A hybrid x-ray and microscopy method for diametrical profile measurement of internal holes in steel components

Abstract

High-resolution X-ray is now an essential tool for internal defect and structure inspection in electronics and advanced materials industry. However, it is always a challenge to use it for accurate dimensional measurement due to the nature of the fan-beam X-ray source, particularly for cylindrical objects. This paper presents a novel hybrid X-ray and microscopy method for the profile measurement of the internal hole of a cylinder-shaped steel component. The part to be measured has a beer bottle shape but is open at the bottom side. The objective is to measure the diametrical profile of the internal hole with an accuracy of about 10μm. Traditionally this is measured with using a microscope after cutting and polishing the specimen. This is not only a tedious work, but is also inaccurate due to the uncertainty in cutting and polishing. This report demonstrates that the two edge-profiles of the internal hole can be obtained with X-ray inspection by sequentially placing each of them at the central of the X-ray beam so that the fan-beam effect can be minimized. The resolution of the X-ray inspection is about 6µm under a 20x magnification. Subsequently, the diameter of the hole is measured at two positions through the open end using a microscope with a 20x and a 10x objectives respectively. The results obtained with the two methods are then combined to generate the whole diametrical profile of the internal hole.