Radiographic Equipment

Level 2

A.K.D. Prathibha Wimalasiri

M.Sc (Nuclear Science) B.Sc(Hons , Physics(Sp))
Scientific Officer – NCNDT

NDT Level 3 in MT & PT (As per ISO 9712/NCBNDT,Sri Lanka)

NDT Level 2 in UT, RT ,ET, TT& VT (As per ISO 9712/NCBNDT,Sri Lanka)
 X-Rays
• Basic requirements to produce X-rays
• A source of electron(Heated filament)

• Directing and accelerating the electron(high voltage supply)

• Target for the electrons to bombard(heavy metal)

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 X-Rays
• Evacuated electron tube that produces X rays by accelerating electrons to a high
velocity with a high-voltage field and causing them to collide with a target, the
anode plate.
• The tube consists
• Cathode -of a source of electrons, heated filament),
• Anode-usually of tungsten,
• enclosed in an evacuated glass envelope.
• The voltage applied to accelerate the electrons is in the range of 30 to 100 kilovolts.
• The X-ray tube functions on the principle that X rays are produced wherever
electrons moving at very high speeds strike matter of any kind.
• Only about 1% of the electron energy is converted to X rays.

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X-Ray-Electron Source-Cathode
• In x ray tube the source of electrons - cathode.
• Cathode consists of a coil of wire(filament)-electron emitter and
focusing cup
• When a voltage applied across the filament, resultant current
flow heats it to electron emission temperature- Filament
current
• Filament is heated with
• AC current 1 to 5 mA at 4 to 12 volts
• The tube current between cathode and anode ≈ 0.1% of the
heating of the filament current
• The filament is covered by focusing cup
(made by pure iron and nickel)
-control the shape of the electron beam.

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X-Ray-Electron Acceleration
• For the radiation needed for industrial radiography the
accelerating potentials range from about 30KV to 30MV.
• X-ray tubes are usually rated at up to 420KV while higher
voltages are used in linear accelerate.

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X-ray-Target
• X-rays arc generated whenever high velocity electrons collide with any form
of matter, whether it be solid, liquid or gas.

• The target material should have the following desirable properties:

 high atomic number-The high atomic number gives the best efficiency
of conversion of electron energy into X-rays.
 high melting point - allows high tube currents for a given size of focal
spot thereby providing large X-ray output (i.e. intensity).
 high thermal conductivity - reduces the amount of evaporation of target
metal thereby increasing the life of the tube.

Tungsten is the only metal which has all

these properties so usually the target is
made of tungsten.

The target is fitted in a cup of copper

which acts as an anode.
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X-ray-Target
• Taking away the heat generated due to the electron impacts is one of
the major considerations in the design of X-ray tubes.
• The necessary cooling is done by liquid coolant such as oil or
water.
• The target is usually embedded in a copper block(Anode) and
the heat generated is transferred through this copper block to the
cooling system.
• The anode is usually hollow to allow the circulation of cooling
fluids.
• In many modern X-ray tubes the anode is hooded.

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X-ray-Target

• This hood consists of a metallic body over the anode with an

aperture to permit the electron beam to reach the target .
• The hood also reduces the electron back emission from the target
 if this gets overheated and limits the X-ray emission
• The part of the anode target on which the electrons impinge is
called the focus of the X-ray tube.
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X-ray- Tube Envelop
• Is a glass envelope in which two electrodes arc fitted; cathode and
anode.
• It is constructed of glass of the borosilicate type.
 has a high melting point(because of the extreme heat generated at
the anode)
• A high vacuum environment for the tube elements is necessary to
prevent oxidation of the electrode materials, to permit ready passage of
the electron beam without ionization of gas within the tube and to
provide electrical insulation between the electrodes.

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X-ray-Target
• To get sharp shadows,
• focal spot must be as small as possible. But if the focal spot is
actually made small, say 1 x 1 mm,
 the tube life is reduced due to the vaporization of the target.
• If the area of the focal spot is extended to say 3x1 mm, the tube can
run for about three times as long, but it will not give sharp
shadows.
• To deal with this situation, the target is usually inclined at about
71° to the electron beam direction.

