TY - JOUR A1 - Kolkoori, Sanjeevareddy A1 - Wrobel, Norma A1 - Hohendorf, Stefan A1 - Redmer, Bernhard A1 - Ewert, Uwe T1 - Mobile high-energy X-ray radiography for nondestructive testing of cargo containers N2 - Radiologic evaluation techniques are nondestructive testing (NDT) used to detect the bulk of explosives and contraband materials in large objects. As compared to conventional low-energy (<450 key) X-ray imaging, high-energy (>1 MeV) digital X-ray radiography is required for the NOT of large containers because of the need for high penetration through thick materials, sensitivity, and the ability to distinguish between low-and high-Z materials. Mobile, high-energy, and high-resolution radiologic techniques are useful to detect contraband and threat materials in digital radiographic images of containers with complex packing. This paper presents a mobile, high-energy X-ray radiographic technique for the in-field nondestructive inspection of cargo containers. The developed experimental technique consisted of a betatron as a high-energy (7.5 MeV) X-ray source and a high-resolution (400 mu m) matrix detector for the digital X-ray imaging. In order to evaluate the detection efficiency and image quality of the measurement technique, a test specimen was proposed that was made of a 3 mm thick steel container with an inner dimension of 60 x 30 x 40 cm(3) comprising different low-and high-Z materials. Image quality indicators were used to assess the essential image quality parameters such as image basic spatial resolution, effective attenuation coefficient, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Experimental investigations were performed on a 6.1 m sea freight container with mockup dangerous materials in complex packing. Preliminary experimental results showed that the proposed technique was able to distinguish between liquids and solids, as well as detect contraband materials. Furthermore, a remarkable SNR of 400 was achieved in the measured digital X-ray images. The influence of temperature on X-ray radiation dose rate at different X-ray energies was also investigated. Finally, important applications of the proposed technique in the context of maritime security are discussed. KW - Nondestructive testing KW - NDT KW - Digital radiography KW - High-energy X-ray imaging KW - Betatron KW - Digital detector arrays KW - Container inspection KW - Contraband detection KW - Image quality KW - SNR PY - 2015 SN - 0025-5327 VL - 73 IS - 2 SP - 175 EP - 185 PB - Society for Nondestructive Testing CY - Columbus, Ohio AN - OPUS4-32521 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kolkoori, Sanjeevareddy A1 - Wrobel, Norma A1 - Redmer, Bernhard A1 - Ewert, Uwe T1 - Mobile high-energy X-ray inspection of cargo containers with complex scenarios: results of the SEFLOG project N2 - The research and development (R&D) in the field of safety and security of sea-freight Containers has gained more importance after the U.S. house resolution 1 (H.R.1). According to this law, all the freight Containers which are transported from non-U.S. port of origin to U.S. ports should be inspected 100% against explosive and contraband materials using non-intrusive imaging equipment and radiation detectors. As the port of Hamburg and Bremerhaven are the leading Container ports in Europe, it is essential to develop reliable and high-resolution detection technologies for the non-destructive inspection of large sea-freight Containers. T2 - Future Security 2014 - 9th Future security research conference CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 16.09.2014 KW - High-energy X-ray imaging KW - Digital detector arrays KW - Container inspection KW - Contraband detection KW - Image quality PY - 2014 SN - 978-3-8396-0778-7 SP - 591 EP - 594 AN - OPUS4-32238 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kolkoori, Sanjeevareddy A1 - Wrobel, Norma A1 - Hohendorf, Stefan A1 - Ewert, Uwe T1 - High energy X-ray imaging technology for the detection of dangerous materials in air freight containers N2 - In the context of the German aviation security research and development project SILUFRA (secure air freight transport chains), BAM has developed a high-resolution and high-energy X-ray imaging technology for the reliable detection of dangerous and illicit materials in densely packed air freight containers. In the developed technology, a novel combination of high-energy (2-7.5 MeV) X-ray betatron as the radiation source and a high-resolution digital detector array (DDA) for the X-ray imaging was utilized to improve the probability of detecting contraband and explosive materials by enhancing the spatial and contrast resolution in the digital X-ray image. In addition, flexible rotations of the high-energy X-ray source and the digital detector array can lead to clarify the suspicious region of interest (ROI) in air freight containers efficiently. Thus, reduces the false alarm rates and the need for expensive manual inspections of the whole container load. In order to evaluate the detection efficiency, we carried out the experimental investigations on a real air freight container loaded with typical cargo materials such as heavy automobile components and electronic products as well as mock-up dangerous and contraband materials. Furthermore, the material discrimination in the radiographic images was evaluated based on the dual high-energy X-ray imaging method. Finally, important applications of the proposed imaging technology to the air cargo security are discussed T2 - 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST) CY - Waltham, MA, USA DA - 14.04.2015 KW - High-energy X-ray imaging KW - Betatron KW - Digital detector array (DDA) KW - Container inspection KW - Spatial resolution PY - 2015 SN - 978-1-4799-1736-5 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/THS.2015.7225328 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - IEEE AN - OPUS4-34025 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kolkoori, Sanjeevareddy A1 - Wrobel, Norma A1 - Deresch, Andreas A1 - Redmer, Bernhard A1 - Ewert, Uwe T1 - Dual high-energy X-ray digital radiography for material discrimination in cargo containers N2 - In this contribution, we present a dual high-energy X-ray imaging technique for cargo container inspection using the 'spectral high-energy X-ray attenuation method'. This method is based on attenuation of continuous highenergy spectra. The developed experimental technique consists of a betatron as high-energy (up to 7.5 MeV) X-ray source and a matrix detector with high spatial resolution (400 ìm) for digital X-ray imaging. In order to evaluate the material discrimination capability using dual high-energy X-ray imaging, a test specimen is proposed, comprising step wedges of different low and high atomic number (Z) materials. The selected X-ray spectra for the dual-energy experiments correspond to 3 MV and 7.5 MV acceleration potential of the betatron. We evaluated the ratio between low- and high-energy X-ray attenuation coefficients quantitatively based on simulated poly-energetic high-energy X-ray source spectra and the detector sensitivity using the 'analytical Radiographic Testing inspection simulation tool' (aRTist) developed at BAM. The simulated effective attenuation coefficients are compared with corresponding experimental results in order to establish a method for identification of low- and high-Z materials in the container. Finally, important applications of the proposed technique in the context of aviation security are discussed. T2 - ECNDT 2014 - 11th European conference on non-destructive testing CY - Prague, Czech Republic DA - 06.10.2014 KW - Digital radiography KW - NDT KW - High-energy X-ray imaging KW - Betatron KW - Digital detector array (DDA) KW - Container inspection KW - Material discrimination KW - Effective attenuation coefficient PY - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-322394 UR - https://www.ndt.net/?id=16430 SN - 1435-4934 VL - 19 IS - 12 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - NDT.net CY - Kirchwald AN - OPUS4-32239 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -