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From Materials Evaluation, Vol. 70, No. 3, pp: 378–381.
Copyright © 2012 The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc.

Weld Testing by Image Plate Based Computed

Radiography
by Sanjoy Das*, D. Mukherjee† and B.K. Shah†

ABSTRACT Introduction
Technical advancements in manufacturing engi- The classic radiography technique produces 2D images on a
neering have led to the development of advanced film, which is permanent in nature and does not allow any
modification of the image (ASNT, 2002). The latest trend in
materials with improved mechanical properties. radiologic testing is to produce digitized images that can be
These materials are required to perform consis- further processed to extract more information. Many
tently in aggressive atmospheres without advanced digital radiography systems, such as fluoroscopic
premature failure. To ensure reliable performance systems, linear detector arrays and flat panel detectors, have
been developed and are slowly replacing conventional film
during their service life, materials are subjected to radiography (Das et al., 2010). Each system has its own
different nondestructive tests (NDT) to ensure that distinct operating principle. The selection of such systems is
the materials are free from discontinuities and that governed by different factors such as required sensitivity, reli-
their dimensions are less than critical discontinuity ability, cost, maintenance and reproducibility. The advantage
of the image plate based computed radiography system over
size. Though conventional film radiography is still other systems is that its operation is similar to film radiog-
used in the NDT industry, advanced radiologic raphy, where a special phosphor coated flexible plate is
techniques are being explored as an alternative to exposed to a radiation beam. The exposed image plate is then
film radiography. Phosphor image plate based scanned to produce a digital image. The image plate based
computed radiography system offers many advantages
computed radiography is the latest development in compared to film radiography in terms of speed, dynamic
this direction. The image produced using such a range, linearity and reusability. Moreover, this image can be
system is in a digital format, which can be transferred in no time through wireless communication from
processed to extract more information. This paper a remote field location to a main laboratory, where laboratory
technicians can enhance interpret the images. Also, the system
describes weld testing using an image plate based does not include any wet chemical processing, thus reducing
computed radiography system and the use of chemical hazards. Finally, the image can be stored in any elec-
image processing for further evaluation. tronic format device such as a hard drive, compact disk or
KEYWORDS: computed radiography, image
universal serial bus mass storage device.
processing, digital radiography. Computed Radiography System Description
The computed radiography system uses a special photostimu-
lable phosphor coating on a flexible backing strip. Most of the
commercially available plates use europium-activated barium
fluorohalide crystals as a phosphor. The image plate, loaded in
a cassette that does not admit light, is exposed to a radiation
beam, as with conventional X-ray film. The phosphor crystals,
called an electron trap, interact with and absorb the energy
of the radiation beams, which is then stored in the crystals’
* Quality Assurance Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, structure. This latent electronic image is then scanned in an
India; e-mail: [email protected].
† Quality Assurance Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, electronic scanner with the help of a fine laser beam. The
India. amount of photostimulated luminescence (PSL) received is

378 MATERIALS EVALUATION • MARCH 2012

 Reference
detector Conduction band Conduction band
Beam splitter
Cylindrical mirror Photomultiplier

Laser
F-theta Me
lens e tast e
e ho lectr able e

Recombina
le on
Light channeling guide pa
Laser source ir

Photomultiplier tube
Electron Electron

tion
Beam e trap trap Photons
Analog-to-digital
deflector converter Photon
(RX, γ) emission
Amplifier
Output Valence
Plate translation: signal band
sub-scan direction to image Exposure Read out
processor

Figure 1. Pictorial representation of an image plate based computed Figure 2. Physical changes in a structure before exposure and photo-
radiography system. stimulated luminescence of an image plate.

proportional to the amount of energy deposited in the Thus, the exposed image plate is scanned by either HeNe
electron trap. The PSL signal is then channeled through a or a diode laser, and the information can then be routed
photomultiplier tube and amplified to produce an electronic through several optical components. The speed of scanning is
signal. The signal is then digitized with the help of an analog- limited by the decay time constant of the luminescent signal.
to-digital converter (ADC). A pictorial representation of the The power of the laser beam determines the fraction of stored
process is shown in Figure 1. The digitized image can then be energy that is released. PSL is released in all directions from
displayed on a monitor. A number of image processing opera- the image plate. A series of optical collection systems capture
tions can be performed on the digitized image for effective part of the emitted signal and direct it towards a photomulti-
evaluation and quantification. plier tube. The emitted electrons from photocathodes are
weak and therefore need to be amplified through a series of
Image Plate and Scanner Characteristics dynodes in a photomultiplier tube. The signal from the photo-
An image plate based computed radiography system operates multiplier is then sampled and quantized.
on the principle of PSL. When the radiation beam passes Sampling determines the location and size of the PSL
through the image plate, part of its energy is emitted by the signal from a specific area of the phosphor, and quantizing
fluorescence process, which is a prompt release of energy in determines the average value of the signal amplitude. An ADC
the form of light. However, this light is not used in image converts the photomultiplier tube signal. The number of bits
formation. The phosphor material also stores part of the used to approximate the signal determines the number of
absorbed energy in its crystal. This stored energy constitutes a integer values. Even though scanning is carried out, a residual
latent image, which fades away with time by the process of image is still retained in the image plate. Therefore, the plate
phosphorescence. When the image plate is stimulated with a needs to be erased with a high intensity light source before the
fine laser beam of a particular frequency, the stored energy is next use.
released in the form of light, which can be used as a signal for
creating the digital image. Many compounds possess the Advanced Computed Radiography Systems
property of PSL, but few of them have the necessary charac- Older computed radiography systems had inferior resolution
teristics for image formation. The compounds that meet compared to film. In conventional X-ray film, resolution of an
desired properties are alkali earth halides such as BaFBr:Eu2+ image is dictated by the size of the silver bromide crystals,
and BaSrBr:Eu2+. Trace amount of impurities, such as Eu2+, which are submicron particles. The resolution of computed
called activators, are added to alter the crystal structure and its radiography systems is governed by not only the image plate,
physical properties. During interaction with the radiation but by the scanner; its resolution capability plays an important
beam, electrons are excited out of the valence band and finally role as well. Now, advanced, modern high-resolution scanners
stored in crystal discontinuities called the electron trap. These are available for industrial use. The computed radiographic
electrons are stimulated to return to a valence band from the system used in these examples was a high-definition system,
electron trap with the emission of blue light, as shown in and the image plate used was a high-definition image
Figure 2. This light can be utilized to generate electronics phosphor plate. This combination of a high-definition
signal for producing digital images. computed radiographic system together with high-definition

