Nordson DAGE XD7600NT User manual

DAGE XD7600NT OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
BASIC SAFETY INFORMATION
This equipment generates and uses X-Rays that are harmful to human body. The effects are cumulative
and irreversible. In order to use this tool users are required to take the Basic X-Ray SAFETY course
offered by the Office of Radiological Safety http://www.ors.gatech.edu . (A two hour training program
followed by a test) and complete Form B that will authorize the user to use the equipment.
Symbol Meaning
Indicates that x-rays are emitted when the x-ray tube is energized.
Indicates the presence of high voltages (can cause death or serious injury) within the equipment.
Indicates the presence of poisonous material within the machine.
Shielding methods
The machine is lined with lead or lead glass in all areas where X-rays could otherwise escape through the
cabinet. The thickness of the lead lining varies according to the power of the expected radiation at that
point. A Geiger Muller counter is placed near the glass door, in order to track the amount of radiation
emitted from the tool. The tool is inspected for radiation (leakage) on a regular basis.
Key switch Positions
In the Power Off position, all functions of the machine are disabled. NEVER LEAVE THE KEY
SWITCH AT THIS POSITION
In the Power Enable position, the vacuum pumps and control computer are enabled, but all
motion and X-ray systems are disabled.
In the X-ray Enable position, all functions of the machine become operational.
Front access door
The front door is locked by a latch that is electrically released unless the door release button is clicked.
The interlocks are double-redundant, self-monitoring systems designed for safety.
X-ray warnings
The illuminated x-ray generation warnings on the front of the machine indicate when X-rays have been
requested (yellow), and when they are actually on (red). Red lamps above the rear access panel and at
the top rear corners of each side of the cabinet also indicate when X-rays are on.

OPERATING STEPS INVOLVED
First log in User Name (First Initial, Last Name), time and other details in the excel log sheet on
the desktop.
The green “POWER ON” button must be pressed in. (Starts the x-ray tube vacuum pumps
and powers up the machine electronics, including the control computer and the monitor) NEVER
TURN IT OFF .
Turn the key switch clockwise from Power Enable to X-Ray Enable. .
Double click on the Dage X-ray icon on the desktop to start the application.
Machine Initialization
After a few seconds the Machine Initialization screen will appear. This displays messages showing the
progress of the automatic initialization routine. When the message 'Press OK to Initialize Axes' appears,
click OK to the buttons. The machine will reset the sample manipulator and the image intensifier
mechanisms. This takes around 90 seconds and when complete, the application screen is displayed.
Vacuum Indicator
Whenever you start-up or operate the machine, you should observe the state of the vacuum indicator. The
vacuum level in the tube should reach a satisfactory level indicated by green color.
If the indicator color is red, orange or yellow (signifies no or low vacuum in the X-Ray tube), then the
Machine cannot be used. Please contact staff.
Tube Warm Up
Note the x-ray tube needs high voltage and high vacuum levels in order to operate correctly. Start the tube
warm-up procedure by selecting “Tube/Warm up” from the top menu. This gradually increases the
voltage on the tube to its maximum rating 160 KV, and then eventually drops it to 0 KV, whilst keeping
the filament current at zero. (This typically takes ~ 3 –5 minutes depending on the length of time since
last use.)
Switching of in an Emergency
To switch the machine off in an emergency press the Emergency Stop button and contact staff. This will
shut the machine down instantly and remove power from all components.
LOADING / UNLOADING SAMPLE
Click the door release button at the bottom right corner of the control window to switch off the x-
rays and release the door.
Wait for the sample holder to move to the load position and open the door.

