X-ray measurement of material properties in composites

This paper describes the utility of an X-ray based technique for the quantitative determination of the levels of porosity in several classes of materials; reinforcement content, metal matrix fiber, and the detection of process control problems in metal matrix composites, and the determination of the morphology of the flaw. The experimental configuration consists of a stationary X-ray source and a scintillation detector shielded to protect the detector from the scattered radiation, collimated to define a pencil beam of radiation. Results are comparable or better than the measurements by other techniques, at least in the examples where data for both techniques are available. 8 refs