Surface finish affects how a part will fit, reflect light, transmit heat, wear, distribute lubrication, accept coatings and more. The right finish should ultimately be determined by the part’s function and the engineering requirements of the application.

For over a decade, 2D digital radiography (DR) has been aggressively replacing film radiography in applications spanning across most industries. DR image quality continues to improve with higher quality and faster speed flat panel detectors being offered.

3D builds on the proven capabilities of 2D by adding a secondary layer of data describing shape, which is essential to designing highly robust measurement systems.

In the world of automated industrial quality control and inline inspection, both 2D and 3D technology have important roles to play. In this three part blog series we will look at the strengths and limitations of each, and how combining the two creates a more complete inspection system.