Reverse Ceometry X-Ray Source Volume CT

X-ray computed tomography (CT) is widely used in defense, aerospace, and industrial applications. CT provides flaw detection, density measurement, accurate dimensions, morphology, assembly verification, material property analysis, and other vauable information. However, a major limitation of CT has been the inspection time required for 100% coverage of an object, since a single slice through the object usually requires several minutes. One promising technique to overcome this limitation is volume computed tomography (VCT). Instead of acquiring only a single slice from the object, VCT employs an area detector to collect hundreds of slices per exposure. VCT has been demonstrated in the laboratory as a promising NDE technique, but the limitations of area x-ray detectors and system costs above $1,000,000 have prevented any significant commercial applications. We propose to demonstrate the feasibility of a completely new concept of VCT, which overcomes the limitations of area detectors and conventional x-ray sources. This concept uses a raster scanned area x-ray source and a single, tightly collimated solid state detector. In addition to performing fast VCT, this approach will produce higher quality images than current VCT, since it eliminates the scattered x-ray signal at the detector.