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X-ray- Tube Head
• A tightly sealed heavy metal housing
 To prevent X-rays from becoming a hazard and scattered radiation
problem
 the X-ray tube is shielded with lead (the window remains
unshielded).
• The tube head usually contains the X-ray tube, high voltage and
filament transformers and insulating oil or gas.
• In addition, metal casing is earthed to reduce possible electrical
hazards due to the high voltage used.

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X-ray- Tube Head
• A tightly sealed heavy metal housing
 To prevent X-rays from becoming a hazard and scattered radiation
problem
 the X-ray tube is shielded with lead (the window remains
unshielded).
• The tube head usually contains the X-ray tube, high voltage and
filament transformers and insulating oil or gas.
• In addition, metal casing is earthed to reduce possible electrical
hazards due to the high voltage used.

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X-ray- Tube Window
• The X-ray beam emerges from the tube through a port or window.
• The solid angle of the radiation cone is usually 40 ° - 50° .
• The window is usually made of a less radiation absorbent material
such as a light metal of low atomic number (e.g. beryllium).
 In many machines a copper filter may be incorporated in or located
close to the diaphragm.
 This copper filter shields out the low energy portion of the X-rays
produced, making the useful beam that falls on the specimen more
nearly uniform in energy.

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X-ray- Duty Cycle
• The duty cycle is generally expressed as a percentage of exposure
versus total time.
 For example a 100% duty cycle means that the tube can be
operated continuously.
 50% means that it is necessary to provide equal rest time after
each exposure and so on.
• By following the duty cycle as specified for a particular tube, the
life of the X-ray tube can be lengthened.
• One major factor concerning the tube life is the effectiveness of
its cooling.
• Also the tube life can be increased by preheating it (warm up) and
controlling its operation every time it starts working again after an
idle period.

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Xray-Electrical devices and circuits
• In X-ray tube, other electrical equipment consists of:
 A high tension transformer to give the required high voltage.
 Gear to control the high voltage applied between the cathode
and anode( i.e. kV control Knob)
 Gear to control the filament current (i.e. mA control knob)
 Automatic trip system to protect the equipment from
damaging itself due to overheating, over voltage, over
current, etc.

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X-ray-Electrical devices and circuits
• In portable X-ray units, a self-rectifying circuit, is frequently
used.
 In this circuit X-rays are only generated during one half-cycle
of the applied voltage.
 Normally no electric current can travel from the anode of an
X-ray tube towards the cathode;
 The negative half-cycles of an alternating current do not pass
through the tube and only the positive half-cycles arc used.

• For this circuit the tube current must be kept low, since
if the anode becomes too hot it may emit electrons in
the reverse direction (strike back), hence damaging the
filament of the cathode.
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X-ray-Electrical devices and circuits
• In portable X-ray units, a self-rectifying circuit, is frequently
used.
 In this circuit X-rays are only generated during one half-cycle
of the applied voltage.
 Normally no electric current can travel from the anode of an
X-ray tube towards the cathode;
 The negative half-cycles of an alternating current do not pass
through the tube and only the positive half-cycles arc used.

• For this circuit the tube current must be kept low, since
if the anode becomes too hot it may emit electrons in
the reverse direction (strike back), hence damaging the
filament of the cathode.
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X-ray-Electrical devices and circuits

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X-ray-Electrical devices and circuits
• Types of the circuit for X-ray machines
 Graetz circuit
 Villard circuit
 Greinacher circuit,

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X-ray- Control Consoles
• High Voltage
• Tube current
• Exposure

• In most of the older X-ray machines the knobs for controlling the
kilovoltage, milliampearage and time are present and have to be manually
operated to select the given parameters.
• In the latest designs of x-rays machines, however, these controls are
controlled through a microprocessor.

