3D Scanning Used to Redesign Frequently Failed Fracking Gear
PROBLEM: A spiral gear in our Fracturing Equipment frequently fails resulting in costly down time.
But for us, we have a problem. One part, a spiral gear in the main drive, fails on a regular basis. It’s frustrating. Replacement parts come from the fracking equipment manufacturer. We keep telling the manufacturer there’s a problem with the part’s design. They’ve got to do something.
They don’t respond.
We’re averaging 26 hours of down time a month on maintenance replacing the spiral gear.
The gear needs a redesign.
We did something. We hired a 3D Scanning service company to generate CAD data on the gear’s design. It’s Reverse Engineering. We tested several redesigns of the gear with the goal of improving its durability.
It worked. After several iterations, we have a redesigned gear that doesn’t break down.
Now, down time is limited to only the regular scheduled maintenance of the fracking equipment.
Result: New part eliminates 26 hours per month average downtime for repair
We’re productive.
So, if you’re experiencing down time with fracking equipment from failing or ill-performing parts, look at the opportunity of having the part redesigned. Reverse engineer the part using the CAD data created by way of a 3D Scanning service.
Do away with the lost time to replace failed parts.