How to Reverse Engineer a Product Design from a 3D Scan

A 3D scan to CAD workflow supports engineers in mastering the challenges of reverse engineering, like improving or recreating an already existing object for which no design documentation is available. After 3D scanning an object for reverse engineering, the file can be directly imported into the 3D CAD software using formats such as STL or OBJ.

However, it is important to note: 3D scanners don’t output a ready-to-manufacture model but point cloud or polygon mesh data. As a result, the 3D scanned data must be further modeled in a CAD software.

Siemens’ software allows you to bring scanned data in as facets, so there is no need to map surfaces, create solids, or do manual shape creations.

The 3D scan to CAD workflow is more than “just pressing a button” and the skills of highly qualified engineers are required for reverse engineering.

Continuous technology improvements minimize the manual work the design engineer needs to invest in to produce high-quality 3D CAD models used for traditional manufacturing or 3D printing. Today, the 3D CAD software that is used as part of a 3D scan to CAD workflow imports the scanned data as facets, so there's no need to map surfaces, create solids, or do any other manual shape creation.

3D scanners are equipped to scan objects of all shape and sizes. Specialized sensors scan the object from multiple angles and convert the object into a 3D mesh.

There are several 3D scanning technologies:

• Structured light 3D scanning 
• Laser triangulation 3D scanning 
• Laser pulse 3D scanning 
• Contact-based 3D scanning 
• Photogrammetry 

Quality management should always be part of the design process. To meet the increasing demand for digitizing high-quality designs and CAD models, 3D scan to CAD is critical for getting products to market faster and without flaws. As quality requirements and processes evolve to be more complex, modeling scanned parts becomes more of a challenge.

A 3D scan accurately represents the real object, including defects. As part of the 3D modeling process, the scanned part gets inspected, and a color deviation map can be generated to detect warps or missing pieces.

In addition, a 3D CAD software for reverse engineering allows you to compare whether different scanned parts have the correct dimensions, or you can compare the adjustments of two similar machines to determine whether there are differences in the alignment to correct.