Tomografia computerizzata a raggi X industriale per il settore automobilistico e degli elettrodomestici: potenziare e migliorare il processo di caratterizzazione dei materiali dal prototipo alla produzione.

The most significant trends influencing the evolution of Industrial X-ray Computed Tomography have been discussed in this study. Despite the brief history of X-rays, the purpose of this study is to identify a method for optimising the use of this first-order non-destructive technique, beginning with the physical ruins in order to treat them and evaluate their impact on the tomographic data. Initially, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the attenuation coefficient, concern the influence of this factor. Throughout the present study, various obstacles to the implementation of this theory will be identified, at least in terms of the algorithms currently employed by the technique. Returning to the optimization of the process, the resolution of artifacts is a critical point, among them the Beam Hardening effect is discussed, which is one of the most significant troubling consequences of the tomographic technique analysis, even for polymers material which will be the material-class treated in the present study. Instead, consideration is given to those artifacts that depend most on the mathematical procedures of conversion between the collected signal and the final reconstructed volume of the sample: Scattering and Feldkamp artifacts. The second section of this study is totally devoted to the software employed for the analysis, as it is exceedingly complicated and crucial for achieving the most accurate results; from the reconstruction of the volume, the most important aspect of the analysis, to the presentation of the software’s options for characterising the scanned materials as rapidly and precisely as feasible. The final part of the study is entirely devoted to the ultimate application of this technique: its usage in the prototyping phase of automotive and appliance components. From the evaluation of the component moulding to the metrological aspect of conformance, it will be demonstrate how to utilise this analysis method to reduce lead times for the manufacturing of small and big components, beginning with the evaluation of the production process. The use of tomography in conjunction with other instruments present in plastic laboratories, such as the DSC, densitometer, and tensile test, in order to address abnormalities discovered during the prototyping phase of the components, is another key finding of this study! This methodology demonstrated how tomography, as a non-destructive and merely complimentary tool, enables simple analyses to be performed quickly in order to solve difficulties.