X-ray is a type of testing method that is very common in many industries. The discovery of x-ray and their use in different industries is considered one of the most revolutionary findings. It allows the doctors to view the solid materials’ internal compositions that are usually not visible to the naked eyes. This type of test is mainly used to find all the hidden defects or any inconsistency of the material used to form the product.
You must understand that inconsistency usually happens in a completely new design where changes are made in the new design or material used. It is very much necessary to find these types of inconsistencies since, in the later stage, it may affect the performance of the product. And if poorly made products are used, then it results in a shorter life cycle. The product may fail to meet the industry standards, and it will also have a low-performance ratio.
In this blog post, we will go through some of the benefits of radiological inspection so that you can understand its importance.
Identification of subsurface defects
When it comes down to NDT, then there are many options in the market. Every method used in the form of NDT has a unique material composition and specific analysis. With the help of NDT, assemblies, components, and even raw materials can be easily analyzed.
The person using the NDT method usually looks for non-conformities. This means that the inspector is looking for differences in the material’s characteristics without actually destroying the actual product. You can also analyze products with high levels of thickness with the help of NDT.
Radiographic testing or RT is one of the most common NDT methods. In RT, an x-ray is used to see inside the material without actually destroying the product. In the modern era, electronic assemblies and electrical assemblies use in-house x-ray cameras baked right into the equipment.
Documenting the test result has become a pie with RT, and you can save all these types of documentation into an e-file.
Failure analysis
With radiographic inspection, analysis of the product in terms of reliability and service becomes easy. Since radiographic examination allows us to get details about the fabrication process according to the process’s build specification, failure analysis becomes a pie. And when the inspector gets the view of the attributes and the product features, generating rejection or approval based on finding becomes too easy.
Different types of findings are obtained through the inspection, like internal cracks, shrinkage, corrosion, and much more. It is an industry norm to call out for examinations for a particular type of product. Most of the firms use the inspection process to ensure the product’s quality and performance before it leaves the production facility.
The inspection process can be used during pre-production, after production, repair, or even when the product is in service. This means that the radiographic inspection isn’t limited to only the pre-production stage.
The different types of inspection devices
After understanding some of the essential benefits of RT, it becomes vital for everyone to get familiar with the different types of inspection devices as well. You must know that the inspection devices are categorized into two categories; 2D system and 3D system.
A 2D system allows the user to get a 2D image of all the parts from both sides of the PCB, and it is similar to the medical application used for analyzing bone fracture conditions. If the 2D image obtained from the 2D system is enough to give you a complete view of the PCB, you should stick with it. Another important thing that you should know about 2D images is they can be operated both offline and online.
If you are going to use the online method, it will consume more time, and this is one of the main reasons why x-ray systems with CT scans are accomplished only off line so that the process can save time.
A 3D system generates the cross section’s images by rebuilding a series of 2D images that are almost similar to the medical application discussed above. The cross-section images, the 3D system uses another kind of approach that is commonly known as Laminography.
In Laminography, the cross-section images of PCB are combined, and this eliminates all the pictures from other cross-sections to rebuild the image from different cross-sections. And to reduce the cost of inspection, both 2D and 3D systems need to be instructed.
