Seam welds quality control improvement using method of pseudo-color coding images

Abstract

The method of seam welds quality control using X-ray is considered. The X-ray methods of control are based on the capability of gamma radiation to penetrate through a metal including welded areas. Regions having defects - pores, faulty welds, cracks, scale inclusions - look darker on images. Appearance, linear dimensions and depths of the defects usually are determined by a visual examination comparing the X-ray image with standard defects images. It is known that a human eye can distinguish not more than 12-15 shades on a black and white image but more than a hundred on a colored image. The paper considers possibilities of the developed method by the author and based on the optical mixing of two or three complementary colors - red, blue and green. The method can use only one pair of the colors at a time, i.e. it is possible to have three various pairs for a pseudo-color image. The obtained pseudo-color image has the same informational capacity as the original black and white image. But the greater fraction of the saved information becomes available for visual examination of the X-ray image. In the end the efficiency of the seam weld quality control increases.