Incorporating Flexible Digital Detector Arrays into Your Radiographic Inspection Workflow

The Fundamentals of Technology Adoption Processes

Uncertainty stemming from accelerating change, whether disruptive or gradual, is at the core of many strategic decisions by individuals and organizations, and technology adoption practices are no exception.

In “Navigating technology adoption/acceptance models” [1], Taherdoost, Mohamed, and Madanchian stress the importance of a structured technology adoption process: “The accelerated rate of technological progress has significantly altered how individuals and organizations interact with technology. Understanding the process of technology adoption has become crucial for remaining competitive in a world that is becoming increasingly digital.”

Their research article proposes a structure for the technology adoption process (Figure 1) comprising a sequence of five stages that individuals and organizations undergo when integrating new technologies into their operations. These stages are:

1. Knowledge: Individuals become aware of the existence of a new technology and its prospective benefits. During this stage, prospective adopters seek to understand the technology’s functionality, operation, and distinct advantages over existing solutions.

2. Persuasion: Potential adopters evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of implementing the new technology, assessing how well it meets their requirements, enhances productivity, or resolves existing issues.

3. Decision: The decision stage involves determining whether to implement the technology. Potential adopters weigh the perceived benefits and risks against the implementation costs and effort.

4. Implementation: Once the decision to adopt the technology has been made, the focus shifts to practical applications. This stage involves procuring the hardware, software, and other resources required for implementation.

5. Confirmation: This is the final phase of the technology adoption procedure. During this stage, adopters evaluate the technology’s actual outcomes to determine whether the anticipated benefits have been realized and whether any unforeseen obstacles have arisen.

Comprehending the structure of this process is essential for forecasting adoption success and formulating strategies to facilitate a seamless integration of specific technologies. Reviewing trustworthy technical information through this lens is often the first step before building a hands-on use case.

Why a Bendable DR Detector Should Exist

Radiographic image formation principles advise that whenever feasible, the distance between the subject and the recording media should be maintained as minimal as possible to minimize distortion and unsharpness in the resulting image. This image formation principle applies regardless of whether film, imaging plates for computed radiography (CR), or digital detector arrays (DDAs) for digital radiography (DR) are used as the image-recording medium. This image-formation principle is replicated in the radiographic inspection requirements found across a wide range of manufacturing and construction codes, specifications, and standards.

Codes such as the ASME BPVC for boilers and pressure vessels, AWS D1.1 for structural steel fabrication and erection, or AWS D1.5 for steel bridges construction; specifications such as API 6A; and standards such as ASME B31.1, ASME B31.3, or API 1104 have as a common trait that they embrace this imaging principle not only for the inspection of welds on tubular components but also in the radiographic inspection requirements for castings, rolled products, forgings, pipes, tubing, round museum artifacts, or other components formed with non-parallel and non-flat surfaces that require contour-following capabilities.

Revisiting Your Repertoire of Radiographic Techniques

Single-wall exposure/single-wall viewing (SWE/SWV), double-wall exposure/single-wall viewing (DWE/SWV), double-wall exposure/double-wall viewing (DWE/DWV) techniques, or panoramic exposures, among other techniques (Figure 2a), constitute the fundamental repertoire that radiographers around the world use every day to perform contour-following radiographic inspection processes.

In their daily work, radiographers face the challenge of obtaining code-compliant, high-quality images in a very diverse set of product forms, thicknesses, material types, and geometric conditions. Often, geometric constraints allow only a single image per exposure, as in single-wall/single-image radiography. Still, in other cases, multiple images can be obtained with a single exposure, as may be the case with a panoramic exposure in a pressure vessel.

DDA Fundamentals

Digital detector arrays (DDAs), either rigid or flexible, are electronic devices that convert ionizing or penetrating radiation into a discrete array of analog signals, which are subsequently digitized and transferred to a computer for display as a digital image corresponding to the radiologic energy pattern imparted to the input region of the device.

