Welcome to Lumafield: X-Ray Vision for Engineers

Quickly compare your manufactured parts to their original design, inside and out.

Nearly every modern product begins its life as a computer-aided design (CAD) file. The difference between this digital design and the physical finished product is at the heart of the product development process. Innumerable manufacturing variables stand between an engineer’s idea and her factory’s output, and linking these variables to outcomes occupies entire engineering professions.

We’re excited to offer a tool that will give engineers deeper insight into the obstacles that stand between them and their vision: CAD Comparison, which we’re introducing this month, makes it easy to see how a physical object diverges from its original design. CT scans can capture both visible and invisible features in a 3D model; by overlaying a CAD file, we’re able to compute deviation from the design and visualize it using color maps.

CAD Comparison is an essential tool for delivering high-quality molded, cast, and 3D printed parts; it instantly reveals signs of warping and tool wear, making it easy to tune design and manufacturing parameters. It can quickly detect flawed manufacturing steps, highlighting machined and stamped features that are misplaced or missing. And it’s an invaluable tool for failure analysis, pinpointing broken parts and capturing deflection.

Running a CAD comparison takes just a few minutes on Lumafield’s accessible industrial CT platform. The process begins with our easy-to-use Neptune CT scanner—a machine designed to work in an ordinary office or workshop environment, equipped with automated scan configuration tools. Lumafield’s cloud-based Voyager analysis software accepts mesh files exported from any CAD software, guides the user through an alignment process, and visualizes the divergence between the CAD file and the scanned part.

The entire process runs in a web browser, taking just minutes to handle analysis that would otherwise require days of imprecise and expensive article inspection. Our CAD Comparison tools accelerate design iterations, reduce scrap, and cut costs; helping designers and engineers make data-driven decisions that go beyond calipers and 2D drawings.

Contact us for a live demo of Lumafield’s CAD Comparison tools.

Introduction to the Lumafield Neptune CT Scanner: Size, Installation, and Safety

Setting up a CT Scan with the Lumafield Neptune

Orienting and Fixturing Parts for CT Scanning

Sign up for a free Voyager account, and get instant access to real CT data.

Creating Custom Views and Regions of Interest

Using Linear and Radial Measurements with CT Scans

Learn how to get started with X-ray computed tomography using Lumafield's Neptune CT scanner and Voyager analysis software

CT 101: Introduction to Computed Tomography with Lumafield

Batteries and electronics are more important than ever before. They’ve already fueled the mobile revolution, and now they’re poised to transform the transportation industry and the power grid. With Lumafield's Neptune CT scanner and Voyager analysis software, it's fast and easy to inspect batteries, assemblies, BGA circuits, and wiring without destroying prototypes and products.

Inspect batteries before they go out to consumers, and stop invisible problems from becoming full-blown disasters.

Easily identify bad coils, faulty pads, and solder defects before shipping your product to prevent hazardous and costly recalls.

Clearly visualize the interaction between electronic components and the enclosures and fasteners around them. Resolve conflicts and improve ventilation.

Reach out to our team to learn how Lumafield’s accessible industrial CT technology can work for you.

Industrial CT lets engineers see their work in tremendous detail, both inside and out. Lumafield's Neptune scanner and Voyager visualization software solve critical problems in a range of industries and allow you to take product development to the next level.

Inspect batteries, assemblies, circuits, and wiring without destroying prototypes.

Accelerate medical device product development and fine-tune your manufacturing processes.

Scan assembled consumer packaging to inspect seals, snap fits, and material integrity in situ.

Save time and cost while breaking new ground on performance athletic equipment.

Take control of your automotive supply chain and adopt new technologies with confidence.

Cross-section samples and automatically identify manufacturing flaws.

Lumafield’s Voyager software offers advanced dimensioning tools that allow you to take measurements of small and impossible-to-reach internal parts. Use CAD Comparison to investigate deviations from your original design. Scan-to-scan comparison makes it easy to analyze manufacturing performance across batches.

Upload and overlay your CAD file to compare parts to your original designs.

Check a product's internal dimensions that are inaccessible to traditional measurement techniques.

Compare one scan with another to detect drift and ensure consistent production.

Industrial CT gives engineers the power to identify and fix a wide variety of problems that would otherwise be hidden. Compared to conventional destructive testing methods, CT can be faster, less expensive, and more repeatable. It also offers deeper insights by making it possible to cross-section a single sample on multiple planes, and it can automatically identify manufacturing flaws like voids and pores.

Find pores, voids, and cracks before they lead to part failures. Tune casting and molding processes to guarantee material integrity.

Ensure your product adheres to the highest standards of quality by identifying and correcting failures early on.

Use CAD comparison to evaluate parts against your original designs. Inspect at high volumes using automated check gauges.

Medical devices need to perform perfectly every time. When they don’t, they put lives at risk and trigger recalls that cost manufacturers over $5 billion annually. Industrial CT accelerates medical device product development, helps you fine-tune your manufacturing processes, and allows you to ship with peace of mind. 

