Digital X-ray Scanning for High-Volume High-Speed Inspection of Automotive Parts (TACOMA)

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Ever more stringent emissions standards for the automotive sector have greatly encouraged both increased fuel efficiency and a move towards electric vehicles (EV). A very important aspect of both fuel efficiency and EV range (distance travelled per battery charge) is weight. For every 100kg weight saving achieved in a vehicle leads to a reduction in CO2 emission of 20g/km. Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRPs) are one of the lightest high strength materials in the world. Historically, high costs and labour-intensive manufacture has prevented widespread use of parts made from CFRP in the high-volume automotive market. However, over the past decade the costs for automotive grade carbon fibre has reduced from the £65 per kg ($35 per pound) to circa £20 per kg ($12 per pound). These changes are driving growth, with CFRP usage in the global automotive market expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2018 to 2023.As production volumes grow, inspection of these parts will need to be faster and more efficient. Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods are therefore vital to ensuring the integrity of any parts built using these materials, in both the manufacturing and after-market environments. However, no single NDE technique is currently ideally suited for quantitative measurement of all the various defect types.The TACOMA project will deliver the next generation NDE systems for the CFRP automotive market. TACOMA uses advanced patented X-ray tomography, first developed for use in the medical sector. Our patented "direct conversion" X-ray technology has also been demonstrated in high-speed applications within the food inspection sector. The TACOMA project will be used to adapt and further develop the technology for automotive parts and CFRP defects.