Open AccessImproving the dimensional accuracy of 3D x-ray microscopy data
Author(s) -
Herminso Villarraga-Gómez,
Naomi Kotwal,
Rachna Parwani,
Daniel H. Weiss,
Martin Krenkel,
Wolfgang Kimmig,
Christoph Graf Vom Hagen
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
measurement science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.48
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1361-6501
pISSN - 0957-0233
DOI - 10.1088/1361-6501/ac5a30
Subject(s) - metrology , workflow , computer science , software , distortion (music) , feature (linguistics) , reliability (semiconductor) , microscope , microscopy , artificial intelligence , optics , computer vision , physics , amplifier , computer network , linguistics , philosophy , power (physics) , bandwidth (computing) , quantum mechanics , database , programming language
X-ray microscopy instruments have the unique ability to achieve nondestructive imaging with higher spatial resolutions than traditional x-ray computed tomography (CT) systems. This unique ability is of interest to industrial quality control entities, as they deal with small features in precision manufactured parts (with tolerances in the order of ± 25 µm or better). Since many of today’s technology and manufacturing companies demand increasingly higher levels of precision, accuracy, and reliability for dimensional measurements on feature sizes that are much smaller than 5 mm, it would be ideal to further expand the imaging capabilities of x-ray microscopy to the field of precision metrology. To address such demand, this paper describes the development of a measurement workflow, through a package consisting of hardware and software, to improve the accuracy of dimensional data obtained with 3D x-ray microscopes (XRMs)—also known as sub-micrometer CT systems. The measurement workflow, called Metrology Extension (MTX), was designed to adjust and configure the XRM instrument work-zone to perform dimensional measurement tasks. The main adjustments of an XRM instrument through the MTX workflow, which must be implemented before scanning parts of interest for dimensional evaluation, include applying a distortion map correction on the image projections produced by the x-ray detector and a voxel scale correction. The main purpose of this article is to present, evaluate, and analyze the experimental results of various measurement tests to verify the metrological performance of several XRM systems operating with the MTX workflow. The main results show that these systems can produce repeatable and reproducible measurements, with repeatability standard deviations of the order of 0.1 μm and reproducibility standard deviations of less than 0.5 μm. In addition, coordinate-based 3D XRM measurements produce dimensional accuracies comparable to those offered by high-precision tactile coordinate measurement machines (with deviations within the range of ±0.95 µm). Therefore, once the MTX workflow is executed, XRM instruments can be used to measure small volumes, in the order of (5 mm) 3 or less, with improved dimensional accuracy.