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Forensic X-Ray Inspection Services
We typically respond within one business day.
Video taken with Dreiym’s X-Ray.
Forensic X-ray lets an engineer see inside a component without taking it apart. After a fire or a failure, the parts that matter, such as a switch contact, a conductor inside a cord or a connection inside a control, are often hidden inside a housing or buried in melted plastic and debris. Opening the item to look at them changes it for good. An X-ray image shows the internal condition first, while the item is still as it was found.
Our engineering lab in Coldspring, Texas has an in-house real-time X-ray system, so evidence in our video-monitored storage can be imaged without leaving our custody. We provide X-ray inspection for our own forensic investigations, for failure analysis of electrical and industrial components, and for other engineers and investigators who need imaging for their own cases.
Submit an assignment or contact us for a free quote. We typically respond within one business day.
Photo taken with Dreiym’s X-Ray.
Our lab uses a Nordson Dage Quadra 3 real-time X-ray system for non-destructive examination. It can examine parts up to 20 inches by 17.5 inches, weighing up to 11 pounds. X-rays pass through the item and a detector turns them into a live image: denser and thicker materials, such as copper and steel, block more of the X-rays and stand out from plastic and insulation. Because the image is live, the engineer can adjust the view, look at the item from multiple angles and magnify areas of interest while watching the screen, with magnification of up to 7,500x for fine detail on circuit boards and contacts.
Typical subjects include:
- Appliance controls and the wiring and connections inside them
- Cords, plugs and extension cords
- Receptacles, switches and circuit breakers
- Connectors, terminals and fuses
- Batteries and electronics, including circuit boards
- Small mechanical parts and assemblies
In those parts, an X-ray image can show whether a conductor is continuous or severed, the position of switch and relay contacts, whether a fuse element is intact, and where metal has melted, moved or gone missing. Our article on forensic X-ray and thermal imaging in appliance fire investigations covers more.
How X-Ray Fits the Examination Protocol
X-ray is one of the first steps in our examination protocol. Images are taken before any destructive step and shared with all interested parties, so everyone sees the same internal condition before anything is opened, and the images help plan the disassembly that follows. Because the image is live, parties who attend a joint lab examination can watch the imaging as it happens. Disassembly and other destructive steps wait until the interested parties have had the chance to attend.
What X-ray can’t show
An X-ray image is a flat, two-dimensional projection: everything along the beam’s path is stacked into one picture, so parts at different depths overlap, and a single view can hide a feature or suggest one that isn’t there. Viewing the item from multiple angles helps, but each view is still a flat image. Contrast depends on the density and thickness of the materials, so plastic, insulation and char show faintly next to metal, and heavy metal parts can hide smaller ones behind them. X-ray also doesn’t show color, surface discoloration or what a material is made of.
That is why X-ray findings are read together with photographs, microscope examination, comparison with an exemplar and, when the parties agree, disassembly. An X-ray image shows the condition of a part; an opinion on the cause comes from all of the evidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can a forensic X-ray show?
The inside of a component without opening it: whether conductors are continuous or severed, the position of contacts, whether a fuse element is intact, and where metal has melted, moved or gone missing. It shows condition, not cause; the cause comes from all of the evidence.
Is X-ray examination destructive?
No. The item doesn’t have to be opened, cut or taken apart to be imaged, so it stays in its as-found condition for the other parties and for the later steps of the examination. If data stored in a device may matter, such as in a controller, a data logger or a phone, tell us before it is imaged: X-ray exposure can, in principle, affect data in some memory chips, so imaging can be planned around it.
Can other engineers bring evidence for X-ray imaging?
Yes. Independent engineers, investigators and other firms can bring evidence to our Coldspring, Texas lab for X-ray imaging, and the interested parties can attend. Rates are available on request.
How large an item can be X-rayed?
The system examines parts up to 20 inches by 17.5 inches, weighing up to 11 pounds. Components removed from a larger item under the agreed protocol can be imaged separately.
Work With Dreiym
Independent engineers, investigators and other firms can bring evidence to our lab for X-ray imaging, and the interested parties can attend. Rates are available on request.
In our own investigations, X-ray is one step in a larger examination. See our fire and explosion investigation, electrical failure analysis and appliance failure investigation pages, and our engineering lab page for the rest of the lab.
Our investigations are led by licensed Professional Engineers with active and past licensure in multiple states. Our engineers write expert reports and testify in depositions and at trial.
When you contact us, you talk directly with an engineer who can discuss your case. Our offices are in Coldspring, Texas and Westcliffe, Colorado, and we work nationwide. Reports are PE-stamped where required, and we also accept consulting-only (non-testifying) retentions.
Submit an assignment or contact us for a free quote. We typically respond within one business day.
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