How Are PCBs Inspected Through Automated X-Ray? - Miracle Aerospace

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Automated X-ray Inspection, or AXI in short, is a
technology that works just similar to automated
optical inspection where X-rays are uses as the
source, instead of visible light, to
automatically inspect features that are normally
hidden from view. The technology is used in a
variety of applications where two main goals need
to be achieved process optimization and
anomaly detection. The most common industries
that use AXI include medical, aerospace, and
industrial control.
How does the AXI work? Just like in the case of
an optical inspection, an X-ray inspection also
produces images of an object, which are then
processed by image processing software to detect
the position, size, and shape of the expected
features. With this, the presence or absence of
unexpected objects and features is also detected.
A detector is placed at the other end of the
X-ray emitter that converts X-rays into visible
light that can create an optical image to be
picked up by a camera, or into sensor arrays
that convert the X-rays into an electronic image.
The image is produced due to the different
absorption of X-rays when passing through the
object, which reveals the structures inside the
object that are otherwise hidden from view. Here,
it is important to understand that different
materials absorb X-rays differently. This is
because every material absorbs X-rays
proportional to their atomic weight, and
depending upon their atomic number, density,
and thickness. Generally, heavy materials absorb
more X-rays and are easily images, while lighter
materials are more transparent to X-rays.
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How is a PCB inspected through AXI? In this blog,
we will understand how AXI has been used widely
and popularly to inspect a PCB assembly from
India. Traditionally, automated optical
inspection has been used to inspect PCBs. But
this was because earlier PCBs had visible joints.
However, many PCBs being produced today dont
have visible solder connections. This has given
rise to the need for greater number of
interconnections to integrated packages, thus
increasing complexity. This is why AXI is now
being popularly used as it can not only check the
solder joints under components, but can also
reveal many defects in the solder joints that may
not be visible with optical inspection
equipment. Another added benefit with this kind
of inspection is that both 2D and 3D technologies
are available that brings significant
improvements in performance! AXI technologies
are able to monitor a variety of aspects of a PCB
assembly production. They are not only able to
see through the components, but are also able to
provide an internal view of solder joints, which
helps to detect voids with the joints that may
otherwise look perfectly alright. This means that
AXI systems can provide additional information
over what can be provided by purely optical
systems to ensure that solder joints are being
made to the required standard by minimizing the
defects, thus improving the quality and
performance. In addition, the entire production
process that follows can be altered to reduce
fault levels on the boards. In this way, the
highest standards are maintained to bring up
optimized and processed new boards in the
future. To have the best quality 100 tested PCB
for your application, you can get in touch with
Miracle Aerospace. Here, you will be provided
with PCBs that are manufactured not only with
the best resources and a dedicated quality
assurance process, but that are also
tested completely through both automated and
semi-automated systems to provide you with the
finest quality error-free PCB assembly from India.