Inspect O-rings, confirm thread engagement, and pinpoint leaks in situ, while critical seals are engaged.

Investigate mechanical issues, such as misalignment, breakages, spring deformation, and faulty parts.

Use advanced dimensioning tools to take precise internal measurements of hard-to-reach components.

In everything from consumer packaging to medical devices, the integrity of seals is paramount to product performance. With industrial CT, you can pinpoint leaks in situ and quickly identify their source. 

Catch design and manufacturing problems like poorly-sized gaskets without disassembly.

Analyze thread engagement to reduce spoilage and returns by identifying misaligned, poor fitting, and broken internal components.

Determine leak sources and work backwards to iterate on your prototype.

Industrial CT gives engineers the power to look inside complex products without disassembling them or cutting them open. Compared to conventional destructive testing methods, CT can be faster, less expensive, and more repeatable, and it’s ideal for inspecting features that are only present in assembled products, like component alignment, spring deformation, and adhesive distribution.

Catch invisible, internal errors with CT inspection before they’re replicated in manufacturing.

Verify minimum clearance distances between critical parts of your assembly.

Ensure that all interlocking parts of your complex devices fit together as intended.

Ensure your product’s material integrity with Lumafield’s automated analysis tools. Industrial CT offers deeper insights than conventional destructive testing by making it possible to cross-section a single sample on multiple planes. Lumafield helps you save time and reduce scrap with powerful automated tools that identify voids, pores, inclusions, and welding flaws.

Locate unwanted contaminants in your parts with Lumafield’s automated material integrity tools.

Find invisible cracks by reviewing cross-sections of your parts–without cutting them open.

Detect voids and pores that compromise material integrity and lead to part failures.

Industrial CT solves a wide range of design and manufacturing challenges in consumer packaging, allowing you to fine-tune your designs and ship products with confidence. Find tooling errors and undesired voids. Scan assembled products to inspect seals, snap fits, and material integrity in situ.

Identify and correct problems with part fit and interaction that lead to malfunctions and leaks.

Pinpoint voids, pores, and inclusions in your plastic or metal packaging to prevent recalls.

Detect leaks, inspect O-rings, and evaluate thread engagement while seals are engaged.

New manufacturing technologies require new inspection methods to make sure you’re delivering parts that will perform. Lumafield’s CT platform gives you the tools to validate, characterize, and manage new manufacturing processes and ensure that they meet your requirements.

Easily examine invisible features of lattices and internal channels in high performance geometries.

Fine-tune your designs with advanced materials like carbon fiber and titanium. Perform impact testing and check material integrity.

Push the limits of your designs, then investigate wear patterns, material friction, and mobility challenges without slicing your product in half.

Consumer expectations for athletic equipment have never been higher. In every sport from golf and tennis to football and ice hockey, equipment manufacturers are turning to advanced design and fabrication technologies to give their customers an edge. With industrial CT, engineers working on performance athletic equipment can examine intact prototypes and share scans with coworkers and suppliers, saving time and cost while breaking new ground with their products.

Push the limits on advanced materials like carbon fiber and titanium. Automatically find pores, voids, and cracks, and assess product performance in extreme conditions.

Investigate wear patterns and material interaction without slicing your product in half.

Verify the construction of complex assemblies and ship high-performance products that meet and exceed expectations.

Do you recognize this object from a CT scan? You probably have one in your purse or wallet right now. The chip and outline give it away: it’s a contactless credit card. 

Contactless payment is powered by RFID (Radio-frequency identification) technology and near-field communication (NFC). When you hold your card close—usually a few inches or so—to a card reader, its antenna picks up a signal and activates the chip. 

This antenna is the thin copper wire you see in the CT scan that traces three of the card’s sides before coiling around the dual-interface EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) chip. This small network is sandwiched between two exterior sheets of plastic laminated together. Since the antenna covers most of the card’s area, it’s possible that any part of it can actually pick up the frequency—not just the chip as many of us think!

Once activated, the chip generates a one-time cryptographic code and sends it along with your payment information through electromagnetic waves to initiate a transaction. The card reader answers by transmitting this data to the card processing network—for this card, VISA. The network runs a quick fraud screening, and if everything checks out, it pushes the request to the card issuer itself. 

After clearing a few more security hurdles, the card issuer greenlights the transaction and notifies the point-of-sale card reader. This all happens in a matter of seconds, making tap to pay up to ten times faster and more secure than inserting the chip or swiping your card.

Industrial CT helps automotive manufacturers optimize their designs and adopt new technologies with confidence. Take control of your supply chain with quantitative analysis tools like automated porosity detection and digital check gauges to quickly identify parts that don’t meet requirements. Lumafield industrial CT also gives you a powerful new tool to inspect EV batteries at high volume, making it possible to catch invisible flaws before they trigger costly recalls.

Investigate component misalignments and track down missteps on your assembly line.

Take precise internal measurements to confirm that your manufactured parts match design specifications.