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X-ray- Quantity and Quality
• Much of the energy of the impinging electrons is dissipated as
heat.
In very low voltage tubes - 0.1% of the energy of the electron
beam is converted into X- rays.
At 100KV the X-ray generation efficiency increases to about
1%.
At 2 million volts it approaches 10% and at 15 million volts it
may be over 50%.
• The efficiency of conversion also depends upon the target
material, being best for the high atomic number materials like
tungsten, etc.
x-ray generation efficiency(E)=K.V.Z
V is the applied voltage,
Z- the atomic number of the target material
K -constant
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X-ray- Tube Voltage
• Usually expressed in kV
• It determines the penetrating power or energy of the X-ray
• An increase in the tube voltage increases the speed of the
electrons striking the target
• Then, produce short wavelength (high energy) X-rays
• Tube voltage can control by adjusting kV knob on the
control panel

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X-ray- Tube Current
• The quantity or the intensity of X-rays produced
depends on the number of electrons hitting the target - tube
current (milliamperes-mA)
• It determines the current flowing from the cathode to the
anode

 can be controlled by controlling the number of electrons

emitted by the filament
 by controlling the heating current through the filament.

• Increasing the mA- increases the number of electrons that are

available to strike the target.
• Change in mA causes no change in the wavelength of the X-rays
produced.
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X-ray- Tube Voltage
• The quality or the energy of X-rays produced depends
upon the energy of electrons striking the target.
• The energy of the striking electrons is controlled by the
accelerating potential which is of the order of kilovolts (KV).
 An increase in KV results in the generation of more
energetic (more penetrating) X-rays.

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Modern X-ray equipment
• A lot of development has occurred towards the production of
versatile X-ray equipment.

 increased X-ray output with smaller size of focal spot

 Availability of very low and very high energy x-rays with
control of the emitted x-ray energy.
 portability/mobility of the units.
 directional and panoramic X-ray outputs,
 safe and simple operation of the equipment.

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Modern X-ray equipment
Directional X-ray Units

• Fully portable and mobile -from 100KV to 400 KV range

 Kilovoltage can be varied continuously or in steps
• Effective focal spot size normally varies from 0.5 x 0.5 to 4 x 4
mm.
• Tube currents range from 5mA to 20 mA (depending on the size
• of the focal spot).

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Modern X-ray equipment
Panoramic X-ray Units
 Normally available up to 300 kV
 Emergent beam angle - 3600‹300
 Focal spot is elliptical in shape
 Effective focal spot sizes - 4×1, 4.8×1, 5×1.5 mm, etc.
 Tube current up to 15 mA
• These tubes are specially useful for the radiography of
circumferential welds in large diameter pipes.
A directional beam can also be obtained using protective collars
generally provided with these tubes.

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Modern X-ray equipment
Radiographic Linear Accelerators
 For the radiography of thick samples
 X-ray energy in the MeV range
 Focal spot size – 2.5×2.5 mm
 10 cm steel can be radiographed in
one minute
 Beam angles – 150, 300, 450, and 3600
 Electron beam current – 0.01 mA to
0.25 mA
 Max. focal spot diameter is 2 mm

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Modern X-ray equipment
Microfocus X-ray system
 Geometric sharpness (definition of radiograph) is badly
affected in situations which do not permit large SFD
(source to film distance) and small OFD (object to film
distance).
 This can be overcome to a great extent by using tubes
of very small focal spots - Microfocus X-ray system
 Very small focal spot (0.5 to 0.05 mm)
 Tube current - maximum 1 mA for 100 kV

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Modern X-ray equipment
Betatron
 The principle of this machine is to accelerate the electrons in a
circular path by using an alternating magnetic field.
 The acceleration continues as long as the magnetic flux is increasing,
that is, until the peak of the wave is reached; at this point the
electrons are moved out of orbit.
• The electrons then strike a suitable target.
 The radiation from betatrons is emitted in a series of short pulses.
• Most betatrons designed for industrial use are in the energy range 15-
31 MeV.
• Betatrons in general have a very small focal spot size typically about
0.2mm.
• 5-41 cm steel can inspect

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Modern X-ray equipment
Microtron
 This is a form of circular orbit accelerator in which the electrons
are accelerated by the field in a microwave resonator which is
placed in a homogeneous magnetic field.