Rigid DDAs such as the INDUSTREX HPX-DR 3543 PE (active area of 350 × 430 mm and a pixel pitch of 139 μm) and the INDUSTREX HPX-DR 2530 PH (active area of 250 × 300 mm and a pixel pitch of 98 μm) non-glass detectors provide DR capability for techniques where a flat surface in the imaging sensor is satisfactory. Their non-glass design provides maximum durability against the rigors of nondestructive testing (NDT) field work, eliminating costly repairs for broken glass while increasing utilization, uptime, and productivity.

Flexible DDAs, such as the INDUSTREX HPX-ARC 1043 PH (active area of 100 × 430 mm, a pixel pitch of 98 μm, and a 114 mm [4.5 in.] bend diameter) and the INDUSTREX HPX-ARC 1025 PH (active area of 100 × 250 mm, a pixel pitch of 98 μm, and a 60 mm [2.275 in.] bend diameter) can be used to achieve faster time-to-image results in contour-following radiographic imaging processes that are often required in a very diverse set of sectors such as aerospace, oil and gas, energy, defense, nondestructive evaluation (NDE) services, museum artifacts and art restoration, or the chemical industry.

The part positioning, gray level, and image quality of flexible DR sensors are assessed immediately, thereby speeding up the radiography workflow. Figure 3 provides an example of technical specifications and an operating schematic for a flexible DDA. Here, the flexible detector is connected by an Ethernet cable to an exposure interface box (EIB). The EIB is powered by a battery or an electrical outlet; it can communicate with a laptop or tablet via a wireless network or an Ethernet cable.

Understanding the Workflow Structure of NDE Radiographic Imaging Processes

A comparative analysis of the sequence of steps and process cycles involved in the radiographic setup and workflow DR, CR, and film radiography processes is shown in Figure 4.

Because images are delivered wirelessly, a flexible DR system eliminates trips to the film truck to scan CR plates or process film. More importantly, it minimizes the time spent on image quality review, so the decision to reshoot can be made sooner.

Validating Images at the Point of Acquisition

Time-to-image—the time from source activation until a suitable radiographic image is ready for review—strongly shapes the imaging workflow and, consequently, the technical and productivity case for technology adoption. In film radiography or CR, fundamental decisions about necessary adjustments to the radiographic technique in use can only be made after the film has been developed and analyzed on a suitable light box, or after CR imaging plates have been properly scanned. This implies not only extended time-to-image periods but also frequent displacements from the work area to the facility where the images can be properly evaluated.

The ability of DR sensors to transmit, either tethered or wirelessly, to mobile computing devices that incorporate suitable image analysis software, such as the INDUSTREX Fieldview, allows compliance with image quality parameters to be validated at the time of acquisition, right at the inspection point. Radiographers can verify in a ruggedized tablet with a touchscreen interface the proper positioning of ID markers and image quality indicator (IQI) sensitivity before moving to the next exposure. It provides the required image information instantly to adjust and retake, or wirelessly transfer the image immediately to a nearby review station for interpretation.

Point-of-acquisition validation addresses field imaging challenges by eliminating the need to return to previous inspection points, avoiding unnecessary displacements because verified images can be wirelessly delivered to a remote image review station, equipped with suitable image analysis software for interpretation while the next exposure is being set up, and allowing repairs to be immediately marked on the components or welds before moving to the next inspection point.

Additional Resources to Advance Your Knowledge in Flexible DDAs

Technological advancements in imaging media, supporting hardware, and software have a positive synergistic effect on the rest of the constituents of an organization’s NDE imaging ecosystem, underscoring the importance of establishing a proper alignment between the adoption of advancements in recording media technology, imaging platforms, and the technical requirements integrated into codes and regulations.

To help you advance your understanding and exploration of flexible DR sensors aligned with the five stages of the technology adoption process reviewed before, product information, white papers, and demo requests are available from Carestream NDT.

This article is sponsored by Carestream NDT. ASNT does not endorse products or services.