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CT for additive manufacturing Make your additive manufacturing processes more reliable with CT

CT for additive manufacturing Make your additive manufacturing processes
more reliable with CT

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Complex structures that are hard to inspect

Lightweight parts, complex geometries, lattice structures, internal channels or customized components: additive manufacturing opens up new design possibilities, but it also brings new quality control and qualification challenges.

CT to qualify your printed parts

Industrial X-ray CT is a non-destructive testing (NDT) solution that lets you inspect the inside of 3D-printed parts without cutting or disassembling them. From powder characterization to final part validation, it helps manufacturers and research centers detect defects, qualify their processes and improve the repeatability of their production.
  Aerospace part, micro-CT 
Explore our CT systems: micro-CT, nano-CT, high-energy CT, custom-made.
fabrication_additive_IRT
They use RX Solutions CT in additive manufacturing Characterize, qualify, improve

Find out how the IRT (Institut de Recherche Technologique) uses RX Solutions CT to characterize powders, qualify printed parts and gain better control of its additive manufacturing processes. 

Read the testimonial

CT to meet the challenges of additive manufacturing

<strong>Ensure part repeatability</strong><br><br>Produce the same part quality, build after build.-image
Ensure part repeatability

Produce the same part quality, build after build.
<strong>Qualify new processes</strong><br><br>Validate print parameters, new materials and heat treatment parameters.-image
Qualify new processes

Validate print parameters, new materials and heat treatment parameters.
<strong>Detect hidden defects</strong><br><br>Porosity, cracks, lack of fusion or internal defects.-image
Detect hidden defects

Porosity, cracks, lack of fusion or internal defects.
<strong>Speed up industrialization</strong><br><br>Move from prototype to production faster.-image
Speed up industrialization

Move from prototype to production faster.

Why CT in 3D printing? Control the process, not just the final part

In additive manufacturing, part quality is directly tied to process control. X-ray CT lets you analyze the entire manufacturing chain. It helps identify the causes of defects, improve repeatability and speed up the qualification of new applications.

  • Reduce scrap and development iterations by quickly identifying manufacturing defects and the parameters that cause them.
  • Detect defects before costly trials by identifying porosity, cracks, lack of fusion and internal defects that can’t be seen from the outside.
  • Qualify new materials and print parameters before industrialization, without systematically resorting to destructive testing.
  • Reduce destructive testing by viewing the inside of parts, lattice structures and internal channels without cutting them.
  • Speed up the move from prototype to series with objective data that validates designs and processes faster.
  • Improve repeatability and reproducibility by correlating observed defects with print parameters to define robust quality standards.

Industrial CT provides usable data at every scale of the process, making it a tool for final quality control as much as for improving the manufacturing process itself. 

Today, CT is the only technology able to inspect internal features and manufacturing defects non-destructively.

What CT brings toyour additive manufacturing applications

application_fabrication_additive_RX_Solutions_tomography_structure_lattice

Analyze

Powder characteristics before printing

Detect

Porosity and internal defects, layer by layer

Validate

Geometric conformity to the CAD model and minimum wall thicknesses

Understand

Root causes of a failed build

Optimize

Optimal parameters for future builds

For your additive manufacturing application

Which RX Solutions CT system?

The choice depends on the scale of analysis (powder, printed part or series inspection) and the resolution level required.

Get a personalized recommendation.

Tell us about your needs and the 3D-printed parts you want to analyze, and we’ll come back to you with a proposal for a suitable CT system.

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Projets_sur_mesure_fabbrication_additive_RX_Solutions_tomography
Custom-made CT systems

3D printing requirements that go beyond the standard?

When parts become more complex, larger or more critical, conventional solutions reach their limits. Qualification of new processes, inspection of inaccessible internal structures, automation of inspections or specific resolution needs: RX Solutions designs custom CT solutions to support additive manufacturers, from development to series production.

Discover our custom-made projects

Control every step of your additive manufacturing process

Contrôle qualité tomographie - aeronautique

Qualify powders before printing

The quality of a printed part depends directly on the quality of the powder used. CT lets you characterize particles precisely to secure future production runs.

