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Written Artefact Profiling Guide
Written ArtefactProfiling Guide

Photo: CSMC

Written Artefact Profiling Guide

ENCI Portable CT scanner

Samaneh Ehteram

  • General description: Portable X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT scanner), non-destructive testing and 3D material characterization
  • Application aim: Non-destructive imaging technique to investigate structures and materials of complex objects, revealing their internal structure and aiding in their preservation.
  • Mobility: Transportable, with a total weight of approximately 420 kg. ENCI’s modular design allows the system to be disassembled into individual parts that are easier to transport or even carry.
  • Equipment specifics:
    • Microfocus X-ray tube:
      • X-ray energy up to 180 keV (Tungsten target)
      • Power: 80 W.
      • Focus size: ≈ 20 µm, at the highest power of 80 W.
    • Detector: Flat-panel detector (VarexDetector 2315N)
      • Pixels size: 75 μm.
      • Large sensitive area of 3072 x 1944 pixels corresponding to 229.8 mm x 145.4 mm
      • Frame rate: up to 26 frames per second.
    • Radiation protection shielding case:
      • By design, the radiation dose rate outside of the instrument is below 0.2 µSv per hour.
      • Modular design with interlock system for radiation safety.
    • Sample holder with kinematic mount.
    • Rotation stage: the sample stage can hold samples up to 100 mm x 200 mm x 50 mm in size and position them in three translational degrees of freedom and one rotation around the vertical axis.
    • Application requirements: Power plug: 1x 230 V, 16A
    • Sample required: no
    • Contact required: no
    • Interaction spot dimensions: Measure the whole sample at once.
    • Limitations:
      • Applicable for sample sizes up to 100 mm x 200 mm x 50 mm.
      • Sample has to be X-ray transparent for X-rays below 180 keV. (Thick metallic objects or thick objects made of elements with high atomic number may be too opaque.)
    • Set up time: ca. 2h
    • Average time for measuring: can vary from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the size, complexity of the object being scanned and the spatial resolution required.
    • Average time for processing: can vary from 25 minutes (20 min tomography processing, and 3-5 minutes for extraction of cuneiform surfaces and preparation for interactive 3D rendering) up to several days.
    • Software package: Tango/Sardana (instrument control), Astra Toolbox (tomographic reconstruction), and Custom Software (acquisition, reconstruction, and image analysis).
    • Output: Tiff and HDF5 files
    • Contact: Samaneh Ehteram, samanehalsadat.ehteram@uni-hamburg.de, and samaneh.ehteram"AT"desy.de
    • Location of the equipment: CSMC Lab (Warburgstr. 28, Hamburg), and FS-PETRA group at DESY, Centre for X-ray and Nano Science (CXNS), building 94, room EG.016 (XLab), DESY (Notkestraße 85, Hamburg)