If the door is not opened within 20 seconds, it is automatically re-locked.
Place the sample on the sample holder, 20mm from the front left-hand corner.
Close the front door.
WARNING: THE MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF THE SAMPLE MUST NOT EXCEED 50mm.
Severe damage my result if the limit is exceeded. Please contact staff if your samples are taller than 50
mm.
Sample Specifications
No liquid or powder samples are allowed (unless well sealed in a container) as they may cause
direct damage to the X-Ray tube.
Maximum sample mass is 5 Kg. But there is no restriction on the number of samples that can be
loaded at a single time.
X-rays can be switched on only if the machine door is closed and locked.
Sample Holders
There are currently two types of sample holders.
1) A flat aluminum plate insulated on the underside, with a circular carbon fiber region which is very
transparent to x-rays.
2) A steel plate which will block most of the x-rays and is used only for calibration purposes by staff.
The sample holders fit into the sample manipulator through the machine front door using the two locating
pins. To achieve maximum magnification the feature of interest must be positioned on the carbon fiber
region of the holder and on the side closer to the x-ray tube.
Turning on the X-Rays
The X-ray tube can be turned on using the on/off buttons as shown below.
Power the tube on at a “low” voltage (30 – 60 kV) and power (0.3 –1.0 watts, i.e., 3 –10 on slider).
The status bar and PRE-WARN lamp turn yellow meaning that X-rays are about to be generated.
The status bar and the X-RAY ON lamp will shortly change to red meaning that x-rays are now
generated. There will be a short delay of around 5 seconds until the X-rays start.
The voltage and power indicators will increase to show the actual tube voltage and power levels.
It may take several seconds for an image to appear on the screen.

To Set a Navigation Map
A unique feature of the Dage XD series is the ability to create a navigation "map". The navigation map is
produced using the selected voltage and power settings. It is first necessary to set these to values so the
sample is clearly visible. Now select the “Board Image” tab as shown below. <Inspect> < Board Image>
The map works by taking many pictures of the part, joining them together in a "mosaic". As the
magnification of the part changes with height, tall parts will not be represented with total accuracy and
some of the scans will overlap slightly.
There are two methods available for making the map:-
Scan Board
This searches the sample holder for the sample, starting at the left-front corner. If there are two samples
on the sample holder separated by more than 60mm or so, the machine may miss the second one.
In this case use Scan Full . This will scan the full working area of the machine.
It usually takes a longer time, but always shows everything on the sample holder.
Click the button to add a marker to the navigation map at the center of the image. There is no
limit on the number of markers that can be added to a single map. You may delete makers by clicking
this button
To save the navigation map with markers click on .
Now the map is made, double-click(left) on a point of interest on the map.
The machine manipulator will move to that point. To adjust the brightness of the picture, slide the
<Power> control to the left or right to decrease or increase the brightness. There is a delay of few
seconds before the image stabilizes.
Moving the picture around using the mouse & Zooming
Point the mouse to a feature of interest and double click (left) to move it to the center of the screen.
Press and drag the left mouse button to move the feature in the main image. Once the area of interest has
been selected, it is possible to zoom to higher magnifications by simply rolling the mouse wheel forward
to increase the magnification (sample holder moves closer to the X_Ray tube) or back to reduce.
Warning : Note every single click/roll/drag of the mouse buttons directly control the sample manipulator
to move in the X, Y and Z axis. Please be very gentle with it and use the mouse one click at a time. The
software will freeze or hang up if you go too fast. Also there is no image processing until the movement is
stopped

ADJUSTING THE SETTINGS FOR BEST IMAGE
There are several machine adjustments that contribute to the final image.
Note : Anytime you want to refresh the image just left click on it..
a) Tube voltage
Start at the lowest voltage and look for the x-ray penetration through the darkest (thickest) part of the
sample. If there is insufficient penetration, then increase the voltage.
b) Tube power
Increase the power as far as possible whilst ensuring that no part of the image is saturated.
Noise reduction
Noise in the image is an inherent part of X-ray imaging due to the nature of the x-rays and the imaging
devices used. Noise in a picture is often made worse by image enhancement because defects, like noise
are often very slight changes in intensity, and the system cannot distinguish between them in the picture.
c) Image averaging
A live picture from the image intensifier is usually noisy, but this can be substantially reduced by
averaging over a number of picture frames. Higher numbers give smoother images, but require more
time. Typically, 32 pictures are averaged. However, when working on very low contrast images, maybe at
high magnification, averages can be made of up to 1024 pictures.
Note: The system will always wait until the average image is made before applying any image
enhancements. If an average of 128 pictures or greater is selected you will have to wait till the progress
indicator turns green.
d) Enhancing the contrast
Most images will look better when the brightness and contrast are adjusted. “Contrast stretching” is one
of the most useful tools for revealing part defects. Press the <Stretch Contrast> button
Use the sliders on the left of the screen.
Adjust the white level to enhance darker tones and lose light detail.
Adjust the black level to enhance lighter tones and lose dark detail.
Adjust the 50% gray level (gamma) to enhance lighter or darker tones without losing detail

