Component Damage By XRay

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Would comment extensively on the following? The xray equi... - Jun 18, 2001 by davef OnBoard Forums

Dave: You pose a very good question. We have been in the e... - Jun 18, 2001 by OnBoard Forums

davef

#6950

Component Damage By XRay | 18 June, 2001

Would comment extensively on the following?

The xray equipment vendors have told me that xray tubes that are less than 100kV have a very low probability of damaging components. Note the "very low probability" statement - they have not seen any customer issues with xray damage but they also can't totally rule out the possibility of damage. We have been using xray equipment with a 52kV tube and we have yet to have a xray damage issue.

I've been searching to try and find something that talks specifically about possible damage from x-ray inspection and I'm hitting a silent wall. However, there's tons of information about radiation damage to electronics in space. From reading some of it, there's no question that x-ray radiation can degrade and damage electronic components. The question is how much radiation does it take to damage something.

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Gil Zweig

#6962

Component Damage By XRay | 18 June, 2001

Dave: You pose a very good question. We have been in the electronics x-ray inspection business for 18-1/2 years and, to date, we have not received a single report of damage associated with x-ray exposure. However... we do see signs of long term x-ray effects such as discoloration of glass and plastics. You can see the effect of the ionizing noise of the x-rays on CCD cameras. I dont know if the jury is in on the effect of high kV x-rays on electronic components.

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