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Classification and Selection of X-ray
Equipment
• X-Ray equipment is usually classified by its voltage
rating.
• The selection of X-ray equipment will primarily be
dictated by the type of applications for which it is
intended.
• The quality(Energy) of radiation emitted from the
machine or the kV rating will determine its suitability
for inspecting a material of a particular thickness.
• The intensity of radiation or mA rating will determine
the length of exposure time needed to inspect the
desired material.
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Classification and Selection of X-ray
Equipment
• The focal spot size will indicate the capability of
the machine to detect fine flaws for good
quality radiography.
• The duty cycle and the type of cooling will determine the life
and the productivity of the machine.
• The weight and dimensions of the machine and the shape of
the emitted beam of radiation are other important factors to
be considered. These will determine whether or not the
machine can conveniently be put in the desired position for
radiography.
• The beam spread will determine the area of the test
specimen covered in one exposure.
• The cost of the equipment may be the final consideration for
its selection.
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GAMMA RAY SOURCES AND EQUIPMENT
• The great penetrating power of gamma
rays f- when large thicknesses or high
density specimens, beyond the range of
generally available X-ray equipment
• Gamma ray sources are not usually used
for light alloys.
• The source of radiation used in
radiography is extremely small and
enclosed used in a sealed protective
metal covering.

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GAMMA RAY SOURCES

Naturally occurring radioisotope

• Radium(Ra) was almost universally used for
gamma-radiography. Its
great merit was its very long half-life – 1590 years
 and its relatively large radiation output.
• Today it has been completely ousted by ousted by
the much less expensive artificial isotopes

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GAMMA RAY SOURCES
• Artificially produced radioisotopes
• The radioisotopes that are most commonly used in radiography are
the ones which are artificially produced.
• Some of these arc produced by bombardment with neutrons in a
nuclear reactor.
• The (n,y) reaction is employed for the production of most gamma
sources. This (n.Y) reaction is primarily a thermal neutron reaction.
• radioisotopes most commonly used for radiography purposes are Ir-
192, Co – 60 and Cs-137.

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Common Sources Used For Industrial
Radiography
Cobalt Radium Cesium Iridium Thulium Ytterbium
Isotope
Co-60 Ra-226 Cs-137 Ir-192 Tm-170 Yb-169

Half-life 5.3 y 1600 y 30 y 74 d 130 y 30 d

Energy
1.25 1.22 0.66 0.355 0.072 0.053
(MeV)
X-ray equivalent 0.6 -
2-3 1-2 0.3 - 0.8 0.1 - 0.3 0.1 - 0.4
(MeV) 1.5
Radiation Level
1.33 0.83 0.37 0.5 0.0025 0.125
RHM/Curie

Optimum thickness
50-200 50-150 20-100 10-70 2.5-12 2.5-12
range (mm) of Steel
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Criteria for a Gamma ray Source
 Activity
o The activity determines the exposure time
 Energy
o Energy of Gamma rays from the source must be sufficient
to penetrate the thickness of the specimen
 Half – life
o The source should have half-life long enough to complete
the job.
 Availability
o The source should be easily available and preferably at low
cost.

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Source Encapsulation
• The source of radiation used in radiography is
extremely small and enclosed in a sealed protective
metal covering.
• Most isotopes used in radiography are right cylinders
whose diameter and length are approximately equal.
• This source shape permits the use of any surface as
the focal spot, since all surfaces as viewed from the
specimen, are approximately equal in area.

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Source Encapsulation
• The diameters of different cylindrical sources vary in
the range from 0.5 to 20mm
• their lengths may vary from 0.5 to 8 mm.
• The sources are also sometimes made in a spherical
form. The diameters of the radioactive part may be
between 6 and 20mm.

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Gamma projectors
• As gamma ray sources emit radiation at all times and in all
directions, it is not safe to use them directly in the capsule form for
radiography.
• They are enclosed in specially designed containers known as
gamma projectors or gamma radiography cameras.
• The containers are generally made of good radiation-absorbent
metals such as lead, tungsten or depleted uranium to reduce the
emergent radiation intensity to a permissible level.
• The design of the container is such as to give ample protection
when the source is not in use and to provide a beam of radiation
when required.
• Gamma projectors are available
in several designs suitable for various
applications.

