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Comment:
The x-ray source is made up of a tube inside of which there is vacuum and a filament
of tungsten. The filament is activated by flow of electricity. The combination between
electric potential and current creates a ray of electrons. These are shot at a target tube
made from tungsten. The resulting impact of the electrons creates the radiation, which
is then directed at the workpiece and after traveling through it detected by a screen of
pixels. Depending on the density, thickness and x-ray absorption coefficient more or
less energy is detected by the sensor. The magnification is adjusted by position
between radiation outlet and screen.
Many 2D pictures (e.g. 360) are taken per full rotation and then combined during
reconstruction to a 3D volume using algorithms based on filtered retro-projection: The
views are cross-corelated and a voxel matrix of the levels of grey is created. The
distinction between workpiece and air needs to be done, therefore the threshold needs
to defined on a histogram representing the frequency levels of grey. After that
interpolation is used to define surfaces and the final 3D model is created.
Equipment
Comment:
Material Polymer
Technology Injection molding
CT advantages Process and mold optimization, complete information on both
internal and external features and defects, comparison with the
nominal geometry.
Comments:
With the CT technology it is possible to reconstruct the 3D model of the workpiece to make a
dimensional comparison between the real part and the intended dimensions coming from the
CAD. This is possible because the CT gives as result a very dense quantity of information,
orders of magnitude higher than a common measuring technology, e.g. fringe projection. With
this amount of information it is easier to review the results with a 3D colour map and a
histogram of deviations from the nominal part. In this case a polymeric component of a car
headlight was analysed. The control software displays three windows with 2D sections of the
part and window with the full 3D model. It also provides a histogram of the frequency of the
different levels of grey, that allows to visually evaluate the right position of the threshold (which
Università degli QUALITY IN MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING Lab 4
Studi di Padova Laboratory notes - A.A. 2016/2017 4/13
then required a mathematical refinement). After that phase, it is required to align the point
cloud to the CAD model, which is also a critical operation and it is performed with the typical
CMM procedure. After the alignment the colour map is retrieved. These kind of measurements
are performed by companies in order to control processes (to get info on the component as a
whole).
2. Tensile specimen
Figure 5: Tensile specimen with polymer matrix and loaded with glass fibers
Comments:
The CT technology is also useful to analyse composite materials in a nondestructive way and
characterize their composition in terms of matrix and fibres by the different permeability of the
materials. After scanning the probe the histogram shows three peaks (fibres, matrix and
background) and from this, it is possible to separate the fibres from the rest and measure their
length and orientation. However, this is still a challenge because often the fibres are too close
and too entangled to be measured.
3. Micro-valve
10 mm
Material Ti6Al4V
Università degli QUALITY IN MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING Lab 4
Studi di Padova Laboratory notes - A.A. 2016/2017 5/13
Comments:
In this example the workpiece was produced with SLM and contains a complex internal cavity
which needed to be measured. With other techniques than CT this would have required
destruction of the piece which causes plastic deformation and thereby spoils the measurement
results. With the CT it is possible to obtain a 3D model of the workpiece, showing the canal
and porosity in the surrounding material. Of special interest is porosity at the border of the
canal because corrosion is likely to start of from there due to suboptimal flow of the medium to
be transported. This is possible because CT allows to determine the position of single defects
and not only the presence of porosity. Software instruments like sectioning planes allow to
Comments:
This example is similar to example No.1. The micro milling tool was scanned before and after
use to monitor its wear so two measurements are compared and not one point-cloud with a
CAD model. This might be useful to predict failure of a tool and thereby prevent damage on a
workpiece.
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Studi di Padova Laboratory notes - A.A. 2016/2017 6/13
5. Bottle
Comments:
In this case the material of bottle and cap are different. They can be detected as such by the
CT system. This means an analysis after assembly is possible. Deformations and junction lines
caused by the assembly can be detected, which allows determining whether the bottle seals
6. Dental implant
Figure 9: Titanium dental implant system composed of implant, abutement and screw
Material Titanium
CT advantages Analysis of assembly and analysis of contact surfaces between
each component.
