Journal of Nuclear Science, Engineering and Technology (JONSAT)
In cooperation with the Iranian Nuclear Society

Lorestan Bronze Plate Design Identification by Nondestructive Radiography Method and Image Processing by Means of Histogram Matching

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

E Yahaghi
A Movafeghi
Sh Ahmadi
B Rokrok
N Mohammadzadeh
N Rastkhah
Abstract
Radiography is known as one of the oldest and most widely used nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques, where it introduces the most appreciated technique by producing images which are acting as unique fingerprint records of samples of interest. Among the interesting applications of radiography are archeological and art applications. In this research, radiography was implemented for identification of a damaged art-historical material. The sample was a brass plate belonging to Iran cultural heritage. The estimated age of the plate was about 3500 years. The plate was discovered in Lorestan province, where it is generally called “Lorestan bronze”. The plate was damaged seriously due to serious corrosion enviromental attacks, and recognition of the sample was considered as the major problem. The simple radiography method was quite helpful for the plate determination but the method  suffered from some major drawbacks due to contrast and thickness measurements. The thickness measurement and corrosion/erosion evaluation were the vital components of the inspection. The image processing techniques and precise thickness measurement method were added to the digitized radiographs. For the digital image processing, a histogram matching algorithm and an edge detection method were used. After all, the resulted image showed an enhanced quality image of the original traces of the hammered design. The results showed that a good experimental setup of radiography along with the image processing technique can give a high quality radiographic image which is able to be used effectively for the identification of art antiques. The human evaluation results also confirmed the ability of the proposed method with a high degree of certainty.

Highlights

  1. E.H. Lehmanna, P. Vontobela, E. Deschler-Erbb, M. Soares, Non-invasive studies of objects from cultural heritage, nuclear instruments and methods in physics research A, 542 (2005) 68–75.

 2.   D. Bradley and D. Creagh, Physical techniques in the study of art, archaeology and cultural heritage, 1 and 2 Elsevier Publication (2006).

  1. B.H. Stuart, Analytical techniques in materials conservation, John Wiley & Sons Ltd (2007).

 4.   I.N.M. Wainwright, Examination of paintings by physical and chemical methods, department of communications, and held at the national gallery, Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)–Publications of Canada 26-28 October 1989 http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/ accessed October (2008).

  1. F. Casali, X-ray digital radiography and computed tomography for cultural heritage, Archeometriai Muhely (2006) 24-28.

 6.   B. Ghose and D.K. Kankane, Estimation of location of defects in propellant grain by X-ray radiography, NDT & E International, 41 (2008) 125-128.

 7.   K. Edalati, N. Rastkhah, A. Kermani, M. Seiedi, A. Movafeghi, In-service corrosion evaluation in pipelines using gamma radiography-a numerical approach, Insight the Journal of the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, 46, 7 (2004) 396-398.

 8.   EN 14096-1, Non-destructive testing– Qualification of radiographic film digitization systems–part 1: Definitions, qualitative measurements of image quality parameters, standard reference film and qualitative control, European Norm (2004).

 9.   M. Giannoulaki, V. Argyropoulos, Th. Panou, A. Moundrea-Agrafioti, P. Themelis, The feasibility of using portable X-Ray radiography for the examination of the technology and the condition of a metals collection housed in the museum of ancient messene, Greece, e-Journal of Science & Technology (e-JST) (2006) 48-63.

 10.  سازمان انرژی اتمی ایران، استانداردهای پایه حفاظت در برابر اشعه، معاونت نظام ایمنی هسته­ای کشور (1380).                         

  1. مؤسسه استاندارد و تحقیقات صنعتی ایران، حفاظت در برابر پرتوهای یون­ساز و ایمنی منابع پرتو- استانداردهای پایه، استانداردهای ملی ایران، استاندارد شماره 7751 (1383).              

 12. K. Edalati, N. Rastkhah, A. Kermani, M. Seiedi, A. Movafeghi, The use of radiography for thickness measurement and corrosion monitoring in pipes, international journal of pressure vessels and piping, Elsevier Pub., 83 (2006) 736-741.

 13. G. Kajiwara, Examination of the X-ray piping diagnostic system using EGS4 (examination of the film and iron rust), Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on EGS, Tsukuba, Japan (Aug 2000) 199-208.

 14. S.S. Lee, Thickness evaluation of pipes using density profile on radiographs, in 10th asia-pacific conference on non-destructive testing, Brisbane, Australia (2001) 17-21.

 15. J. Rheinlander and H. Christiansen, Using film density variations for determination of pipe thickness variation in gamma-ray radiography, Insight, 37(9) (1995) 691-694.

16. U. Zscherpel, Film digitization systems for DIR: standards, requirements, archiving and printing, NDT. Net, 5, 5 (2003).

