Three Dimensional Modeling of Projection Radiography

Abstract

The availability of a computer simulation for the X-ray projection image formation process, capable of modeling a rich variety of machine, configuration, and detector parameters, has a number of far reaching implications for quantitative nondestructive evaluation (NDE). The applications of such a tool occur both at the design stage and at the quality control inspection stages of the manufacturing process. Some of the notable uses include designing inspectability as a part of a computer aided design (CAD) package and developing an optimal inspection scheme for the component, while at the other end of the manufacturing process, a package of image processing routines, using the results of the forward model, can deconvolve a number of deterministic processes from the resulting radiograph. The promise of the potential applications of a quantitatively accurate forward model of the radiographic system has generated much interest in the basic physics of the process and the subsequent modeling of these processes.(1–5) For the model to be a flexible tool all of the various elements of an experimental equipment must be accurately described with enough variability to be useful over a large number of machines and experimental configurations.