The quality of welds is critical to the safety of structures in construction, so early detection of irregularities is crucial. Advances in machine vision inspection technologies, such as deep learning models, have improved the detection of weld defects. This paper presents a new CNN model based on ResNet50 to classify four types of weld defects in radiographic images: crack, pore, non-penetration, and no defect. Stratified cross-validation, data augmentation, and regularization were used to improve generalization and avoid over-fitting. The model was tested on three datasets, RIAWELC, GDXray, and a private dataset of low image quality, obtaining an accuracy of 98.75 %, 90.255 %, and 75.83 %, respectively. The model proposed in this paper achieves high accuracies on different datasets and constitutes a valuable tool to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of quality control processes in the welding industry. Moreover, experimental tests show that the proposed approach performs well on even low-resolution images.

The loss of energy by heat is a common problem in almost all areas of industry, and heat pipes are essential to increase efficiency and reduce energy waste. However, in many cases, they have complex theoretical equations with high percentages of error, limiting their development and causing dependence on empirical methods that generate a waste of time and material, resulting in significant expenses and reducing the viability of their use. Thus, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) can be an excellent option to facilitate the construction and development of heat pipes without knowledge of the complex theory behind the problem. This investigation uses experimental data from previous studies to evaluate the ability of three different ANNs to predict the thermal performance of heat pipes with different capillary structures, each of them in various configurations of the slope, filling ratio, and heat load. The goal is to investigate results in as many different scenarios as possible to clearly understand the networks’ capacity for modeling heat pipes and their operating parameters. We chose two classic ANNs (the most used, Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) network, and the Radial Basis Function (RBF) network) and the Extreme Learning Machine (ELM), which has not yet been applied to heat pipes studies. The ELM is an Unorganized Machine with a fast training process and a simple codification. The ANN results were very close to the experimental ones, showing that ANNs can successfully simulate the thermal performance of heat pipes. Based on the RMSE (error metric being reduced during the training step), the ELM presented the best results (RMSE = 0.384), followed by MLP (RMSE = 0.409), proving their capacity to generalize the problem. These results show the importance of applying different ANNs to evaluate the system deeply. Using ANNs in developing heat pipes is an excellent option for accelerating and improving the project phase, reducing material loss, time, and other resources.

This study presents an innovative approach to segmenting pores in low-quality industrial radiographic images using advanced image processing and adaptive segmentation techniques. The process involves several steps, including conversion of the image to grayscale to simplify analysis. Gaussian and median filters are then applied to improve image quality and enable more accurate segmentation. The methodology is based on adaptive thresholding and edge detection using the Canny algorithm, achieving accurate pore area measurements, even for those unnoticed by experts, with measurement errors of less than 0.1 mm². This high accuracy supports the method's effectiveness in pore detection and measurement. The resulting tool has great potential in industrial radiography applications, from quality control to defect analysis. While recognizing the need for continued research to improve contrast and illumination, as well as to address potential sources of error, these refinements promise to further elevate an already reliable and accurate method with a wide reach in the industry.