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Gamma projectors
• The main points to be borne in mind in designing an exposing container
are:
• Provision must be made for loading and exchanging the source capsule
easily and quickly.
• The container must be robust
• A fail-safe design is very desirable; i.e. if anything goes wrong, or is
moved during exposure, the source returns to the safe position of the
source.
• There should be a positive indication of the exact position of the source.
• Except when the container is supported on a mechanized permanent
mounting, size and weight are important factors.
• The containers should be designed so that the beam of radiation can be
adjusted in direction; there should also be provision for making panoramic
exposures.
• Scattered radiation, although less of a problem with gamma-rays than with
X-rays
15 February,should
2023 still be kept to a minimum 42
Gamma projectors
A few commonly used gamma projectors or cameras arc briefly discussed
below:
Removable plug type unit
• simplest projectors suitable for directional exposures.
• Units of this type up to 2Ci of Co 60 (lOO Ci of Ir 192) capacity are
available.
• A conical stepped plug can be removed from the main body when a beam
of radiation is required.

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Gamma projectors
D-type unit
• suitable for pipe radiography (double wall single image).
• Such units are available for up to 7.5 Ci Ir-192 or 1 Ci Cs-137.
• The unit can be clamped onto a pipe with the help of a chain and
can also be rotated to a desired position when required.
• The source is in the centre of the shielding when not in use.

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Gamma projectors
Torch models
• This type of equipment was originally
developed for the testing of pipeline
welds.
• For pipe radiography, the torch is
taken from the container and put into
a shielding holder attached to the
pipe.
• The shielding in the torch protects
the operator while this is done.

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Gamma projectors
Remote control gamma radiography units
• These units can be operated from a remote distance which makes
them suitable when large activity sources are to be used.
• The source can be pushed out of its shielding to a desired position via
guide tubes and brought back when the exposure is complete.
• Units that can hold very large lr-192 sources and up to 500 curies Co-
60 are available.
• There are two types of gamma radiography units which are
commonly available.

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Gamma projectors
Remote control gamma radiography units
1. Clutch Wire Cable Type
• It consists of a shielding container with all safety locks and devices
etc. and a remote control system that controls the movement of the
source with the help of a clutch wire cable.
• The source is pushed out of the container to an exposure site by
rotating the handle of the operating device in one direction and
pulled back into the container, at the termination of the exposure
time, by rotating the handle in the opposite direction.

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Gamma projectors
Remote control gamma radiography units
2. Pneumatic Type
• It consists of a shielding container and a pneumatic remote control
system.
• The source is pushed out of the container to the exposure site by a
compression stroke and sucked back into the container by a suction
stroke.
• Gamma projectors available commercially along with some of their
important characteristics arc summarised in Table 3.3.
• It consists of a shielding container with all safety locks and devices
etc. and a remote control system that controls the movement of the
source with the help of a clutch wire cable.
• The source is pushed out of the container to an exposure site by
rotating the handle of the operating device in one direction and
pulled back into the container, at the termination of the exposure
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Gamma projectors
Remote control gamma radiography units
2. Pneumatic Type
• It consists of a shielding container and a pneumatic remote control
system.
• The source is pushed out of the container to the exposure site by a
compression stroke and sucked back into the container by a suction
stroke.

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Selection of a gamma ray source
• Half life
 The source should have a half life long enough to complete the job.
 it should have high initial activity.

• Energy of gamma rays

 The energy of gamma rays from the source must be sufficient to penetrate
the thickness of the specimen to be radiographed.

• Size of the source

 The size of the source should be small to minimize the penumbra which
spoils the quality of the radiograph.

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Gamma camera

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Gamma camera

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Selection of a gamma ray source

• High specific activity

 To keep exposure times short it is necessary to have an adequate quantity of
radiation (i.e.high activity).
 For optimum definition the source must have a high activity and be
concentrated into a minimum volume. Its specific activity is expressed as
activity per unit mass (Ci/g or Bq/g).

