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The RTR-4TM portable digital x-ray imaging system
Acknowledgements
The technical work on this project was conducted by Ron Anthony and Deb Anthony of Anthony & Associates, Inc. and Chris Koziol and Katherine Woods of City Visions, Inc. This report builds on research conducted by Ron Anthony of Anthony & Associates, Inc. , which is summarized in a report entitled “Investigating Wood in Historic Structures Using Real-Time X-ray Technology“, funded by the Kress Mid-Career Grant of the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation. The body of the Fitch report, with modification, is contained within the NCPTT report for continuity. The ability to leverage research funds from different sources is largely what made the extent of the research reported herein possible.
This project would not have been possible without the generous support of the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. Additional financial support to research the historical context on x-rays and the preliminary laboratory research was provided by the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation and the Kress Foundation. The opportunity to collect field data on historic structures in the Czech Republic was provided by the National Science Foundation. Logos Imaging LLC, SAIC and Golden Engineering, Inc. provided technical support. Vicen Alvarez, Gretchen Lear and Peter Koziol provided laboratory and analytical assistance throughout the project. Logistical and material support was provided by many individuals and organizations. Special thanks go to the Dr. Milos Drdacky and the Czech Academy of Sciences, Mr. Peter Weiss of ELP GmbH and Dr. Bo Kasal of Penn State University for their assistance in the Czech Republic. Mr. Karl Koski, Mr. Jack Smoot of Bollinger Mill State Historic Park (Burfordville, Missouri) and Mr. Mark Miller of Trail Ridge Timber Frames (Masonville, Colorado) kindly provided materials for the laboratory research.
This publication was developed under a grant from the National Park Service and the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the National Park Service or the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training.
Exeutive Summary
In the interest of saving as much historic fabric as possible and not altering or scarring historic materials as a result of investigative probes, architectural conservators look to nondestructive testing methods for the evaluation and identification of materials, conditions and alterations made to structures over time. As the answers to these and many other questions are typically concealed in a historic structure, nondestructive techniques of investigation are a necessity, but few are available. Digital radioscopy is one of those techniques.
The goal of this work was to advance the use of digital radioscopy for assessing wood in historic structures. The work focused on:
- Investigating historic fabric and construction details using stereo-radioscopy
- Evaluating the extent of wood deterioration using digital imaging techniques
- Investigating licensing and regulatory requirements for use of portable x-ray equipment
- Investigating safety measures needed to operate the equipment in historic structures
In distilling the findings related to post-processing of digital radiographs, three main points are relevant. First, digital imaging affords the field operator the opportunity to modify image capture techniques based on real-time or near real- time (i.e., field processing) image production. This is particularly important in building investigation where conditions are variable, and future access may be difficult.
Second, the availability of relatively inexpensive mass-market (e.g., Adobe® Photoshop®) and multi-market specialty software (e.g., Photoflair®, Photomodeler) raise the possibility that software applications can be found and tweaked so as to extend the power of digital radioscopy for building investigation without a prohibitively large outlay of research and development (R&D) resources.
Finally, while the intuitively legible graphic (i.e., pictorial) output of radiographic investigation can provide convincing information, the efficient investigator must weigh whether increasing data inputs is worth the investment, and under what circumstances interpretive experience, multi-method data corroboration, and tacit knowledge suffice.
As demonstrated in this project, the potential that real-time digital radioscopy investigation presents is exciting and could have great positive impact in the field of historic preservation. Practical use can be found in some of the following areas:
- Historic structures reports.
- Documentation of original construction details
- Documentation of the chronology of construction of a historic structure,
- Documentation of material dimensions,
- Documentation of tool markings,
- Documentation of fastener shapes and sizes.
- Identification of the alteration of such details due to modifications.
- Structural evaluation of conditions and construction details.
