3-in-1 X-ray CT Inspection

附加制造(AM)是一种极具颠覆性且发展迅速的制造技术，有可能彻底改变零部件的设计、制造和供应，特别是在关键的高价值制造行业。AM提供了设计自由，可以产生高度复杂的几何图形。好处是增强了功能，显著节省了质量，并(潜在地)降低了组件成本。虽然这是一种固有的优势，但这种几何复杂性给AM零件的检测带来了巨大的挑战。X射线计算机层析成像(XCT)可以生成物体的3D图像，从而能够检测包裹的粉末和空洞，测量所有表面的偏差，并可能提取表面形貌。XCT可用于：在产品和工艺开发期间了解故障；获得的信息可用于降低每次设计迭代中构建失败的可能性。构建后用于验证产品质量。XCT是无损成像(美国空军研究实验室，2014)和测量具有常规检测技术(如光学扫描和触觉探测)无法接触到的表面的金属产品的唯一可行方法。然而，资本成本很高，因此增加了AM产品开发、部件鉴定和生产后检验的成本。3in1XCT将开发世界上第一个系统(硬件和软件)，将先进的无损检测、尺寸检测和高保真表面形貌提取集成在一起，用于完整的后期检验。该平台将不再需要其他硬件(二维X射线、光学扫描仪、表面轮廓仪、切割机等)。从而降低每个零件的检验成本。在该项目中，将利用3in1xCT平台获得的数据向用于设计和工艺建模的数字工具提供反馈。这将是第一次实现从XCT到设计的直接反馈(在产品开发循环中实时)，预计这将使AM产品开发周期内的设计-建造迭代次数减半。将开发用于三合一检查和向设计工具反馈的全自动化工作流程，消除3D图像处理专家的工作。该系统将使用项目最终用户提供的复杂、真实世界的示例进行测试。该项目有来自汽车、航空航天、空间、国防和发电的代表--这些都是高价值、受严格监管的行业，对这些行业来说，高昂的产品质量鉴定和检查成本对采用AM技术造成了障碍。

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a highly disruptive and rapidly developing manufacturingtechnology with the potential to revolutionise the design, manufacturing and supply of parts,particularly within key high value manufacturing sectors. AM affords design freedom that canresult in highly complex geometries. The benefits are enhanced functionality, significant masssavings and (potentially) reduced components cost. Although an inherent advantage, suchgeometric complexity provides a significant challenge for the inspection of AM parts.X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) generates a 3D image of the object, thus allowingdetection of entrapped powder and voids, measurement of deviation of all surfaces and,potentially, extraction of surface topography. XCT can be used:During the product and process development to understand failures; the informationobtained can be used to reduce the likelihood of build failure at each design iteration.Post-build to verify the quality of the product.XCT is the only viable method for non-destructive imaging (US Air Force Research Labs, 2014)and measurement of metallic products with surfaces that are inaccessible to conventionalinspection technologies e.g. optical scanning and tactile probing. However, the capital costsare high and so increase the cost of AM product development, part qualification and, inproduction, of post-build inspection.3in1XCT will develop the world's first system (hardware and software) to integrate advancedNDT, dimensional inspection and high-fidelity surface topography extraction for complete postbuildinspection. The platform will eliminate the need for other hardware (2D X-ray, opticalscanners, surface profilometers, cut-up etc.) and so reduce the inspection cost per part. Withinthe project, the data obtained by the 3in1XCT platform will be exploited to provide feedback todigital tools for design and process modelling. This will be the first implementation of directfeedback (real-time within the product development loop) from XCT to design, with theexpectation that this could halve the number of design-build iterations during the AM productdevelopment cycle. Fully automated workflows for both 3-in-1 inspection and for feedback tothe design tools will be developed, eliminating the effort needed from experts in 3D imageprocessing.The system will be tested using complex, real world examples provided by the end-users in theproject. The project has representation from automotive, aerospace, space, defence and powergeneration- all high value, highly regulated sectors for which the high costs of productqualification and inspection creates a barrier to the adoption of AM technology.