Detect and correct invisible welding flaws, voids, and pores to prevent product failure.

Nespresso’s mission has always been to allow anyone to make great coffee without the skills of a barista. But first, they had to figure out the secret to the perfect shot of espresso. Back in 1975, its founder Éric Favre interrogated a barista at Rome’s famous Caffè Sant’Eustachio, asking what they were doing differently to make Italians and tourists alike line up around the block for their coffee. The key turned out to be aeration; the baristas would pump the piston several times in quick succession instead of just the usual once. This brought out the flavors and aromas of the ground coffee beans and ensured a frothy crema on top. Favre’s initial prototype aimed to maximize the air in both the capsule and the water that would pass through it.

Nespresso’s best selling machine of all time is the top-loading Essenza, released in 2004. This holiday season, everyone has the sleek new Essenza Mini on their wishlists. Favre’s original design lives on in this model, and our CT scans illuminate the components of the all-important vibratory pump that injects pressurized hot water into the pod. An electromagnet switches poles 60 times per second, pushing a spring-loaded piston back and forth.

After you load the pod and bring the metal lever down, a sharply pointed spout pierces one end of it, while a waffle-shaped stamp cuts a cross hatch into the foil seal. This extraction chamber is where the magic happens and the espresso develops its character.

We featured the Nespresso Essenza Mini in our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide. Check out CT scans of the other gifts here!

Inside the Nespresso Essenza Mini with CT scans

Everyone needs a printout occasionally. You rush to the office printer to pick it up, only to find that dreaded message: Replace Toner. But should we take the printer’s word for it? Lumafield’s Neptune industrial CT scanner says otherwise.

We grabbed a low toner cartridge from our office printer and popped it into our Neptune scanner. We did the same to a brand new one for comparison. What we found shocked us: not only was the empty one not really empty, but the full cartridge was far from full!

With the help of the automated measurements tool in Voyager—our browser-based industrial CT analysis software—we found that right out of the box, only about 20% of the space inside the cartridge reservoir is occupied by toner. A cartridge deemed "empty" by the printer has only slightly less toner, about 15%. That 5% range seems to represent the entire capacity of the cartridge. But what exactly is inside? 

Whereas inkjet printers spray small drops of liquid ink onto paper, laser printers operate using plastics, electricity, and heat. They project an electrostatic charge onto a printing drum in the pattern of the images or text in the document. Each toner cartridge contains finely granulated plastic powder, which holds a static charge and clings to the oppositely-charged drum. The empty space in the cartridge hopper that we observed in our CT scans may be necessary for this powder distribution step of the process.

Finally, the printing drum transfers the powder to the paper, then hot fuser rolls melt and set it into place.  Remember the warmth of a freshly photocopied page? This process is known as xerography, where Xerox got its name. Even now, a stack hot off the laser printer briefly retains the fuser roll’s heat.

CT scans are able to distinguish materials of different density. As we adjust our visualization in Voyager to isolate only denser materials, the toner powder disappears quickly; it's mostly made of polyester and is much less dense than the cartridge's housing. After we completely exclude the toner, a very small amount of denser powder remains in the visualization. This could be a toner additive or a ferrous developer powder that helps distribute the toner.

Our CT scans transform the toner cartridge into an hourglass, showing powder settled like sand that tells you how much time is left before a replacement is needed. At the same time, we discover why the familiar home remedy of shaking your toner cartridge actually works in bringing it back to life. Once you redistribute the powder, the sensor will see that it’s not quite empty, and you’ll also be able to squeeze a few more pages out of it.

This is just one example of the constantly-expanding applications for industrial CT technology. Engineers at top companies use Lumafield’s Neptune scanner to gain insight into their manufacturing workflows at every stage from research and development to assembly inspection and validation. 

You can explore these and other scans in detail on Voyager. Reach out to our team to learn how Lumafield’s accessible industrial CT technology can work for you.

Speak with an expert to learn how industrial CT can help you improve your product development process and take control of your manufacturing.

Is this toner cartridge half empty or half full?

We’ve all wished our coffee would stay warmer for longer, but the Ember mug takes that dream to a whole new level. Not only does it keep your drink hot, you can set the exact temperature you want using an app on your phone. An LED light will show you when the mug has reached its target temperature, and then the mug can maintain it for up to an hour and half on a single charge (or all day, when sitting on its charging coaster). And once you’re done sipping, you can just pop it into the dishwasher; it’s even safe to submerge in up to three feet of water. With a CT scanner, we can see the impressive electronics that make the Ember Mug so intuitive.

At its base, there are two inductive charging rings that transfer energy from the coaster to the batteries via the circuit board in between.

Two lithium-ion batteries link directly to the heating element that runs along the bottom circumference of the mug. This ring is cleverly embedded in the external layer of the insulated mug wall, heating the drink from the sides rather than the bottom and allowing maximum heat retention on the inner wall. 

We featured the Ember Mug in our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide. Check out CT scans of the other gifts here!

