing product designers to consider colour, material and finish (CMF) and how to best handle material variance. Selecting, grading and correcting recycled materials is likely to become critical, according to X-Rite, and this could lead to in-line colour measure- ment and closed-loop control systems that adapt for incoming variance.
Getting in-line Recent advances in X-Rite’s in-line solutions are designed to manage colour throughout production. Instead of correlating pellet colour deviation to the extruded plaque, in-line technology offers a way to measure colour directly during each run to detect issues earlier and reduce waste batches. In the compounding process, for example, the X-Rite ERX130 in-line system can be installed above the separation sieve to measure colour continuously, enabling on-the-fly colour correction based on the quality variance of changing recycled and raw materials. X-Rite also says it sees a growing need to create
Below: X-Rite’s MA-T12 handheld spectropho- tometer can be used with its Pantora software to create virtual prototypes
virtual representations of a product’s colour and appearance affordably in rendering software. “To do this, companies need technology to measure and characterise the texture, coarseness and other special effects used in plastics,” says Adby. He says there is a growing demand for this type
of technology within industries such as automotive and electronics. “Take the automotive industry as an example. Surface finishes for injection moulded objects used in car interiors can be affected by injection speed, pressure and temperature,” he says. “Variations in plastic and other textured materi- als impact a product’s appearance. Until now, there was not an accurate digital method to communi-
cate how a moulded or textured material looks to meets tolerance. This led to machine downtime and added costs while physical samples were shipped and approved. Now with the MA-T12 spectro- photometer and Pantora
software, automotive brands and their suppliers can digitally
visualise colour and appearance characteris- tics of moulded parts to expedite product development and reduce oversam- pling,” Adby says. Last month, X-Rite introduced new capabilities to the X-Rite MA-T12 multi-angle handheld spectropho- tometer and the Pantora desktop
software that enable automotive, electron-
ics and durable goods customers to measure and visualise a broader range of materials, including plastics. With the MA-T12 and Pantora, plastics manufacturers can digitally communicate how a moulded or textured plastic material looks to meet tolerance and reduce variances in appearance that lead to added rework and cost. This supports a sustainable process with less waste and downtime, allowing a physical material to be transformed into a digital twin or virtual prototype for remote visual approval. X-Rite also explains how design cycle times can
be shortened using streamlined colour develop- ment. The company says industrial designers often struggle to get an accurate representation of how a new colour will look on their final product so creating a virtual rendering is a cost-effective and sustainable way to perform meaningful reviews and get stake- holder feedback before production begins.
Virtual prototypes Instead of fabricating prototypes, industrial designers can use the Pantora desktop application to create a physically accurate virtual representa- tion. This enables designers, product managers, engineers, manufacturers and other key stakehold- ers to visualise the translucency and opacity of all types of plastic samples, and simulate how colour, appearance and translucency can be visualised on all kinds of 3D objects and forms under different lighting conditions. Powered by X-Rite’s AxF format, this representation can be visualised within Pantora as well as imported into third-party visualisation and simulation tools. X-Rite says this virtual rendering goes beyond colour to capture full material appearance. It can visualise multiple components to ensure part-to-
28 COMPOUNDING WORLD | July 2023
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: X-RITE
IMAGE: X-RITE
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