• Availability
 The source should be easily available and preferably of low cost. Finally, it
is useful to note that Cobalt-60, Thulium-170 and lridium-192 can be
reactivated but Caesium-137 cannot.

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Advantages in the use of isotopes
• The cost of equipment and source is much less than that of an
X-ray machine with a comparable energy range.
• The isotope equipment is more easily transported than X-ray
equipment.
• The isotope source material itself is small enough to pass
through small diameter openings.
• No external power supply is necessary therefore, tests can be
performed in remote areas.
• The equipment is extremely rugged and simple to operate and
maintain.
• Radiation from some radioisotopes has a very high
penetrating power. (can inspect of very thick metal
workpieces)
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Disadvantages in the use of isotopes
• The first and most important from a safety viewpoint is
that the radiation cannot be turned off.
• The radiographs generally have considerably less
contrast than those exposed by X-ray.
• Penetrating ability is solely dependent upon the
particular isotope used and cannot be changed or
varied without changing the isotope.
• Cost of replacing isotopes with short half-lives is
high.

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Exposure techniques with gamma rays
• Gamma-rays are used for much of site radiography,
where an X-ray set requiring electricity and water supplies
would be awkward or time consuming to manipulate.
• For steel specimens of thickness less than 50mm, and especially
for those less than 25mm thick, the sensitivity with any gamma-
ray source is poorer than that on a good X-radiograph,
• For high pressure pipework x-rays would be preferred if their use
is possible
• But for transmission pipelines-gamma-ray inspection is accepted
by many authorities.
• Gamma-rays are extensively used for both ferrous and copper-
base casting inspection.
The better sensitivity attainable with X-rays is rarely
necessary for this type of work. 2/15/2023
56
•
 Merits and Demerits of X- and Gamma Rays
Technical Aspect X-Rays Gamma Rays
Power supply Electrical power required No power supply needed
Safety supervision Required during operation At all time
Weight and Large, bulky and heavy Relatively light (except Co-60)
dimensions
Manipulation for Setting up time consuming Based on manipulation
source positioning and difficult
Radiation hazards Only during operation Continuous hazards
Radiation penetration Can be adjusted (mat. & t) No adjustment for given source
Radiation intensity High Low
Focal spot Very fine focal spot possible Depends upon the specific activity
Shape of beam Unidirectional and Panoramic Unidirectional and Panoramic
Exposure time Short Generally long
Radiographic contrast High Low
Initial Low High
Cost Repair & Low High
Maintenance
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Checking and maintaining x and
gamma ray devices- Film Viewer

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CHECKING AND MAINTAINING X AND
GAMMA RAY DEVICES- Densitometer

Density Step Tablet

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CHECKING AND MAINTAINING X
AND GAMMA RAY DEVICES
X-ray machines are for the most part liable to the following
defects;
• burn out or loss of vacuum in tube,
• focal point changes,
• reduction of radiation efficiency,
• cable or connector faults
• faults on controls,
• cooling systems.

Whereas most defects cause immediate system shut down

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 CHECKING AND MAINTAINING X
AND GAMMA RAY DEVICES
• The most important checks of X ray machine (if oil or water
cooling system) are checking the oil fill level or the cooling
water, bleeding the cooling pipes.
• Should the power supply fail at the control panel, then one
should check not only the power plug and cable but also the
equipment fuses.
• Whereas most defects cause immediate system shut down
• Changes of the focal point or radiation efficiency are most
difficult to detect. These can happen suddenly, e.g. through
displacement of the cathode coil .
• The energy distribution of the spectrum can be checked by
taking radiographs of wedges, obviously under set conditions, in
that one compares the contrast of the various steps with one
15 February, 2023 61
another.
 CHECKING AND MAINTAINING X
AND GAMMA RAY DEVICES
• In the case of gamma devices the check and maintenance
procedures arc mainly limited to the remote handling
systems and locks etc., and on the radiation protection
provided
• Cables, guide tubes, bearing surfaces etc. must be regularly
cleaned and lubricated. A frequent cause of malfunction arc
cables or guide tubes) being bent too sharply causing sticking
of the source holder.

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