The DJI Mavic Pro Drone is just the right size to throw into a backpack or tote bag. With its wings folded up, it’s no bigger than your hand, and this portability has made the drone a favorite among enthusiasts. Despite its compact size, the DJI Mavic Pro still packs an impressive amount of refined motor and photographic engineering into its lightweight body. The best way to appreciate and better understand DJI’s design is exploring the drone through the eyes of a CT scanner.

Most people will be drawn to the Mavic for its photo and video capabilities. It’s equipped with four cameras (two front-facing and two rear-facing) that help maintain its stability. The fifth main camera offers 12 megapixel still photo resolution and 4K video recording. A bubble dome protects the camera’s gimbal, and three motors control its movement. Our scan shows that one of them is tucked right behind the lens.

A slice view of two of the four main motors shows how much attention was paid to the rotors. We also get a glimpse of how the folded arms work. They each contain a strong but lightweight truss pattern and a power line to each motor. 

The Mavic boasts a redesigned flight battery with a remarkably long life; it can fly for upwards of 25 minutes on a single charge. Any cross section shows that this is only possible because the battery takes up almost half of the total internal space of the drone. If you’re looking to reach speeds of up to 40 mph with the Mavic’s Sport Mode or planning to shoot video all day, you might want to have a few spare batteries on hand—though it does only take about an hour to recharge.

We featured the DJI Mavic Pro Drone in our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide. Check out CT scans of the other gifts here!

Inside the DJI Mavic Pro Drone with CT scans

Adam Savage and the Tested team dropped by Lumafield’s San Francisco office once again, this time to use our Neptune industrial CT scanner to excavate a Mythbusters origin story. 

Our Voyager software combines thousands of x-ray images taken from different angles into a 3D model that allows us to see an object’s structure—both external and internal. Engineers rely on our technology throughout the design and manufacturing process to perfect their products—everything from lithium-ion batteries to medical devices. 

Buster, the “sixth host” of the original Mythbusters—after Adam, Jamie Hyneman, Tory Belleci, Kari Byron, and Grant Imahara—is a Hybrid II crash test dummy designed to measure human reaction to automotive impact. He survived untold abuse and damage over the course of 10 years on the show, beginning with an initial drop from 170 feet when he withstood 700 G of force (seven is enough to kill a person).

“This might be the grossest thing I’ve ever CT scanned” is really saying something coming from Lumafield CEO and co-founder Eduardo Torrealba. Eduardo walked Adam through scans of Buster’s hand and face, then turned to the tech hidden inside a modern crash test dummy. At the end of the episode, Eduardo hands over a special memento: a 3D printed rendition of Buster's face, created from our CT scan, that captures features as small as his improvised stitching.

With CT scanning, we can isolate materials and peel back the vinyl on Buster’s hand to see the steel “bone” underneath. More than the difference in densities between these component parts, our software allows a glimpse at the dummy's manufacturing process, which has changed surprisingly little since the 1970s. A slice view shows exactly how the two elements interact when clamped together. 

Buster’s face, though not a complex mechanical assembly, still tells a story. Adam recalls how Kari Byron sewed the stitches that kept Buster together; with CT, you can see underneath them to fully appreciate her craftsmanship. Crowning Buster’s head is a compacted spot of higher density—evidence of just how many times he’s been dropped on his head.

Adam also shared the small head of a child crash test dummy, an analog to a 10-year-old. Inside a plate on the back of its head, you’d typically find a transducer to measure impacts—likely using a wheatstone bridge with four resistors. In this instrument, three legs of the bridge have set resistance values, but the fourth is a variable resistor. By measuring the change in voltage across the circuits, you can determine how much force the head endures during impact. 

The way Eduardo and Adam examine these components is a lot like how our customers use the Neptune scanner. They want to know if they’re positioning sensors correctly, if their fasteners are screwed in the right way, and if their molding processes are sound. Industrial CT gives engineers the confidence to know exactly what’s there, even down to the smallest stitch.

As a parting gift, we brought Buster back to life. Having extracted STL models from our scan, Eduardo presented Adam with a pair of highly detailed 3D prints of Buster, scars and all. You can learn more about the process of getting from CT scan to 3D print here.

Engineers working on everything from performance athletic equipment to consumer packaging would agree with Adam when he says that “every time I’m looking at one of these scans, it gives me insight.” If you’re interested in exploring how industrial CT can help you develop this unparalleled insight into your application, contact us!

Want to learn how Lumafield can help your team? Contact us to set up a call with an industrial CT expert.

Inside a Mythbusters origin story with Adam Savage

The Dyson Airwrap is an internet sensation, with styling videos on TikTok netting upwards of 4 billion views. It dries and styles hair quickly and safely and is well-suited to a wide range of hair types. Jet engineering allows its heat control and airflow systems to maintain the unit at a temperature below 302° F.

Instead of extreme heat, the Airwrap dries and styles hair by creating a vortex between two high-velocity airstreams. A CT scan slice-view of the handle reveals the path the air takes from the base of the wand to a tiny 13-blade impeller that generates immense pressure by spinning at 110,000 RPM. From there, the air travels through a heating element before funneling into the styling attachment.

Over 200 engineers and scientists at Dyson designed an ingenious system that embraces the Coanda effect—the tendency of a fast, controlled jet of air to attach to a curved surface. Powered by the impeller, fast-moving air escapes from thin slits in each of the eight included attachments and then hugs the barrel to create the vortex that dries hair or creates a curl. Scans reveal the precision engineering of the internal vanes in the brush attachment that guide the air to achieve Dyson’s remarkable results.

We featured the Dyson Airwrap in our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide. Check out CT scans of the other gifts here!

A cooking technique once found only in high-end restaurants has been making its way into the kitchens of more and more home chefs. The Anova Precision Cooker is synonymous with sous vide (pronounced sue-veed and meaning “under vacuum” in French), a process in which food is vacuum sealed in a bag and then cooked at a low temperature for a long time in a circulating water bath. Anova’s temperature controls allow you to consistently cook food to the exact right level of doneness while retaining maximum flavor. CT scans offer insight into how this fine-tuned culinary technology delivers such delicious meals.

The primary internal element is the heating tube, filled with a coiled resistive wire just like you’d find in a hairdryer. Unlike in a hairdryer, this one does not reach extremely high temperatures and is carefully modulated by a feedback system.

The Precision Cooker earns its name from the abundance of sensors packed inside it. Three different tubes contain sensors that ensure the programmed temperature is correctly maintained and does not deviate even slightly from the target. 

A slice view of the motor shows the electromagnet windings inside the immersion circulator that moves the water around the vacuum-sealed food. A skillet or grill cannot compare to this level of control, though many chefs still finish off their steaks with these tried and true methods for the sake of texture and added flavor.

We featured the Anova Precision Cooker Nano in our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide. Check out CT scans of the other gifts here!

Inside the Anova Precision Cooker Nano with CT scans

Kids aren’t the only ones obsessed with Lego. A subset of enthusiasts known as AFOLs (adult fans of Lego) have latched onto collecting minifigures, but these aren’t the basic smiley yellow faces you remember from childhood. As of December 2022, there are 24 groups of strangely specific characters; the latest series includes Rococo Aristocrat, Newspaper Kid, and Carrot Mascot—just to name a few. 

Every series is made up of 12 minifigures, and each comes in a “blind bag” of its own, intended to make a guessing game out of collecting. But superfans have discovered a workaround to ensure they can complete a series without any duplicates. They feel the blind bags to figure which minifigure is inside; some even go so far as to publish “feel guides” online with instructions for determining the identity of the enclosed character based on the shape of their component parts.

Less tactile but 100% accurate, CT scanning can’t be beat for minifigure identification. We scanned a box from Series 23 containing six of the 12 total figures.

Following the lead of the feel guides, we investigate the 3D rendering of the Legos on our Voyager software, looking for the most distinctive and unusually-shaped pieces of the minifigures. From there, we cross-reference the image on the box to make the final identification.

The first bag we see in the scan holds a majorette hat and sword, signature elements of the Nutcracker minifigure. The Sugar Fairy’s tutu and wings could only belong to her. Popcorn Costume’s cloud-like headpiece made him an easy ID. Floating above the lower row of blind bags, the helmet and stick horse were dead giveaways for the Knight of the Yellow Castle. Just underneath her, you’ll find the Reindeer with characteristic antlers and a cube-shaped gift accessory. Last but not least, the Wolf Costume betrays itself with the unmistakable mask, shaggy tail, and burlap sack. 

In an effort to achieve full sustainability in its packaging, Lego has slated the single-use plastic blind bags for elimination. Superfans were devastated when they learned that the thrill of the feel would soon be replaced by impenetrable—but recyclable—cardboard boxes. Starting in 2023, CT will be the only way to figure out which minifigures are hiding inside the box.

We featured Lego Minifigures in our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide. Check out CT scans of the other gifts here!

Sonos has been the leader in multi-room audio ever since it pioneered a seamless home listening experience using WiFi. The compact and affordable Sonos Roam includes both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, allowing it to live comfortably as part of a larger Sonos ecosystem or in your tote bag when you need to listen to music on the go. You can even bring it to the beach; it’s dust and water resistant in up to three feet of water for 30 minutes. Our CT scans uncover the impressive acoustical engineering that sets the Sonos Roam apart.

Control buttons live at one end of the speaker. The other end contains an inductive loop with magnets that snap it onto the charging base. The ring collects current and delivers it to the speaker’s battery.

The Sonos Roam contains two compact lithium-ion batteries that can power the speaker for up to 10 hours on a single charge. A slice-view shows thin electrode and separator layers wound tightly around a core containing metallic electrodes.

Under a mesh and honeycomb outer shell hide the two speaker drivers: the big bass woofer for low frequency sounds and the small treble tweeter for high frequency. The amplification cone surrounding the woofer is made of light, low-density materials—likely plastic and paper.  

