Automated X-ray Defect Inspection on Occluded BGA Balls Using Hybrid Algorithm

Automated X-ray defect inspection of occluded objects has been an essential topic in semiconductors,autonomous vehicles,and artificial intelligence devices.However,there are few solutions to segment occluded objects in the X-ray inspection efficiently.In particular,in the Ball Grid Array inspection of X-ray images,it is difficult to accurately segment the regions of occluded solder balls and detect defects inside solder balls.In this paper,we present a novel automatic inspection algorithm that segments solder balls,and detects defects fast and efficiently when solder balls are occluded.The proposed algorithm consists of two stages.In the first stage,the defective candidates or defects are determined through the following four steps:(i)image preprocessing such as noise removal,contrast enhancement,binarization,connected component,and morphology,(ii)limiting the inspec-tion area to the ball regions and determining if the ball regions are occluded,(iii)segmenting each ball region into one or more regions with similar gray values,and(iv)determining whether there are defects or defective candidates in the regions using a weighted sum of local threshold on local variance.If there are defective candidates,the determination of defects is finally made in the following stage.In the second stage,defects are detected using the automated inspection technique based on oblique computed tomography.The 3D precision inspection process is divided into four steps:(i)obtaining 360 projection images(one image per degree)rotating the object from 0 to 360 degrees,(ii)reconstructing a 3D image from the 360 projected images,(iii)finding the center slice of gravity for solder balls from the axial slice images in the z-direction,and getting the inspection intervals between the upper bound and the lower bound from the center slice,and(iv)finally determining whether there are defects in the averaged image of solder balls.The proposed hybrid algorithm is robust for segmenting the defects inside occluded solder balls,and improves the performance of solder ball segmentation and defect detection algorithm.Experimental results show an accuracy of more than 97%.

Inspection of pipeline girth welds with ultrasonic phased array technique

A novel automatic ultrasonic system used for the inspection of pipeline girth welds is developed, in which a linear phased array transducer using electronic scan is adopted. Optimal array parameters are determined based on a mathematical model of acoustic field for linear phased array derived from Huygens' principle. The testing method and the system structure are introduced. The experimental results show that the phased array transducer system has the same detectability as that of conventional ultrasonic transducer system, but the system architecture can be simplified greatly, and the testing flexibility and the testing speed can be improved greatly.

Development of an automatic post-weld inspection system based on laser vision

In order to overcome the limitations of manual post-weld visual inspection approach, an automated inspection system is developed which uses three-dimensioual laser vision system based on the principle of optical triangulation. The system hardware consists of a modular development kit （MDK）, a computer, an actuating mechanism and so on. In image processing algorithms, extraction accuracy of centric line of laser stripe is the critical factor that determines the system performance. So according to the features of laser stripe image, a novel algorithm is developed to detect the central line of laser stripe fast and accurately. Experiments have demonstrated that this system can be used in various weld features inspection of both butt and fillet types of weld. Compared with traditional manual inspection method, this method has obvious dominance. The three-dimensional reconstruction result shows that this system has high accuracy and reliability.

Novel inspection of welded joint microstructure using magneto-optical imaging technology

A novel method for measuring differences of microstructure by advanced use of the Faraday magneto-optical effect is proposed. Two groups of YAG laser welds on Q235 have been investigated in order to compare MO imaging and traditional methods. Microstructure images have been compared with MO images, and MO diagrams display different colors and gray scales for the base metal, the weld zone, and the heat affected zone. Experimental results indicate that the welded joint microstructure can be inspected by MO imaging without metallographic preparation.

Inverse Kinematics Analysis of Weld Inspection Manipulator at Pipe Joint in Nuclear Industry

A redundant manipulator that can online clamp pipe was developed to track along a cylinder intersection curve. With an ultrasonic transducer mounted on its end-effector, the manipulator can perform welding seam inspection at pipe joint in nuclear industry. An inverse kinematics solution expressed in joint space was solved based on the combination of geometric method and D-H matrix transformation. Expression about joints variables was obtained based on the scanning parameters of pipeline. The analysis method and results can be widely applied for online trajectory planning of intersection curve scanning manipulators.

On-line quality inspection in laser blank welding using ART2 neural network

Laser blank welding is becoming more and more important in the automotive industry and the quality of the weld is critical for a successful application. A fully automated solution is required to inspect the quality of the blanks. This paper presents a vision inspection system with a CMOS camera which uses ART2 network to inspect the defects on-line to obtain the geometry and the quality of the weld seam. The neural network ART2 has the capability of self-learning fiom the environment. It can distinguish the defects that have been learned before and give new outputs for new defects. So ART2 network is suitable for weld quality inspection in laser blank welding. Additionally, a CO2 laser is used for the blank butt-welding.

