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Overview

Identifying defects in prototypes, manufacturing processes, and lifecycle analyses is critical to product development. Voyager can help you find and analyze crack, leak, and surface defects accurately and quickly so that you get better products to market faster and in a more cost-effective manner. Cracks refer to fractures, fissures, or discontinuities within a material, often resulting from structural failures, impact damage, or lifecycle wear and tear. Surface voids and pitting manifest as small, localized depressions or cavities on the surface of a material. These voids typically result from various forms of deterioration, corrosion, mechanical damage, or manufacturing process issues. Leaks refer to unintended pathways through which a substance, such as a fluid or gas, escapes from a sealed or contained system that has been improperly designed, manufactured, damaged, or worn. Cracks, surface voids, and leaks arise in various forms and sizes, ranging from visible macroscopic fissures to microscopic hairline fractures and surface deformations not visible to the naked eye. These defects can compromise a part or assembly’s structural integrity, performance, functionality, appearance, or structural integrity – which may lead to reliability and safety issues.

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Crack Detection Setup

Running Crack Detection requires access to the Integrity Analysis within Voyager. The process works similarly to how Porosity Analysis runs. You will:
  1. Select a volume (reconstruction or ROI) to run the analysis on and click on “Cracks” in the top toolbar. Alternatively, you can first select “Cracks” and then choose a volume.
  2. Set a crack threshold on the volume. When selecting a threshold, verify that one or more cracks are visible when scrubbing through the 2D slices (you can switch cardinal X, Y, Z axis views). As you adjust the threshold, cracks that maintain a blue color – versus a gray or black color – are more likely to be detected.***
  3. Set a max crack diameter to detect. Cracks with a surface diameter smaller than this value will be surfaced once the analysis has been run. While measurement tools in this workflow do not yet exist, it is often helpful to zoom into a crack and use the measurement bar in the top left corner of the viewer to estimate the max crack diameter.
  4. Click on “Submit” to run the analysis. You will receive a notification within the project once the analysis has been completed so that you can view the results. Alternatively, you can safely close the project – while the analysis runs in the background – and return later. You need not wait for an analysis to completely process before running another!
*** The appropriate threshold for your analysis will depend on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) scan settings, ROI configuration, and crack geometry. Narrower cracks are more effectively highlighted with a higher threshold, whereas wider cracks can typically be identified with a lower threshold.

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Analyzing Results

Once Voyager has run Crack Detection, you will find the analysis in the Data Panel on the left, nested under the volume on which it was run. Familiar tools like cropping, appearance and opacity, and slice axes function in the same manner as in other environments. To view results:
  1. Select the desired Crack Detection from the listed objects in the Data Panel.
  2. Select the desired view (3D view, 2D cardinal axes) from the dropdowns. Views can be cross-linked such that clicking on a crack, leak, or surface void in 3D takes you to the proper 2D slice, and vice versa. This is typically most effective in split views but can also be accomplished within a singular viewport.
  3. Clicking on a given crack, leak, or surface void provides “Selected Crack Metrics” about that individual’s size, shape, and location.
  4. Bulk metrics are available in table format for the entire volume.
  5. Modify the “Data Map” as needed to highlight or exclude specific crack, leak, and surface void size ranges.
  6. Use the “Limit to Range” feature to update the bulk metrics to clip down to the selected range in the Data Map, and toggle back and forth to see how the selection compares to the global calculation.
  7. Click on Download if you want to download a .csv file with crack, leak, and surface void data for further analysis.
Note: if you are experiencing viewport performance issues when visualizing a high number of cracks, surface voids, or leaks, consider reducing the viewport resolution (in the “Settings” button) or the Data Map range.