MARCH 2012 • MATERIALS EVALUATION 379

ME TECHNICAL PAPER w
x weld testing

(a) (b)

Figure 3. Digital weld radiograph obtained with the described image plate based system: (a) histogram; (b) radiograph.

(a) (b)

Figure 4. Histogram equalized weld radiograph: (a) histogram; (b) radiograph.

image plate provides good resolution, comparable to medium it manipulates the image to improve its clarity (Das et al.,
speed film. The system uses an extremely fine, 12.5 μm 2006). It suppresses irrelevant surrounding elements of the
diameter laser beam in combination with a high-resolution image and focuses on structural features of interest. The oper-
phosphor image plate, which can attain a basic spatial resolu- ation tools available range from adjusting contrast or bright-
tion of 40 μm. The gray level resolution of each pixel is 16 bit. ness to making image boundaries sharp and distinct. The raw
The maximum width of the film it can handle is 35 mm with image obtained using a computed radiographic system is
no restriction on length. A 10 mm thick stainless steel butt shown in Figure 3.
weld was radiologically tested with a high-definition image Although brightness enhancement and contrast stretching
plate, and the image obtained after scanning is shown in operations are available for image quality improvement, a
Figure 3. The driver scanning software provides basic image histogram equalization technique can be used to improve the
enhancement operation like brightness adjustment, contrast appearance and increase the dynamic range of the histogram
stretching and gamma correction. in the image. This technique is suitable for the example image
used here as Figure 3b, for instance, as a majority of gray
Image Processing values are confined to a narrow domain, as shown in the
After scanning the image plate, the data is sent for processing histogram, Figure 3a. The aim is to make all intensities equally
and analysis. Post-processing allows the radiographic inter- frequent.
preter to improve the presentation of the image before inter- After performing histogram equalization, the histogram of
pretation. The digital radiographic image consists of a 2D the image is stretched over the entire intensity axis, as shown
array of pixels, which is the smallest picture element. Unlike in Figure 4. Sometimes, the discontinuity image, if detected,
photographic images, the digital radiographic images are low needs to be sharpened for its complete characterization. This
in contrast and lack sharpness. Hence, processing is done to different filtering operation is performed to improve image
improve brightness, contrast and image sharpness. The image clarity. The weld image obtained using the computed radi-
processing does not alter the inherent image content; rather, ographic system in Figure 1 was processed using a sharpness

380 MATERIALS EVALUATION • MARCH 2012

 Raw signal Smoothed signal Edge/contour signal

=
(a)

Edge/contour signal Raw signal Final signal

=
(b)

Figure 5. Pictorial representation of sharpness filtering: (a) the smoothed signal is subtracted from the raw image to produce an edge/contour
signal; (b) the edge/contour signal is added to the raw image to enhance sharpness.

filter, and its brightness and contrast were adjusted to Computed radiography using image plates is a comparatively
improve its presentation. A sharpness filter extracts a new technology in the field of industrial radiologic testing.
smoothed version of the image from the original image, and The resolution of such systems has considerably improved
this extracted image is then superimposed onto original over the last decade, and their use is becoming more popular.
image. The net effect is that the image edges corresponding to A basic understanding of the system should help technicians
high-frequency components will be sharper and more precise create and enhance detailed computed radiographic images
(Das et al., 2010). The operation is described in Figure 5. The and provide more thorough information on tested welds. The
modified image is shown in Figure 6, which shows that the imaging plate technique continues to evolve in a direction
indication boundary is now much sharper and more distinct. towards better quality, reduced cost and a unified procedure
for industrial applications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge the encouragement and motivation from G.J.
Prasad, director of the Nuclear Fuels Group, Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre (BARC). The efforts of the authors’ colleagues in the radiography
group at BARC is also acknowledged.

REFERENCES
ASNT, Nondestructive Testing Handbook, third edition: Volume 4, Radi-
ographic Testing, American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Columbus,
Ohio, 2002.
Das, S., D. Mukherjee and B.K. Shah, “Advanced Digital Radiography
Systems and Image Processing Operations in Radiography Inspection,”
Figure 6. Modified filtered weld radiograph. Inspectioneering Journal, Vol.16, No. 6, Houston, Texas, 2010.
Das, S., D. Mukherjee and B.K. Shah, “Application of High and Low Pass
Filter in Radiographic Image Processing,” CINDE Journal, Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada, January/February 2010.
Conclusion
Das, S., P.R. Vaidya and B.K. Shah, “Image Processing Techniques for
In many applications, classical film radiography is transi- Digital Radiographic Images,” Materials Evaluation, Vol. 64, No. 5, 2006,
tioning towards a filmless digital domain with the help of new pp. 498–501.
technologies that allow technicians to perform image
processing whereby more information can be obtained.

MARCH 2012 • MATERIALS EVALUATION 381