Initially an automatic adjustment is made which makes the darkest part of the picture black, and the
lightest white. Anytime you want to revert back to the unprocessed image, press the <Stretch Contrast>
button again.
e) Image processing
Select the “Image enhancement” tab to set up the choice of enhancement
Then click on the Image Enhance button
Each filter can also be applied at different strengths by the use of the strength slider.
f) Colored images
The machine can convert the black and white image to a false color image. Press the <Pseudo color>
button . Use <Stretch contrast> to change the gray level and hence the color representation.
g) 3-D images
The machine can convert an image into a 3-D contour drawing. The height of the part depends on the
amount of X-rays absorbed. Press the <Pseudo 3-D> button .
f) Negative Images
It is sometimes useful to view the X-ray image in inverse at the click of a button.
Note some of the buttons on the inspect screen have colored status lamps. These indicate whether the
selected process is waiting or complete. Yellow means wait. Green means complete.
VIEWING AT AN ANGLE
One of the most useful features of the XD series machines is the ability to view at an angle of up to
67 degrees anywhere on the part and at any magnification.
The object of interest will stay in the picture provided the height has been set. Choose a part to view at
low magnification. Left click anywhere on the “dartboard” to change the angle of view, you may also
click on the green buttons for an overhead view. The red cross shows the current view position.

You can also set a viewing angle by going to the <Inspect> <Measure> tab from the top menu (ruler like
icon) and selecting a view angle (0 to 67), and an orbit angle (0 to 360 degrees).
Setting the height
The magnification of a part depends on how close it is to the x-ray tube. Parts on the top of your sample
will appear smaller than those on the bottom. As many parts of differing heights may be visible at any
time the machine needs to know the height of the part of interest, to correctly measure sizes, calibrate the
ruler below the image and also to ensure that the area of interest stays in the field of view while viewing
at an angle.
To set the part height -
a) Use lower magnification and ensure the item of interest is clearly visible.
b) Click the “Set Height” button.
c) Find a feature at the height required that will be clearly visible from all angles, preferably a vertical or
corner feature.
d) Left click as precisely as possible on this point.
e) The machine will gradually increase the angle of view asking for a confirming click each time on the
part.
f) On the final (seventh) click the machine will have calculated the height of the part.
The height is now set, and will be valid for any part at the same height.
Setting an orbit
The system allows for a live view while the detector orbits around your point of interest at a set oblique
angle.
1. Select the desired oblique angle.
2. Select the direction of orbit.
3. Select the orbit speed, 1 = slowest to 9 = fastest.
Now click the orbit button to start and stop orbiting. Note during orbiting most of the system controls
will be disabled.
Labeling the Image
Select the “Annotate” tab, under <Inspect> in the top Menu.
To highlight a point of interest left click on the pin icon and drag it onto the image.
To delete the arrow just click the pin symbol again.
You can choose the direction of the arrows and add up to 9 callouts to an image before saving it.
Saving the Image
Press the “Save image with call-outs” button.

Will save as an image file with the callouts, the dartboard showing the angle and magnification used,
also shows the navigation map as a reference with the current settings of voltage, power and frame
averaging.
Topics- Not completed!
Measurements Tab
Video Savings
Taking sample out, switching of the tool properly and completing the user log, copying the saved files (no
flash drives only email).