We featured the Sonos Roam Speaker in our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide. Check out CT scans of the other gifts here!

Inside the Sonos Roam Speaker with CT scans

As a kid, there was nothing more exciting than the lead-up to opening holiday gifts. Even now, it’s hard to resist taking a peek. If only we could see inside, without removing the wrapping paper…

Lumafield’s Neptune industrial CT scanner offers a way to do just that. This holiday season, we’re using our x-ray vision to see not only through the wrapping paper but all the way inside eight of this year’s most popular gifts. 

But it’s not all about pre-empting the surprise. We’re passionate about product design, and there’s no better way to dive deep into the mysteries of how these complex objects are made than by exploring 3D reconstructions of the scans in our Voyager software.

You can explore these and other scans in Voyager now.

Multi-Jet Fusion (MJF) is a 3D printing process developed by HP that uses inkjet heads to selectively apply a fusing agent to plastic powder. MJF parts resemble SLS prints, and the process has become popular because it produces strong, functional parts at high volume with cost-effective operation.

Like all 3D printing processes, MJF requires specialized design knowledge and careful post-processing to achieve optimal results. An industrial CT scanner can quickly pinpoint invisible problems that can lead to part failure.

Internal features can trap unfused powder, requiring design revisions or painstaking manual post-processing. This trapped powder is outwardly invisible, but easy to find with a CT scanner.

The MJF process offers excellent thermal control during printing, resulting in parts with low porosity and good surface finish. Here our CT scan shows a generally high-quality surface finish with a slight uniform roughness.

Thermal printing processes can introduce warping and other dimensional problems. This part turned out well, however; the Lumafield logo is sharp, and even the fine internal channel stays close to its 1 mm nominal diameter throughout its length.

Create a Lumafield Voyager account to explore this CT scan of an MJF print in your browser.

Inspecting an MJF 3D printed part with a CT scanner

Apple’s new AirPods Pro (2nd generation) promises longer battery life, better sound, and a more polished user experience. We’ll use our Neptune industrial CT scanner to perform a nondestructive teardown and see how these earbuds compare to the first-generation AirPods Pro, which we've studied on Scan of the Month.

You can explore these AirPod scans in more detail inside our Voyager software; just create a free account to get started.

Here’s the second-generation charging case with the earbuds in place. The basic layout of the case is similar to the first-generation case, with two batteries sandwiching the main logic board. Like the first-generation case, a pair of magnets keeps the lid closed and another magnet in each charging well pulls the earbuds into place. The new case adds four magnets around the inductive charging coil; they align the case with a MagSafe or Apple Watch charger.

There’s a new metal eyelet on the side of the case. Apple says it’s for a lanyard, but it seems to serve an additional purpose: it’s 4 mm deep and 18 mm long, with a hidden tail that’s connected to a metal pad around the Lightning port. Perhaps it’s an antenna to support improved “Find My” tracking.

The hinge on the back of the case looks like metal, but our scan shows that it isn't. While the eyelet is solid aluminum, the visible components of the hinge are actually electroplated plastic, with a real metal pin inside. This kind of dishonesty in materials is unusual for Apple, but it’s remarkable that Apple’s engineers managed to match the electroplated finish to the metal eyelet perfectly.

The second-generation case offers several new features, including gentle audio cues and a louder ping to help find lost AirPods. To support them, the new case has outward-facing speakers and a little extra control circuitry, but is otherwise remarkably similar to the first-generation case. There’s some clever value engineering in the new lid spring: a thin, bistable metal strap has replaced the first generation’s complex spring-loaded pin assembly.

Between the release of the original AirPods in 2016 and the first-generation AirPods Pro in 2019, the product went through several major reorganizations, with the earbuds' batteries and logic boards switching places. This revision is much more subtle. Apple says these offer better sound and better battery life—improvements that seem to be driven largely by the earbuds’ new H2 processor. The high-level layout of the new earbuds is nearly identical to the first generation product.

A battery sits in the head of the earbud with the logic board behind it. The antenna and charging contacts are in the stem. A large magnet below the battery helps the earbud snap into its charging position in the case. As in the first generation AirPods Pro, we see three microphones: one toward the bottom of the stem to pick up the wearer's voice during calls; one facing outward at the top of the stem to collect ambient sound for noise cancellation; and one pointed into the ear canal to tune audio response. The new swipe UI in the stem is supported by an additional sensor along the flat surface of the stem.

You can explore these scans in detail through Voyager, our browser-based industrial CT analysis software. Reach out to our team to learn how Lumafield's accessible industrial CT technology works for your application.

CT Teardown: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

Stereolithography (SLA) was patented in 1986 and became the first commercial 3D printing technology. SLA 3D printers use an ultraviolet laser to cure liquid polymer resin into solid parts, layer by layer.

