Types of Scans
A collection is a group of files that are generated by acquiring data from the A/D boards. A collection can contain raw waveform data, processed features, annotations, and other related data.
The act of creating a collection is called a scan. Different scan types are named for the way in which the data is collected: in a 2-D raster scan, a rotational motion, or single A-Scans at a time.
Linear
See: Linear Scans
A Linear Scan collection uses 3 axes of linear motion, where each axis is perpendicular to the others. The axis along which data is collected is called the Scan Axis, the axis that moves to the next scan line is called the Step Axis, and the axis that controls the distance from the transducer to the part is called the Focus Axis.
Typically, the Scan, Step, and Focus axes will be named X-Axis, Y-Axis, and Z-Axis, respectively.
Note: axis names are defined in Motors.xml
Tray
See: Tray Scans
Like a Linear scan, a Tray scan uses three axes of motion. Instead of a single part, an array of parts are scanned simultaneously. Each feature of each part is stored individually. All the results can be displayed simultaneously or a single part can be viewed for close analysis.
A tray scan will discard data between parts on the scan axis, and will also skip any data lines between parts on the step axis. A tray scan on a regular grid of parts can therefore be more efficient than scanning the entire tray in one image.
Rotational (ODIS-NDT Only)
See: Rotational Scans
A rotational scan is done using a Turntable or other axis with 360° continuous motion. One (or more) axes are use to move the transducer along the part every 360°.
The scan collection data is displayed as a large rectangle (i.e. an "unrolled cylinder"), but can be displayed in a Polar plot if desired.
Note: Rotational scans are only available in Advanced Mode.
Advanced Scanning Modes
More advanced scan techniques include Patch Scans, Sub-BScans, Skip-and-Scan, and Point Scans.