Case Studies in Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation最新文献

We compare the quality of reconstruction obtainable using various laminographic system trajectories that have been described in the literature, with reference to detecting defects in composite materials in engineering. We start by describing a laminar phantom representing a simplified model of composite panel, which models certain defects that may arise in such materials, such as voids, resin rich areas, and delamination, and additionally features both blind and through holes along multiple axes. We simulate ideal cone-beam projections of this phantom with the different laminographic trajectories, applying both Simultaneous Iterative Reconstruction Technique (SIRT) and Conjugate Gradient Least Squares (CGLS) reconstruction algorithms. We compare the quality of the reconstructions with a view towards optimising the scan parameters for defect detectability in composite NDT applications.

Laser Sintering (LS) is an Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology for polymers processing which is increasingly being used to produce functional products with designs not achievable with traditional manufacturing technologies. Lightweight cellular structures are a good example of complex designs which are increasingly finding applications in AM parts. However, it is not yet clear how the LS process affects the porosity and geometrical characteristics of the cell structural elements. Getting this information allows to perform quality control of the LS process, gives insights into how to improve it, and might help to take into account manufacturing process variability during the design phase.

In this work a test artifact containing cylindrical elements with diameters in the range typically used in lightweight cellular structures is used to investigate the influence of features' size and printing orientation on the porosity and shape deviation of each feature. In order to assess the reproducibility of the process, several replicas of the test object are produced in polyamide-12 (PA12) using the same LS process conditions. An X-ray Computed Tomography (CT)-based quality control approach, which uses both image processing of CT-slices and porosity analysis (porosity content, pores count and pores volume distributions) is used to gather the information.

Additive manufacturing (AM) allows for fast fabrication of three dimensional objects with the use of considerably less resources, less energy consumption and shorter supply chain than would be the case in traditional manufacturing. AM has gained significance due to its cost effective method which boasts the ability to produce components with a previously unachievable level of geometric complexity in prototyping and end user industrial applications, such as aerospace, automotive and medical industries. However these processes currently lack reproducibility and repeatability with some ‘prints’ having a high probability of requiring rework or even scrapping due to out of specification or high porosity levels, leading to failure due to structural stresses. It is therefore imperative that robust quality systems be implemented such that the waste level of these processes can be significantly decreased. This study presents an artefact that is optimised for characterisation of form using computed tomography (CT) with representative geometric dimensioning and tolerancing features and internal channels and structures comparable to cooling channels in heat exchangers. Furthermore the optimisation of the CT acquisition conditions for this artefact are presented in light of feature dimensions and form analysis. This paper investigates the accuracy and capability of CT measurements compared with reference measurements from coordinate measuring machine (CMM), as well as focus on the evaluation of different AM methods.

Insulation boards made out of larch bark were pressed and scanned with an industrial X-ray computed tomograph (CT) in order to study the structure of the boards and to allow structure-based thermal modeling. The CT images were segmented using a categorization algorithm based on ANOVA. Apart from gaining knowledge about panel porosity, understanding of the inhomogeneous bark boards was enhanced by finding that two main components are prevalent. That knowledge of the board's inner microstructure enabled the application of a numerical model for thermal conductivity based on the finite difference method (FDM). Contrary to simple cut-ups, the application of CT and subsequent modeling enables the evaluation of the effects of particle orientation on a panel's thermal conductivity. Panels with horizontal particles (oriented parallel to the panel plane) proved to have a significantly lower thermal conductivity than panels with vertical particles (oriented orthogonal to the panel plane). This trend could be confirmed by means of the presented modeling approach, which allows further theoretical ex ante optimization in the production process. These findings give the direction for developments of efficient bark insulation panels with well-defined microstructure.

Innovative ultrasonic instrumentation to be used for future Generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactors is currently being investigated. One potential option under study here is the monitoring of the sodium temperature at the outlet of the core by using ultrasound. The main advantage of ultrasonic setups is that they can be used far from the intended subassemblies. The idea is to send an ultrasonic beam at grazing incidence towards the (cylindrical) subassembly head, and to measure the ultrasonic time of flight between the two diametrically opposite edges, in order to estimate the mean temperature across the subassembly outlet diameter. Moreover, the grazing incidence could allow considering the simultaneous temperature monitoring of several aligned subassemblies. One of the main points to be considered is the interaction between the ultrasonic beam and the immersed target, which involves specular reflection and/or diffraction, both phenomena depending on the incidence angle and the target geometry. The present paper investigates this interaction, mainly from an experimental point of view. Different geometries of “2D” (plate) and “3D” (tube) edges are tested and compared under various incidence angles. The final aim is to identify an optimal ultrasonic configuration to perform thermometry at the outlet of an immersed tube.

Industrial X-ray computed tomography (CT) is an emerging laboratory-based non-destructive testing technique used in a variety of applications for samples ranging from 1 mm to usually 300 mm in diameter. Usually, microCT scanners are used for industrial non-destructive testing due to the superior resolution possible compared to medical CT scanners, but it is not generally known that medical CT scanners can produce reasonable results when high resolution is not needed. As demonstrated in this case study of very dense objects, far shorter scan time is required, compared to conventional laboratory industrial CT systems, consequently being a better solution for applications such as quick scout-scans, high throughput applications and larger objects. This case study makes use of four typical industrial test objects, specifically chosen as candidates which would be expected to be too dense for relatively low-voltage medical scanners. The respective test objects were scanned with both medical and microCT scanners and the results compared for the purpose of industrial non-destructive analysis. The test objects are a steel turbine blade, a titanium casting, a concrete cylinder with aggregate stones and porosity, and a concrete block with metal fiber reinforcement.

This paper presents a comparison of surface-based and image-based quality metrics for dimensional X-ray computed tomography (CT) data. The chosen metrics are used to characterize two key aspects in acquiring signals with CT systems: the loss of information (blurring) and the adding of unwanted information (noise). A set of structured experiments was designed to test the response of the metrics to different influencing factors. It is demonstrated that, under certain circumstances, the results of both types of metrics become conflicting, emphasizing the importance of using surface information for evaluating the quality dimensional CT data. Specific findings using both types of metrics are also discussed.

Talbot–Lau grating interferometry is a new innovative X-ray technology in the field of radiography and computed tomography that extends the imaging capabilities of absorption contrast (AC) in medicine and material science by the introduction of differential phase contrast (DPC) and dark-field contrast (DFC). This paper discusses the benefits of the additional imaging modality of DFC provided by a new desktop Talbot–Lau μXCT system (SkyScan 1294). With this system, selected medical and biological samples such as medical foam, cortical bone, molar tooth, and barley corn seed samples have been imaged and compared to reference methods such as high-resolution μXCT and optical coherence tomography (OCT) regarding information gain and contrast.

This study demonstrates that 3D printing technology offers a simple, easy, and cost-effective method to fabricate artificial flaws simulating real cracks from the viewpoint of eddy current testing. The method does not attempt to produce a flaw whose morphology mirrors that of a real crack but instead produces a relatively simple artificial flaw. The parameters of this flaw that have dominant effects on eddy current signals can be quantitatively controlled. Three artificial flaws in type 316L austenitic stainless steel plates were fabricated using a powderbed-based laser metal additive manufacturing machine. The three artificial flaws were designed to have the same length, depth, and opening but different branching and electrical contacts between flaw surfaces. The flaws were measured by eddy current testing using an absolute type pancake probe. The signals due to the three flaws clearly differed from each other although the flaws had the same length and depth. These results were supported by subsequent destructive tests and finite element analyses.