SLA printing offers excellent surface finish and detail, but like every 3D printing process, it requires some specialized knowledge to achieve best results. An industrial CT scanner can quickly find common flaws in SLA 3D prints, including some that are outwardly invisible.

Many parts require support structures when they're fabricated on an SLA 3D printer. These supports stabilize the part and brace overhanging areas during printing, and they're removed and discarded during post-processing.

Small supports in internal features are easy to miss during post-processing, but they're easy to detect with a CT scan.

Supports can leave visual marks on printed parts. Parts are usually oriented during printing to keep supports away from critical surfaces, but sometimes they're unavoidable. In this case support marks may need to be polished away during post-processing.

The process of removing supports can involve significant force, introducing small cracks in the part and breaking details.

After printing with an SLA printer, parts are rinsed in a solvent to remove uncured resin, then flooded with UV light to fully cure the part. Removing uncured resin from fine internal details can be a painstaking manual process, and any resin left on or in the part will be cured during the final post-curing step.

In this case, uncured resin was not completely flushed out of the internal channel during the rinse stage, leaving it to narrow the channel in some areas and block it completely in others. The blockage is outwardly invisible, but easy to find with a CT scan.

Create a free Lumafield Voyager account to explore this CT scan of an SLA 3D printed part.

Inspecting SLA 3D printed parts with CT scans

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a 3D printing process that builds strong, functional parts out of plastic powder. SLS printers distribute a thin layer of powder (usually Nylon) across the build volume, melt specific areas with a laser, spread another layer above, and repeat the process until the model is complete.

SLS is ideal for production-scale additive manufacturing. Parts are supported by unfused powder during printing, so they don't require support structures and many parts can be stacked into a single build volume. And because Nylon is a familiar, high-performance thermoplastic, engineers are able to substitute SLS prints for conventional parts with a relatively high degree of confidence.

However, SLS can introduce flaws that make parts unsuitable. Industrial X-ray CT scanners can quickly find these issues.

SLS printers build parts by sintering Nylon powder layer-by-layer. Errors in this process can result in unsolidified areas of the part that may be invisible, leading to unexpected part failure.

Accuracy and resolution are key considerations in additive manufacturing, and fine interior features are especially difficult to print accurately. In this part, a 1 mm channel starts close to nominal at the surface, but inside the part it narrows to 0.25 mm. Internal problems like this are indetectable with visual inspections, making industrial CT an important companion technology to 3D printing.

An important advantage of 3D printing is the ability to form complex internal features that can't be molded or machined, like microfluidic channels. However, these internal features require careful post-processing, often including significant manual work, to clear trapped powder. Incomplete post-processing may lead to functional failure.

Here, a CT scan reveals unfused powder blocking an internal channel. In a production environment, this print would need to be returned for additional post-processing or scrapped altogether.

Create a free Lumafield Voyager account to explore this scan in your web browser.

Explore this CT scan of an SLS 3D printed bracket

Inspecting SLS 3D printed parts with industrial CT

DMLS, or direct metal laser sintering, is a 3D printing process that builds metal parts by melting metal powder with a laser. It's similar to selective laser sintering, a polymer 3D printing process. DMLS printers allow engineers to create parts with complex geometries that would be difficult to cast or machine, but designing for DMLS is tricky, and these machines can introduce critical flaws that lead to part failure.

Industrial X-ray CT scanners are ideally suited to 3D printing workflows; they can quickly inspect both internal and external features and validate designs for production. Here we check for some common DMLS issues with a Lumafield Neptune CT scanner.

Powder-bed 3D printing processes like DMLS and SLS require post-processing to remove unfused powder from printed parts. In many cases, this post-processing requires painstaking manual work, and an invisible pocket of trapped powder could make a part unsuitable for its intended application.

Here, we notice a small amount of leftover powder that was not cleared during post-processing. In a production environment, this part might be returned for additional processing to remove the remaining powder, then re-scanned to ensure quality.

Thermal 3D printing processes can introduce warping and other problems with dimensional accuracy, especially on fine internal features that can't be inspected visually. In this case, our internal channel varies from its 1mm nominal diameter by as much as 13%.

Like casting and molding, thermal 3D printing processes can leave invisible pores and voids inside parts, increasing the probability of mechanical failure. Our CT scan confirms that this part is largely solid, but these 2D slices show a pore in the upper half of the bracket, close to where the channel starts.

Create a free Lumafield Voyager account to explore this CT scan in your web browser.

A deep dive into DMLS 3D printing with industrial CT

Adam Savage loves to “peel the curtain back on the world,” and there’s no better way to do that than with an industrial CT scanner. When he wanted to understand a pair of giant vacuum tubes from his collection, Adam and his Tested team visited Lumafield and met Scott Johnston, our co-founder and head of engineering.

Industrial CT uses a series of X-ray images taken from different angles to build a 3D model of an object's external and internal structures. Engineers use the technology to refine their designs and troubleshoot their manufacturing processes for a wide variety of products like medical devices and lithium-ion batteries.

