Non-destructive testing and visualization
Posted on November 2, 2023 Instrumentation & Equipment Design
In the course of setting up cutting-edge industrial experiments Coanda has acquired a number of x-ray systems and detectors – a repurposed medical source and a high-speed 50ns pulsed source for imaging fast processes, both used with re-purposed 2D medical and dental detectors. We also have a high-power industrial scanning system mounted on highly accurate traverses in order to create an image by slowly scanning a 1D detector and “fan” of radiation through the object. This has two advantages: it allows us to set up extensive collimation (almost 350 lbs of lead) to limiting secondary scattering, allowing for quantitate analysis even through thick samples (like 10 cm of steel). It also reduces the distorted geometry typically associated with a cone-beam projection, at least in the (vertical) scanning direction – each 100 micron row of pixels represents information from a single elevation.
Although not certified industrial radiographers (we can’t certify a weld, for example), Coanda is happy to use our systems for any non-medical x-ray visualization you might require, and combine this with customised data analysis if desired. An example, shown here, are the x-ray images of a Shelby tube – a thin-walled steel tube pounded into the ground to collect a soil sample which can be studied for engineering properties. Two colour filters are applied to the raw image to improve clarity. X-ray visualisation can be a useful step before dissection as part of lab analysis.