  • Analysis of particle size, shape and distribution;
  • Sphericity measurement and detection of internal defects;
  • Characterization of metal and polymer powders;
  • Search for contaminants;
  • Validation of material quality before production launch.
Contrôle qualité tomographie - fabrication additive_cao vs réel

Inspect printed parts without destroying them

CT reveals the inside of the part in a single scan to validate its conformity and quality before qualification or series production.

  • Detection of porosity, cracks and lack of fusion;
  • Inspection of complex internal geometries and lattice structures;
  • Inspection of internal and external dimensions;
  • Automatic comparison with the CAD model, and model compensation to achieve the target characteristics.
Contrôle qualité procédé fabrication additive_tomographie_écran machine

Optimize and make the manufacturing process more reliable

Beyond quality control, CT helps you understand where defects come from and improve the repeatability of your builds.

  • Correlation between print parameters and observed defects;
  • Validation of print strategies and laser or electron beam parameters;
  • Improved repeatability and reproducibility;
  • Faster qualification of new materials and processes.

Want to qualify a 3D-printed part or improve the repeatability of your process?

Have your project’s feasibility assessed

Typical applications in 3D printing

Metal and polymer powders
Metal and polymer powders
Aerospace parts
Aerospace parts
Medical devices and implants
Medical devices and implants
Prototypes and pre-production runs
Prototypes and pre-production runs
Process development
Process development
Metal and polymer powders
Particle characterization before printing and material quality control.
×
Aerospace parts
Lightweight structures, internal channels and critical components. 

Aerospace
×
Medical devices and implants
Geometric qualification and internal defect inspection. 

Medical & dental
×
Prototypes and pre-production runs
Fast design validation before industrialization.
×
Process development
Optimization of laser parameters, layer thickness and print strategies.
×

Why choose RX Solutions for your additive manufacturing applications?


RX Solutions designs CT systems that meet the strictest requirements of aerospace, aviation and defense, combining image quality, penetration power and configuration flexibility.

  • Cover every stage of the manufacturing cycle, from powder to finished part, with a versatile micro-CT platform from the Explorer CT range.
  • Combine material characterization, quality control and metrology on a single platform. Discover Metrology Series
  • Analyze geometries that can’t be inspected any other way, such as lattice structures or internal channels, at high resolution. See all our ranges.
  • Benefit from unique configurations, combining micro-CT with nano-CT or high energies depending on your needs.
  • Support R&D, qualification and industrialization with scalable solutions and upgrade options, backed by our Care & Performance team.

Additive manufacturing FAQ

Can I analyze the quality of a metal powder before printing?
Yes. Nano-CT lets you analyze the shape, size and distribution of powder particles. RX Solutions has a dedicated range of CT systems. Discover the Nano range.
Does CT detect the internal porosity specific to additive manufacturing?
Yes, it’s one of the most common use cases: CT detects and quantifies the porosity generated during the printing process.
Can a printed part be compared to its original CAD model?
Yes. Automatic comparison between the scanned part and the CAD model validates geometric conformity after printing.
Can CT help optimize print process parameters?
Yes. By correlating observed defects with process parameters (speed, laser power, layer thickness), you can identify the optimal settings. It is also possible to automatically correct the CAD file to compensate for the distortion measured by 3D CT.
What resolution is needed to inspect a 3D-printed part?
It depends on the size of the defects you’re looking for. Micrometer-scale resolution (Explorer range) is generally enough, except for fine powder or microstructure analysis, which requires the Nano range.
Why is CT particularly well suited to additive manufacturing?
Because it lets you see complex internal structures, hidden channels, trapped powder and hidden defects without cutting the part.
Can a 3D printing process be qualified with CT?
Yes. CT data lets you correlate print parameters with observed defects to improve process repeatability.
Can lattice structures or internal channels be inspected?
Yes. CT is one of the few technologies able to inspect these complex geometries non-destructively.
Is CT only used in R&D?
No. It is used in research, qualification and process validation, and increasingly in industrial quality control.

Want to make your 3D-printed parts more reliable, from powder to series production?


Our experts help you assess the feasibility of your project and identify the CT configuration best suited to your application.
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