X-ray imaging and computed tomography for engineering applications

Abstract

Abstract After an incremental development which took place over four decades, X-ray imaging has become an important tool for non-destructive testing and evaluation. Computed Tomography (CT) in particular beholds the power of determining the location of flaws and inclusions (e. g. in castings and composites) in three-dimensional object coordinates. Therefore, and thanks to a speed-up of the measurement, CT is now routinely considered for in-line inspection of electronics, castings and composites. When precision and not speed is important, Micro-CT (μCT) can be employed for Dimensional Measurements (DM, e. g. quality assurance and shape verification), as well as for in situ testing, and for characterizing micro-structures in metals and composites. Using appropriate image processing and analysis μCT can determine the local fibre orientation in composites, the granular morphology of battery cathodes or the inter-connectivity of certain phases in casting alloys. Today, the large variety of X-ray instruments and methods poses an application problem which requires experience and a lot of knowledge for deciding which technique applies best to the task at hand. Application-specific guidelines exist for X-ray radiography testing (RT) only, whereas standardization has been applied to CT, unfortunately leaving out high resolution sub μ CT, and nano-CT. For the latter exist an equally high number of NDT applications, however these instruments still necessitate a profound expertise. The task is to identify key industrial applications and push CT from system standardization to application specific automation.