Circular Imaging of Element Distribution Using Improved Surface Adaptive Micro X‐Ray Fluorescence Scanner

Abstract

ABSTRACT Micro X‐ray fluorescence (μXRF) is an important non‐destructive analysis method in many fields, capable of obtaining the element distribution in the surface of objects. However, conventional μXRF equipment can only perform two‐dimensional XRF imaging for flat objects. To enable the scanning of objects with irregular surfaces, we have previously developed a surface adaptive μXRF scanner. Using a depth camera to capture the contours of objects and a robotic arm as the motion device, the system can automatically scan any objects with irregular surfaces and generate three‐dimensional elemental distribution images in the form of point clouds. Nevertheless, certain specialized objects, such as cylindrical items, require 360° scanning to obtain complete surface elemental information, which cannot be achieved with currently developed scanning modes of this system. For such objects, we designed a circular scanning mode in which the object is placed vertically on a rotating platform for multiple rotations and scans. In the circular scanning experiments, we achieved spatial circular imaging of the cloisonne pen container and porcelain respectively. Through rotation and stitching algorithms, the 360° distribution maps of each element in the form of point clouds were generated. This system innovatively achieved 360° circular imaging of curved objects and significantly expands the applicability of μXRF imaging.