In archaeology, art and research, objects must be checked for damage and authenticity. Efficient and reliable systems are required here that enable economical operation even with small inspection quantities or large formats. The North German company NTB has been developing digital X-ray equipment for non-destructive testing for many years; the machine and plant manufacturer MiniTec supports the construction of testing systems with its modular profile system and know-how. A pervasive cooperation for many areas of application.

Not only the automated testing of components in industrial production is an important component within quality assurance. In archaeology, art and research, objects must also be inspected for their condition. Here, the focus is usually on damage or checking for authenticity. For example, it is important for restorers to know the location and extent of hidden damage, as this has an impact on the restoration concept. An important examination method here is X-ray: X-ray images reveal hidden structures and provide valuable knowledge about the structure and changes in the artwork.

For this work, efficient and reliable systems are required that allow economical operation even with small examination quantities or large formats. However, conventional X-ray systems have the problem that they can only ever expose relatively small X-ray images. Several images must be taken of larger objects, each of which then only shows a small section. And since the exposure position must be changed for each individual X-ray image, the workload increases exponentially with the size of the object.

X-ray according to the scan principle

The Art X-Ray systems from NTB work according to the scanning principle: The respective object is scanned lengthwise with a high-resolution X-ray line scan camera. This produces a very large X-ray image in a single pass. This drastically reduces the amount of work required, for example, to examine a large-format painting. The objects are scanned without contact and without leaving any traces or even damage to the artwork. The X-ray system is assembled according to customer-specific requirements. Depending on the requirements (paintings only or other objects as well), X-ray sources with different powers are used.

The Art X-Ray system is delivered with a workstation (PC and monitor). The company's own software iX-Pect, which was written especially for the operation of the system and evaluation of the X-ray images, is an integral part of the delivery. Depending on customer requirements, the unit can also be upgraded to 3D at a later stage. The MiniTec profiles from the flexible modular system also enable later adaptation and expansion of the equipment.

Flexible modular system

Thanks to the extensive modular system with profile and linear technology components from MiniTec, the X-ray systems can be adapted to the respective conditions of the customer. A maximum of design freedom and application diversity can be achieved with a manageable number of MiniTec profiles. Due to the identical groove shape, all profiles can be combined with each other and with all complementary components, using the same tool and only one bolt and nut size. This is made possible by the standard profile connector specially developed and patented by MiniTec, which contributes greatly to the simplicity and flexibility of the system. On this basis, any design for all conceivable scanning tasks can be created in combination with the linear technology.

TO THE WEBSITE OF NTB