Locating cracks in old toys from the 1950s crafted with an elastomeric material

Abstract

Preserving soft plastic or elastomeric material toys in museums and detecting their defects have become increasingly important. Accurate information regarding cracks and fissures in these toys is essential for preservation and restoration processes. Visual inspection is typically the first step in identifying damage, and various tests such as FTIR and NIR are commonly used to assess the condition of toys with a soft or flexible texture. However, these methods do not provide the location and size of the defects. Radiographic Testing (RT) is a valuable non-destructive method that can reveal the size and location of defects and fissures in toys crafted from an elastomeric material for conservation planning. However, X-ray radiographs often appear foggy due to the low atomic number of elastomeric material and the thinness of these toys. To address this issue, a cartoon texture image processing method based on a Gaussian filter was applied to digital radiographs to enhance the imaging contrast of the original radiographs. The results demonstrate that this method effectively identifies toys' defects, fissures, and internal structures. The contrast in the reconstructed image increased threefold compared to the original radiographs, according to the line profile method in the Duplex Image Quality Indicator (DIQI) region. Additionally, the size of cracks can be estimated by comparing them with the intervals of lines in the DIQI.