October 13, 2020 How X-rays are Widely Used in Industries

X-ray inspection system improves product quality and increases manufacturing productivity with little or no wastage.

Introduction

There is no doubt that technology has enhanced how production has evolved with effective processes that have made manufacturing faster and cheaper.

One of the technological advancements appreciated by many industries is the ease and accuracy of inspecting products using x-rays. The X-ray inspection system has made it easy for various manufacturers, especially in automotive, electronic, and energy industries, to increase their productivity with little or no wastage.

Have you ever wondered how a wide variety of industries uses x-rays? Then wonder no more as this article will highlight the different ways x-rays contribute to the production of quality items.

How x-rays are used in PCB inspection

Print Circuit Boards (PCBs) are accessories in the electronic manufacturing industries. PCBs are used for mounting integrated circuits and chips to be used to produce items like phones and computer boards.

Since these integrated circuits (ICs) are tiny and mostly hard to see, an inspection of production errors like weak soldering, line connection errors, and missing components is hard to inspect.

Luckily, PCB x-ray inspection makes the job easy, fast, and efficient. With this x-ray inspection system, a manufacturer can inspect PCBs with very high accuracy in detecting errors, including parts in layers.

With the PCB x-ray inspection method, there is no need to guess for errors as obtainable with a routine visual inspection. Even with the connections beneath the parts laid out on the board, the x-ray penetrates the ICs to reveal any issues that might be unseen to the naked eye.

After beaming an x-ray on the PCB, the image projected on the detector shows where an issue might be with the use of a PCB x-ray machine.

These issues can include lousy soldering, excess soldering, misaligned components, unconnected components, and partially connected components, among other problems. Using analysis software, along with PCB x-ray inspection, highlights these root issues and helps to optimize production to reduce the unnecessary wastage of expensive materials.

How x-rays are used in automotive inspection

Managing the quality of the automotive assembly line can be challenging. Considering the many parts that the assembly line will put together, physically and visually inspecting these parts is very laborious and hence, susceptible to errors.

However, the x-ray inspection system has given automotive manufacturers a better and more effective way to trace any production process errors.

When manufacturers use x-rays to penetrate the metals used in the assembling of automobiles, it images and measures hidden details’ conformity to specified standards. This process enables a quality check of the final product with great precision and without a need for any physical presence to inspect these elements visually.

X-ray inspection systems for automotive manufacturers can scan for defects, including welding cracks, overlaps, issues with coolant hoses, faults in micro-electromechanical devices, and fuel injection mechanisms.

Other systems such as heat exchange systems, exhaust systems, brakes, and suspension systems also constitute the x-ray inspection system’s error-detection capabilities.

For parts such as the turbochargers of engines, x-ray inspection penetrates the thick materials used for its manufacture to locate any present issue in the turbocharger. Hence, the x-ray inspection system ensures a fast production time with an optimized assembly process.

How x-rays are used in battery inspection

Batteries are portable power sources for electrical and electronic devices. Phones, computers, and work tools are examples of devices that continuously use batteries as their power source. Advances in technology over the past decade have even given us cars that don’t use gas but solely run on batteries.

Since batteries are so crucial to everyday living, batteries’ efficient production has become even more critical. The adequacy of the inspection method used during the manufacture of batteries is a significant factor in its production.

The X-ray inspection system offers a reliable non-destructive method of checking batteries for errors and acceptability during production.

Though battery manufacture can be tricky, using an x-ray scan during inspection can take away some of its complex works.

An X-ray scan can check for a battery’s internal content to confirm the quality and quantity of the chemical substances during its manufacture. The placement and alignment of both the anode and the battery’s cathode are essential and can be confirmed using an x-ray inspection for compliance.

The integrity of the seal for the battery’s internal contents is of great concern during its manufacture since a leak in its inner contents can mean a weak battery and can be unsafe for use.

Conclusion

In all, x-ray application for inspection during manufacturing is quite broad. Many industries use it due to ease of use, reliability, and the increase in productivity that comes with it.

For the automotive manufacturer that wants to simplify the inspection of their complex assembly, an x-ray inspection system gives both a reliable and straightforward method of checking for the many issues during manufacturing.

The capability to ascertain the quality compliance of mounted integrated circuits on PCBs even when they are in layers is another benefit of the x-ray inspection system. The electronic industry ensures its circuit boards and chips’ quality have efficient production with just a simple x-ray scan.

The X-ray inspection system effectively detects impurities in the internal contents during battery manufacture. X-ray inspection accounts for the quality of the battery cells, battery seal, alignment of nodal points, and its density and shape.

Hence, the x-ray inspection system is a better guarantor of quality products than most inspection methods for many industries.

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