In-line density measurement system using X-ray Compton scattering

Abstract A density measurement system based on X-ray Compton scattering has been constructed. Intended to be installed on an industrial production line, this computer-controlled system measures automatically the local density (within a few mm 3 ) of the middle products of powder metallurgy (green state). The measurement is nondestructive and is made from a single side of the sample. An industrial X-ray tube and a multihole collimator allow a measurement time of 40 s with an accuracy of better than 1%, for products obtained after compression of iron powder and whose density ranges from 6 to 7.3 g cm −3 .