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

汽车行业越来越严格的排放标准极大地鼓励了燃油效率的提高和电动汽车（EV）的发展。燃料效率和EV范围（每次电池充电行驶的距离）的一个非常重要的方面是重量。每减轻100公斤的重量，每公里可减少20克的二氧化碳排放量。碳纤维增强聚合物（CFRP）是世界上最轻的高强度材料之一。从历史上看，高成本和劳动密集型制造阻碍了CFRP制成的部件在大批量汽车市场中的广泛使用。然而，在过去十年中，汽车级碳纤维的成本已从每公斤65英镑（每磅35美元）降至每公斤约20英镑（每磅12美元）。这些变化正在推动增长，从2018年到2023年，全球汽车市场的CFRP使用量预计将以7.9%的复合年增长率增长。因此，无损评估（NDE）方法对于确保使用这些材料制造的任何部件在制造和售后环境中的完整性至关重要。然而，目前没有一种无损检测技术能够理想地适用于所有各种缺陷类型的定量测量。塔科马项目将为CFRP汽车市场提供下一代无损检测系统。塔科马使用先进的专利X射线断层扫描技术，首先开发用于医疗部门。我们的专利“直接转换”X射线技术也已在食品检测领域的高速应用中得到验证。塔科马项目将用于适应和进一步开发汽车零部件和CFRP缺陷的技术。

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.