Casting parts with intricate internal surfaces are routinely used in many gun systems. It is important to inspect those casting parts to ensure the inner structures comply with the original design during the first article testing and production lot certification. Currently, inspections of inner surfaces are often done with borescopes, which is time consuming, labor intensive, and costly. Additionally, a structure may contain holes that are too small for the probes to fit in, thus making it virtually impossible to examine those parts using borescopes. Over the past decade, there have been abundant research activities gearing towards the development of a scanner for 3D point cloud generation. However, theoe 3D scanners are mainly used to reveal the surface features. In this proposal, AlphaSense, Inc. details the development of a novel, high precision, X-ray 3D scanner for non-line-of-sight point cloud generation. If successful, the merits of the proposed 3D scanner include the following: a) Capable of interrogating complex inner structures, b) High measurement throughput, c) High spatial resolution, d) Large inspection volume, and e) Easy and fully automatic defect detection process.;
Benefit: The outcome of this research is coupled to a very clear commercialization path. The proposed X-ray 3D scanner can be used for both military and civilian applications. The most straightforward military application of the proposed scanner is to reconstruct the complex inner surfaces of various castings used in gun systems for quality inspection and assurance. The proposed sensor can be used by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of gun components to quickly assess the quality of casting parts during the first article testing or production lot testing. Consequently, the deployment of the sensor in the manufacturing environment can help dramatically shorten the lead time of casting parts and minimize the risk associate with defective parts. For commercial applications, it can be used to non-destructively evaluate the structural integrity of various casting parts used in different market sectors, including automobile, heavy machinery, aerospace and petroleum industries where casting components are widely used. The proposed X-ray 3D scanner may also find applications in the quick prototyping and reverse engineering field