Development of an automatic weld surface appearance inspection system using machine vision

In this paper, an automatic inspection system for weld surface appearance using machine vision has been developed to recognize weld surface defects such as porosities, cracks, etc. It can replace conventional manual visual inspection method, which is tedious, time-consuming, subjective, experience-depended, and sometimes biased. The system consists of a CCD camera, a self-designed annular light source, a sensor controller, a frame grabbing card, a computer and so on. After acquiring weld surface appearance images using CCD, the images are preprocessed using median filtering and a series of image enhancement algorithms. Then a dynamic threshold and morphology algorithms are applied to segment defect object. Finally, defect features information is obtained by eight neighborhoods boundary chain code algorithm. Experimental results show that the developed system is capable of inspecting most surface defects such as porosities, cracks with high reliability and accuracy.

Weld seam recognition algorithm based on HSI space for pipeline ultrasonic flaw inspection

In order to realize automatic weld seam tracking for pipeline ultrasonic flaw inspection, an image processing algorithm based on HSI color space was presented. Since the color tones of weld seam were different from the parent metal, weld seam images were transformed to HSI color space. In the HSl colar space, the weld seam and base metal area can be apparently distinguished. By using this image processing algorithm, the edges and centerline of pipeline weld seam can be correctly extracted. An industrial application system was developed based on the image processing algorithm, and the image processing time is less than 70 ms and the accuracy of weld seam recognition is better than 2mm.

Dynamic characteristics of the pipeline inspection gauge under girth weld excitation in submarine pipeline

Pipeline inner inspection technology based on Pipeline Inspection Gauge(PIG),is the primary means for ensuring the safety of submarine pipelines.The dynamic characteristics of a PIG can change abruptly with the excitation of obstacles such as girth welds inside the pipeline,which would result in failure or inaccuracy of the inspection results.This study establishes a dynamic model of the PIG sealing disc based on Kelvin spring damping in the circumferentially confined space.The axial vibration differential equations of the PIG is examined in detail.MSC/ADAMS is used to conduct the dynamic simulation of the PIG at different motion velocities and center of mass positions while passing through the girth weld process.Results indicate that the axial vibration caused by the girth weld intensifies substantially as the speed of the PIG increases,while the pitch and vertical vibrations exhibit a significant decline with an increase in the motion velocity.The change in the PIG’s center of mass positions has little effect on its axial vibration,while the pitch and vertical vibration conditions are significantly different in the same circumstances.

Application of ultrasonic inspection in monitoring dynamic healing of mandibular fracture in rabbit model

Objective:To investigate the feasibility of ultrasonic diagnosis for monitoring fracture healing. Methods:Thirty rabbit models with fraction of mandible body were established by surgically removing partial lower jawbone.At the 1st,2nd,4th,6th,8th and 12th week after the operation, they were examined by X-ray and ultrasound,respectively.All detection results were scored according to a generally accepted standard.Spearman rank correlation analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between the results of the two inspection methods.Results:In each healing stage,the results of the ultrasonic inspection were basically consistent with those of the X-ray examination,as supported by a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of 0.892(P【0.001). Conclusions:Non-invasive ultrasonic inspection can be used instead of X-ray examination to monitor and diagnose fracture healing.

A fast and adaptive method for automatic weld defect detection in various real-time X-ray imaging systems

A first and effective method is proposed to detect weld deject adaptively in various Dypes of real-time X-ray images obtained in different conditions. After weld extraction and noise reduction, a proper template of median filter is used to estimate the weld background. After the weld background is subtracted from the original image, an adaptite threshold segmentation algorithm is proposed to obtain the binary image, and then the morphological close and open operation, labeling algorithm and fids＇e alarm eliminating algorithm are applied to pracess the binary image to obtain the defect, ct detection result. At last, a fast realization procedure jbr proposed method is developed. The proposed method is tested in real-time X-ray image,s obtairted in different X-ray imaging sutems. Experiment results show that the proposed method is effective to detect low contrast weld dejects with few .false alarms and is adaptive to various types of real-time X-ray imaging systems.

Ultrasonic inspection for circumferential butt joint of austenitic stainless steel with carbon steel

Tthe practical application of ultrasonic wave inspection in welded joint by austenitic stainless steel with carbon steel is presented. It is shown from the experimental results that the high frequency narrow-pulsed longitudinal ultrasonic wave inspection technique can detect the defects in deferent sound path and location within the tested welded joint clearly and exactly. The study in the paper may provide a new approach for further application of ultrasonic inspection in coarse-grained materials.

Study on the distribution of residual stresses in linear friction welds of Ti6AI4V

The linear friction welding process of Ti6Al4 V was modeled and computed ,for obtaining the residual stresses. Temperature, stress and strain fields were simulated, based on which, the residual stresses were also cah＇ulated. Simulated resttlts showed that the longitudinal residual stresses were tensile stresses at the bonding interface, and decreased rapidly with the increase of the distance from the bonding interface until turned into compressive stresses. The compressive stresses decreased slowly as the distance increased, and approached to zero finally. The distribution of the transverse residual stresses was similar to that of the longitudinal residual stresses, but showed much smaller values. The residual stresses in one linear friction weld were measured by an X-ray diffrnctometer. The average valwe of errors between computed and measured results was 14. 5 %.

