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Computed Tomography (CT) is a well established method for non-destructive reconstruction of an object's interior structures. It is especially well suited for use with e.g. light metal alloys, injection molded plastic components or composite materials. The CT volume data can either be evaluated manually or automatically through the use of image processing software. Recently helical CT has become available for use in industrial quality testing of light alloy cast parts. This paper discusses the use of helical CT as an additional tool for inline inspection in a production environment.

Weight and heat management of performance aluminum alloy pistons leads to complex piston designs that can be difficult to manufacture compared to conventional pistons. In order to verify the casting quality and detect pores, cracks and other defects, the use of X-ray testing methods is inevitable. While automatic 2D X-ray image processing has become a standard quality control method for simple cast parts, 3D volume processing is not yet widely used. The main reason is usually not the cost difference between 2D and 3D X-ray, but rather the processing time required for image acquisition. Compared to often only a few images required to cover a part using 2D X-ray images, a CT reconstruction requires a large number of images to minimize reconstruction artifacts.