COMPUTER RADIOGRAPHY FOR WALL THICKNESS MEASUREMENT By Binu Rajendran

Why Radiography?
UT gives good results in wall thickness measurement. But . 1. Smaller diameter pipe? 2. Small thickness? 3. High temperature? 4. Insulated pipe?

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Advantages of Radiography Over UT

1. Information is presented pictorially 2. A permanent record is provided which may be viewed at a time and place distant from the test. 3. Useful for thin sections 4. Sensitivity declared on each film 5. Suitable for any material 6. No need to remove the insulation. 7. Direct contact not required.
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Disadvantages of Radiography
1. Generally an inability to cope with thick sections. 2. Possible health hazard. 3. Film processing and viewing facilities are necessary 4. Not suitable for surface defects. 5. No indication of depth of a defect below the surface
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Computer Radiography
Computer Radiography is similar to conventional radiography in execution except image handling.
Phosphor image plate is used instead of films.

Computer Radiography
The energy falling on the phosphor plate partly produce fluorescence which is not used and partly the energy is stored in the phosphor plate as latent image. After the exposure the phosphor plates are inserted into the CR scanner where the plates are scanned by the laser beam.
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Computer Radiography
When phosphor is stimulated by laser beam the stored energy is released in the form of light which is collected and fed to the PMT and the received signal is digitized.

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Computer Radiography
Principle of CR explained in the Atom Shell Model (= shell like structure of electron cloud)
A X-Ray
B Blue emitted light Red laser beam

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Phosphor Scanner Systems

Scanner
laser rotating mirror

light-guide
PMT storage phosphor plate

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CR Plates
Protective EBC Coat

phosphor layer
Adhesion layer Anti-Halo layer Support PET

Laminate
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Computer Radiography
Advantages All the advantages of RT over UT in thickness measurement. Reduced exposure time with reduced dose requirement. No dark room or chemical disposals Electronic archiving and retrieval of the radiographic data.
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Computer Radiography
Software for measurement and reporting. Higher Dynamic Range Reusable
phosphor plates. Centralized or distributed management with remote access. 50 years of data storage life or even more.
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Profile Radiography
There are two technique for wall thickness measurement. 1. Tangential Projection technique (edge detection). Wall thickness is measured from the image and mathematical consideration of the geometric enlargement and the wall thickness is calculated.

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Profile Radiography

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Profile Radiography
Determination of the wall thickness t by measuring the distance t on the film and mathematical consideration of the real geometries. This way is called "Tangential Radiography" and requires the film to be applied flat (not adapted to the curvature).

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Radiography Corrosion Monitoring

2. Double

Wall technique or Gray value (optical density) comparison. Without step-wedges and/or special calibration-procedures the wall-thickness cannot be measured but only estimated from the optical density. This method is often called "Radiographic Corrosion Monitoring" and offers the advantage that most of the area of the tube being displayed on the film can be evaluated.
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For both techniques we need to discriminate between the shades of gray. How many shades of gray can the human eye visualize? Approximately 500 is the number, but this depends on lighting conditions. We need a tool for better results.
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Rhythm
The Rhythm is a user-friendly software from GE Inspection Technologies offers advanced image review tools and data management for all Remote Visual Inspection (RVI) & X-ray (including computed radiography, digital radiography and film digitization) testing methods.

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Rhythm
A DICONDE complaint software platform. What is DICONDE ?

Digital Imaging and Communication in NonDestructive Evaluation.

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Rhythm
DICONDE is a standard adopted by ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) that provides a format for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) manufacturers and its customers to share image data. The DICONDE standard encompasses all NDE specific imaging methods and technologies, such as computed radiography, eddy current, ultrasound, computed tomography, etc.
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Rhythm
How DICONDE was derived? DICONDE is an extension of the DICOM.

Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine.

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Rhythm
Dicom created a standardized terminology and framework for permitting the transfer of digital medical images and information in a multi-vendor environment. It allowed physicians to have better access to images and reports from potentially anywhere in the world, which in turn, allows them to make faster diagnosis and better server their patients. Patients further benefit when their data easily flows through the healthcare providers network or when the patient is referred to another physician and their data can be easily read.
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Rhythm

Rhythm Radiography

Rhythm Aquire

Rhythm Review

Rhythm Archive

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Rhythm Acquire
Interacts with the inspection source to collect digital information that it passes on to Rhythm Review. It contains a database of the relevant inspection techniques and can control the inspection equipment.

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Rhythm Review
Accepts data from Rhythm Acquire, other Rhythm Review workstations, and removable media, such as CD and DVD. Provides application tools for analysis, enhancement, measurement and storage of received data.

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Rhythm Archive
Provides both on-line and nearline data storage to allow simplified information sharing and faster access to information.

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Thickness Measurement Tools

Tangential Projection technique using Rhythm Image is received from the acquire and reviewed using the measurement tools in review.

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Tangential Technique

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Thickness Measurement Tools

Material Loss

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Premium Tools
Premium Tools 1. Area Measurement Tools- The area measurement tools provide the capability to measure objects. It separate the object from the background and calculate the area.

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Rhythm
Multifilm Inspection Tool This tool provides capability similar to multifilm technique used in conventional film radiography. With the help of this tool you can split the dynamic range of the selected radiographic image into two or three exclusive parts for better visualization and analysis of the image.

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Rhythm
Conclusions: CR systems are not an inbetween step in the process of film replacement. Computed Radiography is one of the modalities that will replace film in the future. The right solution and choice will completely depend on the requirements of the user. Throughput, environment, infrastructure and workflow are the key factors. Important is however that one digital solution does not compete the other, and both have to be considered in any choice.

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