Case Study: Enabling CAD-based Product Design through Reverse Engineering a Bicycle Hanger

Blue STL mesh of the bike hanger created by 3D scanning.

Parametric CAD model of the reverse engineered part

Photorealistic render of the polished aluminium hanger created by 3D scanning & reverse engineering

Photo of a bicycle’s aluminium rear derailleur hanger we used for reverse engineering

STL mesh from 3D Scanning

3D Scanning Services Reverse Engineering a bike hanger to parametric CAD model

Photorealistic render of final CAD model

Photo of the derailleur hanger

The Problem

Our customer, a manufacturer of specialist bicycles, approached us with a challenge. They needed to fully model their bikes in CAD, but they lacked CAD models for the bought-out components. Specifically, they needed a CAD model for a bicycle hanger.

The Solution

To meet this challenge, we chose to 3D scan the bicycle hanger using our handheld laser scanner set to 0.2 mm resolution. Scanning at this resolution enabled us to create as STL mesh with 160,000 triangles. Finally we imported the mesh into Fusion 360 to reverse engineer a design intent parametric CAD model of the hanger.

The Result

Through the reverse engineering process, we were able to provide our customer with a precise and detailed parametric CAD model of the bicycle hanger. This allowed our customer to fully model their bikes in CAD and make necessary design changes with ease. They now have the ability to edit the CAD in the future and optimise the manufacturing process for the bicycle hanger.

Conclusion

Our experience in CAD design and reverse engineering allowed us to provide a customised solution that perfectly met the needs of our customer. By enabling CAD-based product design, we helped our customer optimise their manufacturing process and increase efficiency. Following the success of this project, our customer placed an order for us to reverse engineer CAD models for the their full range of components.

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About Us

AB Technology started out as an independent CMM Inspection & Programming company based near Nottingham, UK. Over the last 25+ years, we have expanded our services to include 3D scanning and reverse engineering, serving customers of all sizes, across an array of industry sectors, both domestically and internationally.