Scott and Adam used our Neptune industrial CT scanner to study two remarkable pieces of analog engineering: a Philips XP3422 photomultiplier and an EEV CX1538 hydrogen tetrode thyratron tube. 

The photomultiplier turns light into a measurable electrical current. It’s a predecessor to the image sensors found in contemporary digital cameras. This one is so sensitive that it can even detect individual photons. Our CT scans illuminate the internal structure of a curved dinode path that multiplies the input photons into electrons until they hit the anode at the back to generate a signal. You can explore the photomultiplier scan in Lumafield's free Voyager software; just create a free account when prompted.

Adam’s powerful thyratron tube is a switch that can handle up to 25,000 volts and 1,000 amps of current. Tubes like this one manage high volumes of energy in pulsed gas lasers and linear accelerators, used in radiation treatment for cancer. Once a tube like this kicks on, it can’t be turned off, and it has to generate its own hydrogen to keep the plasma between the anode and cathode ignited. Lumafield’s scan shows the double helix structure of the all-important cathode, hidden behind a protective shield. 

To bring things up to the present, Adam and Scott look inside a more modern power element, a switch module with a pair of IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bi-polar Transistors) optimized for heat extraction. Along the way, they also explore one of Scott’s favorite scans, a 3D printed shoe.

In everything from exotic electronics to shoes, industrial CT helps engineers take their designs to the next level and streamline manufacturing. It's also a fascinating way to pull back the curtain and gain a deeper understanding of the world around us.

Industrial CT can help engineers in any industry perfect their products. Want to learn more? Watch our videos on medical devices and lithium-ion batteries to see how industrial CT catches small issues before they become big problems. If you're interested in exploring industrial CT for your application, contact us!

Looking inside vacuum tubes with Adam Savage

Batteries are more important than ever before. They’ve already fueled the mobile revolution, and now they’re poised to transform the transportation industry and the power grid.

The batteries in modern devices are under immense pressure; they need to store, charge, and discharge lots of energy in high-density configurations. The stakes are incredibly high. We’ve seen dangerous and expensive recalls play out. Remember the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco a few years ago? That recall not only directly cost the company billions of dollars, but it also took an incalculable toll on Samsung’s reputation.

With the world turning to electric vehicles, automotive manufacturers have faced serious challenges with battery processes and have had to stage several large, costly EV recalls over battery concerns.

This webinar shows how Lumafield’s industrial CT technology can help you avert these kinds of costs by inspecting batteries before they go out to consumers, allowing you to stop invisible problems from becoming full-blown disasters.

We start by using our Voyager software to examine 3D reconstructions of familiar alkaline batteries: the AAA and 9V. Inside each cell, CT reveals the high-density brass or copper pin that pierces into a powdered zinc core, surrounded by an outer layer of manganese dioxide. Scans make it easy to assess the integrity of the pin and determine if there’s any zinc spillage. Our scan of the 9V battery shows 6 AAAA cells packed inside, all of which vary slightly from one another in these respects.

Next we use Voyager to look inside an 18V lithium-ion power tool battery pack. We can clearly see the individual cells nestled inside a ribbed injection-molded plastic housing. With CT, you can validate the placement and fit of the batteries, as well as determine if there’s any interference or risk of damage. 

Changing Voyager’s range mapper settings allows the battery pack’s metallic components to really jump out. We can see the spring that operates the latch on the battery. An engineer has clearly done their homework and ensured the correct length of the screws. Our section view and linear measurement tool show a good safety margin of 1.6 millimeters between the screw and battery cells.

Below is a CT scan of a high-quality LG21700 lithium-ion cell. It shows clearly how the separators at the top of the cell are evenly lined up. Thin layers of electrode with slightly taller separator layers are all wound around the central core. We also find metallic electrodes running through the middle.

Below is a look at Voyager’s automated measurements tool. We define an inspection plane in the object and see that the outside diameter of the can is almost exactly 21 millimeters. The 21-millimeter can diameter and 70-millimeter length gives you that 21700 metric, and LG delivered these dimensions. We can also resolve very fine details, like the pitch between the separator layers of this winding, which we see is 340 microns.

Next, we delve into a lithium-ion pouch cell. These are everywhere, from toys to handheld electronics. They come in all shapes and sizes, offering high energy density. However, these cells are very fragile, making them perfect candidates for CT inspection. Inside, you’ll find a tightly-wound sandwich of electrodes and separators. There’s a little circuit board across the top where the electrodes—the anode and cathode—are soldered on. 

Unlike the cylindrical LG21700 cell, it doesn’t have armor, making it susceptible to damage. There’s also a high risk of manufacturing defects around the edges of the cell where the thin foils are especially delicate. A tiny pinch could easily tear that foil and create a short circuit.

This particular battery is functional, but you can see some interesting defects. In the slice view below, there’s a tiny separation at the bend between the electrode and separator layer. This doesn’t seem to be an immediate problem, but this might be an area that needs more attention if it appears in a large percentage of batteries from this production line.

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