X-Raying Interior Quality

Metrotom, computed tomography for industrial applications, can see inside parts and quantify characteristics normally inaccessible to probing or optical sensors. The same dataset can be used to inspect the structure of material (porosity/wall thickness), measure external features and generate fully surfaced or solid CAD models.

Metrotomography is a symbiotic combination of computed tomography and traditional metrology. During the process, a computer tomograph uses X-rays to non-destructively measure the interior and exterior of complex and small workpieces and then very accurately display the results as a 3D image. X-rays penetrate an object and display it on a suitable detector. The details of the object appear as a 2D image in varying intensity depending on the geometry and absorption properties. The 3D image is created by rotating the object 360° along its axis on a rotary table and then converting this data to a 3D volume model.

Metrotomography can be used for assembly checks and damage analysis, material inspections, and porosity and defect analysis. Parts up to 350mm can be inspected depending on the material – steel, alloys, ceramic, and plastic, for example.

A Metrotom computer tomograph can generate a complete CAD data set of each "metrotomographed" workpiece. This can then be displayed in all standard formats, enabling generation of fast, highly accurate design data.

Carl Zeiss IMT Corporation
Minneapolis, MN
zeiss.com