Custom Fixture Solutions for Aircraft Engine Maintenance Using 3D Scanning

Aircraft engines are among the most complex and critical components of modern aviation. Their maintenance requires extreme precision, safety, and efficiency to ensure optimal performance and flight safety. Traditional methods relying on generic fixtures often fall short in securing parts accurately, leading to risks during disassembly and reinstallation. Recognizing the need for higher precision and efficiency, the customer sought a digital solution leveraging 3D scanning to develop customized fixtures for aircraft engine maintenance — all while meeting the industry’s strict standards for accuracy, speed, and reliability.

This case study explores how SCANTECH’s wireless 3D scanning system, NimbleTrack, played a key role in accelerating custom fixture development for aircraft engine maintenance, helping the customer overcome accuracy and adaptability challenges in traditional tooling.

Customer Background

Our client is a major aircraft maintenance company specializing in comprehensive services for aircraft and onboard components. Their operations include maintenance, overhauls, component repair and refurbishment, landing gear maintenance, part manufacturing, composite material repairs, and ground support equipment servicing.

Challenges

During engine maintenance, the client often relies on general fixtures to hold engine components in place. However, these non-specialized tools come with several limitations:

Limited Functionality: Standard fixtures simply supported the components without securely holding them in place or allowing for angle adjustments

Potential Risks: During disassembly, parts would drop onto the holders, requiring workers to manually stabilize them while the holder was slowly lowered and moved away — posing safety risks.

Inaccurate Alignment: During reinstallation, due to uneven ground or slight tilting of the aircraft during maintenance, components often could not align perfectly with the aircraft structure. This made installing numerous fasteners much more difficult.

Low Efficiency: Some tools and fixtures obstructed access to fastening points (such as screw holes), leaving no room for wrenches or other tools. Workers had to repeatedly adjust the holders’ positions, resulting in longer installation times and higher physical strain.

To improve both safety and efficiency, the client required a customized, adjustable, and high-precision solution to match the specific needs of various engine components. Their goal was to obtain accurate 3D data of engine parts using a professional scanner, then design tailored fixtures via reverse engineering software.

Project Challenges

Complex Part Geometry: Engine components such as turbines and pipes have intricate, irregular surfaces. Space constraints make capturing full geometry difficult, often resulting in blind spots or incomplete data.

Material Properties: Some components are dark-colored metals and possibly covered with oil residue, which adds complexity to the scanning process and interfere with measurement accuracy.

On-site Limitations: Measurements needed to be performed directly on the ramp. Unpredictable outdoor conditions—wind, vibration, movement—and a lack of external power sources posed challenges for stability, precision, and speed.

The customer needed a scanning solution that was accurate, portable, wireless, and capable of scanning dark and reflective surfaces in challenging environments.

Solution: NimbleTrack Wireless 3D Scanning System

SCANTECH recommended the NimbleTrack wireless optical 3D scanning system, engineered for precision and mobility in demanding environments.

Workflow

Setup: The 3D laser scanner NimbleTrack is equipped with built-in batteries and supports wireless data transfer, which enabled wireless operation on the airport apron without the need for external power.

Rapid Scanning: With multiple laser modes, the 3D scanner captured complex shapes and dark metallic surfaces with high accuracy. The entire scan took just 10 minutes.

Data Processing: High-resolution 3D data was imported into reverse engineering software to generate detailed 3D model, which is then used to quickly and precisely design customized fixture.

Fixture Design: Based on the 3D models, highly customized fixture were designed to ensure accurate positioning—eliminating the need for manual adjustment during engine maintenance.

Why NimbleTrack?

Wireless and Convenient

NimbleTrack features an edge computing module and built-in batteries, enabling instant scanning without the need for power supply or cables. Its marker-free scanning process reduces preparation time and prevents surface damage.

Compact and Portable

It is lightweight and compact, making it easy to operate with one hand for extended periods without fatigue. It can easily scan tight spaces or hard-to-reach areas at the bottom of the fuselage, offering greater flexibility during operation.

Unmatched Precision

NimbleTrack offers an accuracy of up to 0.025 mm, volumetric accuracy of 0.064 mm, and a resolution of 0.02 mm. Thanks to its edge inspection, it ensures detailed capture of edges, holes, and curves—crucial for precision tooling.

Material & Environment Adaptability

The 3D scanner features a Carbon Fiber Frame Integrated Molding (CFFIM) technology, breaking through the limits posed by traditional assembled structures, to ensure high strength and stable performance. Its robust design performs reliably under outdoor light, wind, and movement. Thanks to its robust algorithm and high-resolution blue laser scanning, it handles dark, oily, and reflective surfaces without the need for spray.

High-Quality 3D Models

Post-scan, the point cloud is converted into a mesh model. Integrated with reverse engineering tools, this data supports fast, accurate fixture design.

Outcome

This project allowed the client to efficiently capture precise 3D models of complex engine parts and quickly develop customized fixtures. The result was streamlined maintenance workflows, improved accuracy, and significant time savings.

By enabling pre-simulation during the digital design phase, potential secondary damage to valuable aircraft components was prevented. The customized tooling operations became simpler, more reliable, and safer, greatly reducing worker fatigue and safety risks while boosting maintenance efficiency.

Additionally, the solution decreased reliance on workers’ individual experience, fostering a more standardized and data-driven approach to aircraft maintenance. The implementation of NimbleTrack didn’t just solve immediate technical challenges — it marked a shift in the client’s overall maintenance strategy, from one based on experience to one powered by data. This digital transformation is laying the foundation for smarter, more efficient operations within the aviation maintenance industry.