2D Radiography (x-ray), a Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) method, is applied in a multitude of manufacturing, repair industries, and in every type of inspection program. 2D X-ray is the most used NDT method outside of visual inspection.

Manual or human manipulated NDT is still the primary means of performing Nondestructive Testing (NDT) in unique or one-off applications. Mechanical aids and/or computer assisted manipulation and scanning devices can reduce data gathering time on the site of the item being inspected.

The global contribution of the automotive industry to the world economy is approximately $3.4 trillion (2021 – Mc Kinsey). Yet very little is communicated about the nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques used for industrial inspection to meet those often mutually opposed pressures of productivity and quality.

In the past, simple X-ray radiography was sufficient in providing an image needed for this inspection. However, because it views structures in 2D, simple radiography is limited in engineering applications as the objects become more complex. This is where computed tomography (CT) becomes valuable.

The imaging/inspection method has greatly evolved since its inception and it is now used in many industries for diverse types of product. 

When Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X-rays in the 1890s, he almost immediately discovered the imaging applications of this hitherto-unknown type of radiation, and experts in the medical community and the industrial nondestructive testing community rapidly seized on the potential this new science of radiography offered.

Radiographic inspection is a critical practice across multiple industries, and the development of non-film radiography provides enormous, yet currently untapped, potential to share these images widely and maximize resources.

Radiographs have been interpreted since Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen first observed the X-ray of his wife’s hand back in 1896. The process of radiographic interpretation consists of many variables with the major objective being achieving the highest possible quality level or sensitivity.