Baugh & Weedon announces exclusive distribution partnership for Xpress Flex
21/03/2024
Baugh & Weedon has announced that it has entered into an exclusive distribution partnership for the innovative Xpress Flex digital radiography (DR) panel from 3E NDT. The Xpress Flex bendable DR panel is claimed to be the world’s first flexible digital X-ray detector that can be contoured around an object for direct contact of the imaging area.
An innovative hinged design allows the thin-film transistor (TFT) detector to move freely around contours without impacting image quality or product durability. This flexibility means the detector can be shaped around more complex objects, eliminating distortion that can come from using a flat DR panel. A current 3E NDT customer described the panel as ‘amazing’ and said: “We were able to do the required seven shots of a five mile-long 16" pipe in only three minutes.”
Until the release of the Xpress Flex bendable DR panels, industrial radiographic testing (RT) for pipelines and tanks has generally been performed using conventional X-ray film or flexible imaging plates (computed radiography (CR)) due to the curved inspection surface. Ultimately, this can lengthen the imaging time required and add ‘elements of inconvenience’ to the image processing
procedure.
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| The Xpress Flex flexible DR panel, available from Baugh & Weedon, can be wrapped around an object for optimal contact across the area of interest |
The Xpress Flex bendable DR panel series eliminates image distortion of curved targets, such as pipe or tanks, which is the biggest limitation of ordinary digital flat-panel detectors. Moreover, it supports both wired/wireless operations and its slimline, lightweight and highly durable build meets the needs of the non-destructive testing market and makes working with it in the field very easy. The thin-film transistor detectors are rugged and sensitive enough to capture images using even low exposures. Isotopes with low curies (less than 30) still produce weld quality images on the Xpress Flex, allowing operators to keep sources longer and reduce exclusion zones dramatically.