Università degli QUALITY IN MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING Lab 4
Studi di Padova Laboratory notes - A.A. 2016/2017 7/13
Comments:
This example was not discussed due to time issues, but again CT allows inspection after
Comments:
This part was created to test the abilities of micro milling tools. The characteristics of
it are very difficult to analyze with traditional techniques and therefore CT is used.
During the presentation polystyrene was used to mount the metal piece. Another option
2. Positioning of the sample on the support - Cone beam artefact (also called
system. “Feldkamp” artefact) affects the quality
of measurements for those surfaces of
the sample which are scanned parallel
to the beam and near to the detector
borders (see Figure 11).
- The maximum thickness of material to
be penetrated by the radiation should be
minimized.
Possible solution(s)
Preferably use small pieces with the CT machine. Don’t go to the borders of the screen by
3. Choice of the geometrical magnification The voxel size (𝑣𝑠) depends on the
and positioning of the sample inside the geometrical magnification (𝑚):
detector field of view. 𝒑𝒔
𝒗𝒔 =
𝒎
𝑆𝐷𝐷
𝑝𝑠 = pixel size; 𝑚 = ; 𝑆𝐷𝐷 = source to
𝑆𝑂𝐷
Each parameter has a different effect on the histogram of gray values (see Figure 12).
Objectives:
- the ‘Max’ grey value should be close to 60000 to have a bright image and minimize the
noise;
- the ‘Min’ value must be greater than 10000 to avoid getting too dark images;
- maximize the contrast between material and background.
Chosen values:
Voltage = ____________ kV
Current = ____________ µA
Power = ____________ W
Exposure time = 1000 ms
‘Comparison of sequential images’ to compare first projections with last ones; the aim
is to check that no movement of the sample and no flux variations occurred during the
acquisition.
* Beam hardening refers to the fact that – as the beam moves through absorbing material – low
energy photons (i.e. soft X-rays) are more rapidly attenuated than high energy photons. So after a
certain travel distance into absorbing material, the soft X-rays will extinguish and only the hard X-rays
will fully penetrate the part and reach the detector […]. So it looks like the first millimeters of
penetrated material absorbs more rays (soft and hard rays) than the interior part that only attenuates
the remaining hard rays. This effect is clearly visible in the reconstructed CT voxel image.
[Source: Kruth et al (2011). Computed tomography for dimensional metrology. CIRP Annals – Manuf.
Tech.].
Figure 13: : Effect of beam hardening before and after software correction
The surface determination procedure defines the boundary between material and surrounding
air.
Standard surface determination uses one gray value which is applied globally to the
object: the ‘ISO50%” threshold value (“automatic mode”, Figure 14-left), which is the
mean value between the background and material peaks in the grey level histogram.
Advanced surface determination uses the ‘ISO50%’ as starting value and then locally
Università degli QUALITY IN MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING Lab 4
Studi di Padova Laboratory notes - A.A. 2016/2017 11/13
adapted grey values (“advanced mode”, Figure 14-right). This procedure is more
Figure 14: “Automatic mode” (left) and “Advanced mode” (right) for surface determination
In this section, a best-fit registration and a 3-2-1 registration will be applied on two different
samples.
Workpiece: cellular structure produced by selective laser melting (SLM) of Ti6Al4V (Figure 15-
a,b)
Università degli QUALITY IN MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING Lab 4
Studi di Padova Laboratory notes - A.A. 2016/2017 12/13
Operations:
- Best fit between scanned volume and CAD model (Figure 15-c) or between two scanned
Figure 15: SLM tensile specimen with cellular structure (a); CT scan of the cellular structure
(b); best-fit between CT volume (grey pixels) and CAD model (red line) (c).
Operations:
Spatial registration
Planar registration
Origin Point