Rapid digitalization and panoramic evaluation of weld X-ray film

The computer evaluation of weld X-ray film is an attractive technique for weld seam NDT （ nondestructive testing）. To achieve this target, digitalization of film is the first step and automatic defect identification is another key technique. In this paper, a weld X-ray film digitalizing system has been established with linear array CCD and highlight LED light source. Its space resolution can reach 0. 04 mm/pixel and scanning speed can reach 100 mm/s for an industrial film. The transfer function curves of the system have been measured and the results indicate that its image gray resolution can reach 88 G/D at 4. 5D, and its dynamic range can be wider than 2. OD. In order to facilitate the evaluation of large welded structure, a panoramic evaluation algorithm is developed also. The algorithm includes image matching, image fusion and panoramic evaluation of the long linked film image.

核电厂安全壳贯穿件焊缝自动超声检测系统开发

通过分析国内某核电厂贯穿件焊缝现场检查条件,阐述国内外现有管道检测装置的不适应性,本文提出了一种管道贯穿件对接全焊透环焊缝自动超声检测的技术方案,解决了该焊缝手动检查不可达的问题,实现了贯穿件管道狭窄空间内检测装置的快速安装和定位,操作简单、高效。采用开发的检测系统应用于某核电厂贯穿件焊缝在役检查,结果表明检测系统满足现场检查要求,验证了技术开发的有效性。

浅析新版长输管道定期检验规则的修订理念及意义

近年来,随着管道技术发展和相关法规标准的不断完善,TSG D7003—2010版中部分内容已不再适用。为满足长输管道检验工作需求,市场监管总局对TSG D7003—2010版进行了修订。本文详细阐述了此次修订的背景、修订原则、修订过程、主要变化和重要意义,以期为广大管道检验检测和管理人员更好地理解长输管道定期检验规则提供帮助。

中厚板多层多道焊视觉测量与工艺规划

针对中厚板多层多道焊的焊道测量问题,提出利用焊缝检测和焊道尺寸视觉测量的信息融合自适应微调焊枪位置的方法。首先基于结构光视觉传感器系统采集焊缝图像,在典型图像处理算法的基础上,结合FROSAC提取算法提取焊缝特征信息;将提取到的特征点进行坐标转换,采用视觉测量获得焊道轮廓和尺寸信息,来修正机器人的运动路径;根据焊缝特征信息分析工艺参数对焊道成型的影响,确定焊道层数、各焊道的工艺参数以及焊枪的偏移量,完成多层多道焊接工艺规划;最后基于搭建的机器人焊接视觉系统在12 mm母材上进行V形坡口多层多道焊接试验。结果表明:该方法下坡口填充良好,焊道尺寸平均测量误差小于0.2 mm,满足多层多道焊接工业应用需求。

面向管道焊缝渗透检测机器人的管道定位与规划方法

为了实现核电设施管路的自动化焊缝检测作业,在降低人工作业安全风险的同时提高工作效率,提出了一种集喷涂、喷擦、刷涂、擦洗、环境感知和场景建模的机器人自主作业软件系统及相关算法。分析作业机器人的工作环境和功能需求,进行机械臂和感知模块的选型,制定三维建模和参数辨识方案,搭建焊缝检测作业系统;提出了一种基于机器人感知到的视觉和深度信息进行场景建模的算法,该算法可以输出检测关到作业面的位置、三维模型以及作业区域范围;提出了一种基于三维重构模型和作业区域范围进行作业轨迹规划的算法,并搭建了仿真平台验证运动轨迹的正确性;开展了管道定位与三维重构实验以及轨迹规划实验,实验的结果证明,提出的管道定位方法能够实现精确的点云数据采集和高精度的管道参数辨识,机械臂能够实现准确性高、连续性好的运动,满足管道焊缝检测作业的要求。

基于ACFM的焊缝缺陷检测系统设计和试验

针对CNFC-3GS新燃料运输容器载荷试验前后吊耳角焊缝的非接触式(带涂层)表面检测需求,研发了一套交流电磁场(ACFM)检测系统和工艺,设计了高灵敏度的单阵列笔式探头,并编写了梯度算法软件,以提高对微小缺陷的检测能力。通过灵敏度试块、考试试块、模拟试块试验,验证了ACFM技术在表面和近表面缺陷检测方面的有效性,通过对不同试块的检测,结果表明该ACFM系统能够有效检出表面和近表面L≥1 mm的线形缺陷和D≥1 mm的圆形缺陷,打磨可以提高其检出能力。该ACFM检测系统稳定可靠,能够实现容器吊耳焊缝表面缺陷的快速有效检出,并初步判断缺陷的位置和大小,可以为铁磁性材料及焊缝的服役安全评价提供技术支撑。

机器人焊接技术在管道焊接中的应用现状

为介绍管道焊接中机器人焊接技术的应用情况,按照技术出现的顺序对油气管道焊接技术进行概括,分析了不同自动化焊接设备的工作原理,同时对工程中常用的设备进行了举例。文中介绍了管道铺设工程中相关的管道焊接检测技术以及管道接头腐蚀防护技术,最后介绍了焊接机器人的发展趋势,包括基于运动仿真的越障焊接、扩大应用场景与功能、引入新的传感器与原理。