Quantitative studies on inner interfaces in conical metal joints using hard x-ray inline phase contrast radiography.

Quantitative investigation of micrometer and submicrometer gaps between joining metal surfaces is applied to conical plug-socket connections in dental titanium implants. Microgaps of widths well beyond the resolving power of industrial x-ray systems are imaged by synchrotron phase contrast radiography. Furthermore, by using an analytical model for the relatively simple sample geometry and applying it to numerical forward simulations of the optical Fresnel propagation, we show that quantitative measurements of the microgap width down to 0.1 μm are possible. Image data recorded at the BAMline (BESSY-II light source, Germany) are presented, with the resolving power of the imaging system being 4 μm in absorption mode and ∼14 μm in phase contrast mode (z(2)=0.74 m). Thus, phase contrast radiography, combined with numerical forward simulations, is capable of measuring the widths of gaps that are two orders of magnitude thinner than the conventional detection limit.