New Technology
Why Use a CT Scanner for an Industrial Job? By: Dean Solberg, Co-Founder, Exact Metrology
T
he ability to “see through” a solid object was once thought to be a tool of the future, or a power belonging to Superman– but the technology is here today, and more widespread and accessible than you may have thought. Until recently, the technology of CT imaging was only available for use in medical settings. Over the last several years, it has found a new home in the world of manufacturing, and is opening up myriad opportunities never before available. CT, or Computed Tomography, is now commonly used in various industrial metrology settings, both in the lab and online or inline for product evaluation and packaging integrity assessment. The main advantage is that it allows the inspection of a part’s interior structure or a package’s closure functionality without causing any harm or destruction to the objects themselves. Industrial CT scanners utilize the same type of technology as CT scanners in hospitals and doctors’ offices--taking multiple readings from various angles and converting the CT grey scale images into voxel-based 3-dimensional point clouds. Once the
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24 IMD APRIL 2020
CT scanner generates the point cloud, a specialist can generate a CAD-to-part comparison map, construct a 3D model of the part, or reverse engineer the part to suit their needs. In the packaging world, especially where pharmaceutical or personal products are concerned, this ability is paramount. High-speed scanning inline, for example, can examine the seals on pill bottles for airtight quality assurance, while online or lab scanning can instantly compare a manufactured product to the CAD program in various ways. Industrial scanners offer a multitude of advantages, such as: obtaining internal structure of an object nondestructively, validating extremely accurate internal dimensions, allowing comparison to reference models, no shaded zones, compatibility with all shapes and sizes, no post-processing work and extremely high-resolution imaging. Some of the most common uses of 3D and now CT scanning in industrial metrology applications include: » Reverse engineering – the process of taking measurements of an existing part or object, then creating an exact CAD replica.
