(Xspect Solutions Inc.: Wixcom, MI) -- Wenzel GmbH recently introduced at the Control Show in Germany a new integrated computed tomography workstation call exaCT. This new product was developed by the Wenzel Group company Wenzel Volumetrik, in a project headed by Martin Simon a renowned expert in the field of computer tomography. The new inspection machine, as seen in the image below, allows the contactless 3-D measurement of internal and external part surfaces allowing nondestructive and time-saving inspection of small- and medium-sized complex parts with small features manufactured from plastics, composites, ceramics, aluminum, or magnesium.
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Computed tomography (CT) is an imaging method originally developed for the medical industry where digital geometry processing is used to generate a 3-D image of the internals of an object from a large series of 2-D X-ray images taken around a single axis of rotation. In operation, an X-ray tube produces a conic beam of electrons that penetrate the object to be measured and a digital signal is interpreted by the 2-D detector as a digital radiograph image. The object is positioned on a precision rotational stage and an image is acquired during the rotation at a constant speed. The output of a computed tomography reconstruction is referred to as a 3-D voxel (three-dimensional pixel) model and the resolution of each voxel depend on the resolution of each projection and the number of projections.
From this 3-D volume, CT software is able to export a stack of CT slices in any direction, analyze relative density with colored map, and will ultimately create a point cloud/triangle model compatible with computer-aided design (CAD) or rapid prototyping software. The main benefit of using 3-D CT for scanning or digitization is that a complete model with external and internal surfaces of an object can be obtained without destroying the part. In addition, CT can be performed on any surface, shape, color, or material with densities or thicknesses that are penetrable with X-rays.
The new Wenzel exaCT workstation includes the CT scanning machine with high-quality image detectors, two monitors, computer, and master system software for the acquisition of the projections and the reconstruction for the precise evaluation of the generated 3-D voxel data. In addition, this data can be metrologically evaluated by Wenzel-Metromec Quartis measuring software as well as Wenzel-Knotenpunkt Pointmaster software for reverse engineering of parts and for the comparison with original CAD models. Interfaces are also available to the most popular capturing software’s such as VGStudio MAX 2.0.
Click here to download the exaCT workstation brochure as a pdf file. Or contact Jim Krug at (248) 295-4300 or jkrug@xspect.com.
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