Additive manufacturing

Additive Manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing have gone from a novelty to a trusted manufacturing method for high-performance products and components. In aerospace applications, for instance, it can be used to create new porous or hollow components with internal geometries that maintain strength while reducing weight. However, such designs demand quality control and inspection techniques capable of imaging interior structures with extreme speed and precision. 

In industrial manufacturing, image resolution alone is never enough. Quality control also needs to take place during manufacturing and in real time to prevent the introduction of undetected deviations or defects. This makes rapid X-ray computed tomography (CT) the ideal candidate for inspection of products and processes utilizing additive manufacturing.  Due to their higher X-ray brightness, MetalJet X-ray sources can significantly boost the throughput speeds of today’s X-ray CT inspection systems. Alternatively, the high-resolution NanoTube systems can both expand inspection coverage and reveal defects and features that were previously impossible to see.