Dent
Localised plastic deformation where the surface has been pushed in, often with a matching raised area on the opposite face.
What causes it
- Impact during handling, transfer or bin storage
- Clamping or fixturing force concentrated on a small area
- Tool or workholding misalignment
- Parts dropped between operations
Why human inspection misses it
A shallow dent is mostly invisible under flat, even lighting. It only announces itself when light rakes across it at a low angle, so whether an inspector catches one can come down to where they happened to be standing.
How it looks to a camera
Dents show up as a gradient in surface shading rather than as an edge. Raking or directional light makes them far easier to separate from the background than diffuse light does.
Why it matters
A dent on a sealing face or a bearing surface is a functional failure, not a cosmetic one. On a visible face it is a customer complaint.
Adam detects dent along with five other defect classes. Upload a photograph of your part and see what it finds.