 17. A. Movafeghi, M.H. Krgarnovin, H. Soltanian-Zadeh, A radiographic calibration method for eddy current testing of heat exchanger tubes, Insight-Non-Destructive Testing and Condition Monitoring, 46(10) (2004) 594-597.

18. A. Movafeghi, M.H. Krgarnovin, H. Soltanian-Zadeh, Flaw detection improvement of digitized radiographs by morphological transformations, Insight-Non-Destructive Testing and Condition Monitoring, 47(10) (2005) 625-630.

19. P.K. Soltani, D. Wysnewski, K. Swartz, Amorphous selenium direct radiography for industrial imaging, international symposium on computerized tomography for industrial applications and image processing in radiology berlin, Germany (1999) 123-133.

 20. R.C. Gonzales and R.E. Woods, Digital image processing, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall Inc (2005).

Keywords

Lorestan Bronze
Radiography
Image Processing
Histogram Matching
  1. E.H. Lehmanna, P. Vontobela, E. Deschler-Erbb, M. Soares, Non-invasive studies of objects from cultural heritage, nuclear instruments and methods in physics research A, 542 (2005) 68–75.

 2.   D. Bradley and D. Creagh, Physical techniques in the study of art, archaeology and cultural heritage, 1 and 2 Elsevier Publication (2006).

  1. B.H. Stuart, Analytical techniques in materials conservation, John Wiley & Sons Ltd (2007).

 4.   I.N.M. Wainwright, Examination of paintings by physical and chemical methods, department of communications, and held at the national gallery, Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI)–Publications of Canada 26-28 October 1989 http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/ accessed October (2008).

  1. F. Casali, X-ray digital radiography and computed tomography for cultural heritage, Archeometriai Muhely (2006) 24-28.

 6.   B. Ghose and D.K. Kankane, Estimation of location of defects in propellant grain by X-ray radiography, NDT & E International, 41 (2008) 125-128.

 7.   K. Edalati, N. Rastkhah, A. Kermani, M. Seiedi, A. Movafeghi, In-service corrosion evaluation in pipelines using gamma radiography-a numerical approach, Insight the Journal of the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, 46, 7 (2004) 396-398.

 8.   EN 14096-1, Non-destructive testing– Qualification of radiographic film digitization systems–part 1: Definitions, qualitative measurements of image quality parameters, standard reference film and qualitative control, European Norm (2004).

 9.   M. Giannoulaki, V. Argyropoulos, Th. Panou, A. Moundrea-Agrafioti, P. Themelis, The feasibility of using portable X-Ray radiography for the examination of the technology and the condition of a metals collection housed in the museum of ancient messene, Greece, e-Journal of Science & Technology (e-JST) (2006) 48-63.

 10.  سازمان انرژی اتمی ایران، استانداردهای پایه حفاظت در برابر اشعه، معاونت نظام ایمنی هسته­ای کشور (1380).                         

  1. مؤسسه استاندارد و تحقیقات صنعتی ایران، حفاظت در برابر پرتوهای یون­ساز و ایمنی منابع پرتو- استانداردهای پایه، استانداردهای ملی ایران، استاندارد شماره 7751 (1383).              

 12. K. Edalati, N. Rastkhah, A. Kermani, M. Seiedi, A. Movafeghi, The use of radiography for thickness measurement and corrosion monitoring in pipes, international journal of pressure vessels and piping, Elsevier Pub., 83 (2006) 736-741.

 13. G. Kajiwara, Examination of the X-ray piping diagnostic system using EGS4 (examination of the film and iron rust), Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on EGS, Tsukuba, Japan (Aug 2000) 199-208.

 14. S.S. Lee, Thickness evaluation of pipes using density profile on radiographs, in 10th asia-pacific conference on non-destructive testing, Brisbane, Australia (2001) 17-21.

 15. J. Rheinlander and H. Christiansen, Using film density variations for determination of pipe thickness variation in gamma-ray radiography, Insight, 37(9) (1995) 691-694.

16. U. Zscherpel, Film digitization systems for DIR: standards, requirements, archiving and printing, NDT. Net, 5, 5 (2003).

 17. A. Movafeghi, M.H. Krgarnovin, H. Soltanian-Zadeh, A radiographic calibration method for eddy current testing of heat exchanger tubes, Insight-Non-Destructive Testing and Condition Monitoring, 46(10) (2004) 594-597.

18. A. Movafeghi, M.H. Krgarnovin, H. Soltanian-Zadeh, Flaw detection improvement of digitized radiographs by morphological transformations, Insight-Non-Destructive Testing and Condition Monitoring, 47(10) (2005) 625-630.

19. P.K. Soltani, D. Wysnewski, K. Swartz, Amorphous selenium direct radiography for industrial imaging, international symposium on computerized tomography for industrial applications and image processing in radiology berlin, Germany (1999) 123-133.

 20. R.C. Gonzales and R.E. Woods, Digital image processing, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall Inc (2005).

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