Christina Swanson

Notebook 10
10/13/2016
Anode Cooling Chart/Graph

Y- Scale- Thousand Heat units (HU)

X-Scale- Time in Minutes
Blue-Time to cool 0-15
Orange- Cooling curve
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Anode Cooling Curve Description and Use

Technologists use the Cooling chart to calculate the length of time necessary for the
anode to cool to enough for additional exposures to be made.
How is this Chart Read?
1. Find the total HU applied on the vertical scale.
2. Read from the HU over to the cooling curve and then down to read the
corresponding time.
3. Calculate the time necessary for the anode to cool to any desired level and
subtract the corresponding time of the initial exposure.
Y axis is Heat Unit
- Means how many heat units can be added on or generated before the anode gets
to hot.
X- axis - is the time in minutes
- The anode gets to hot you need to give it time to cool off from the HU to zero.
Questions:
1. What is the maximum heat? 350,000 HU is your maximum heat. If you shoot
the exposure past that top number on the chart of 350 HU would the tube
over heat?
1a.What is the maximum number of heat units that the anode can absorb?
Answer = 35000 HU must cool down completely from HU to O before the next
exposure
Formula (Heat units) X (1000)= 350,000HU
350 X1000 = 350,000
2. How long would it take the tube to cool down completely from maximum in
question 1?
2a. Cooling means getting all the way from 350HU to zero. By looking at the chart it
will take 15 min to cool all the way down to zero

Tube Rating Chart

When is this tube rating chart used?

We use this to provide a guide regarding the maximum technical factor combinations that
can be used without overloading the tube. All radiographic tube rating charts plot kV
mA, and time in seconds.
How is This Chart Read
1. Find the time in seconds applied on the horizontal scale.
2. Read from the time in seconds up to the peak kilovolts.
3. Is the point below the given mA curve? If so, it is a safe exposure.
Scenario Question
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

How do you know its safe at 200mA curve?

Find the intersection of 80kVp and 0.6?
200mA, is safe bc it is below the 200mA curve
Find .1 sec on the X- axis
Find 80kVp on the Y- axis
Find where they intersect. Is it below the 200mA curve. Anything above 200 mA
would over heat.

Is an exposure of 80 kVp, 200 mA, 0.1 sec within the limits of the 1 0.6 mm focal spot
to the rating chart?
Answer: Yes
Citations Notebook 10
3

1.Carlton,R.R.,&Adler,A.M.(2013).Principlesofradiographicimaging:Anartand
ascience.CliftonPark,NY:Delmar/CengageLearning.
2.H.(2012).The3XrayTubeRatingCharts.RetrievedOctober13,2016,from
http://www.radtech1895.com/2012/10/the3xraytuberatingcharts.html/