High-resolution and high-speed CT in industry and research

The application of industrial CT covers many orders of magnitude of object sizes, ranging from freight containers (few meters) down to liquid foams (i.e. for food industry) or even parts of insects which are only several hundreds of micrometers in size. Similarly, the specifications for acquisition speed extend over some orders of magnitude, from hours to sub-second CT. We present the current technology in terms of X-ray sources and detectors, along with numerous applications from industry and materials research: e.g. industrial high-speed CT of car pistons, in situ micro-CT of milk foam decay at micrometer spatial resolution and 8 s scan time, as well as ex situ scans of tensile tested Nickel-alloys. The Fraunhofer Development Center X-ray Technology (Fürth, Germany) and the Chair of X-ray Microscopy (University Würzburg, Germany) are currently working on extending the technological limits, demonstrated, e,g. by the development of advanced X-ray detectors or a new inho use CT system which comprises a high-brilliance liquid metal jet anode.