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Advanced NDT Methods - 1 Short Notes

on PAUT and TOFD
Published on February 25, 2017

Dharmveer Singh 43 8 6
Production Quality Control Manager at GE Power

INTRODUCTION:

Radiographictechniquesforindustrialinspectionhavebeeninuseforover100years.A
keyfactorintheirdurabilityhasbeentheeaseandeffectivenessoftheinspection
procedure,includingtheavailabilityofopticalqualityimagesthatfacilitate
interpretation.Duetoconcernssuchastheradiationhazardposedbyradiographic
imagingsystems,nuclearpowerplantindustryhasexpressedinterestinreplacement
methodsforradiographictesting(RT).

PracticalProblemsinRT

Radiationsafety,Licensing,Chemicalwastes.

Disruptiontoworkarea,Subjectiveinterpretation.

Largevolumesoffilm,Filmstorageanddeterioration.

Relativelyslowinspection,Increasedresourcecosts.

RTcannotsizeinverticalplane,RTpooratdetectingplanardefects.

EarlyProposalforReplacementofRTbyConventionalUT

ConventionalUltrasonictesting(UT)hadbeenproposedasapotentialreplacement
method.BothRTandUTarebothvolumetricnondestructiveevaluation(NDE)
methods.Bykeepingvariousexperiment,itwasseenthatultrasonictesting(UT)inlieu
ofRTfornewconstructionisfeasible.UTistypicallyperformedineitherthrough
transmissionmode(twotransducerslocatedonoppositesidesofthecomponent)or
pulseechomode(onetransducerlocatedononesideofthecomponent).

AdvantageofUToverRT

Betterdetectionofplanarflawsgenerally,Betterdetectionofdisorientedflaws,No
environmentalsideeffects.Tailoredinspections

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DisadvantageofUToverRT

Nopermanentrecord,Operatordependent,Slow,Forinspectors,witnessisonlywayto
ensurethecompliancewhichisverymuchtimetaking.

ConventionalUTconsistsofapulseechomodeofinspection,withmanualscanningof
theweld.Inthe1970sautomatedtechniquesforscanningtheweldanddisplayingthe
datawereintroduced,withadvancesinthelate1970sincludingtimeofflight
diffractiontechniquesforflawdetectionandsizing.Multiprobeautomatedultrasonic
testingsystemswereintroducedinthe1980s,withphasedarraysystemsintroducedin
thelate1990s.

PHASEDARRAYULTRASONICTESTING(PAUT)

PAusesamultipleelementprobeunlikethemanualorautomaticUTsystems,where
theoutputpulsefromeachelementhasitsowntimedelaytoproduceaconstructive
interferenceataspecificangleandaspecificdepth.Thesetimedelayscanbe
incrementedtosweepthebeamoverthedesiredrangeofangles(e.g.,30degreesto70
degrees)(Andersonetal.2007aCrawfordetal.2009).PAdisplaysimagesinrealtime
showingthedepthandlocationoftheindicationsrelativetotheprobeandwiththe
computersoftwareisabletodisplaytheultrasoundsignalresponseoverlaidonthetest
piece.

TheProbesofthePhasedArrayisthecombinationofmultipleconventionalprobes.At
onephasedarrayprobesvariouselements(oneconventionalprobeconsistsofone
elementusually)canbefixedinanarray.Mostofthephasedarrayprobeshave64,128
and256elements.Atonetimedesirednumberofelementscanbeactivated.E.g.only5
elementscanworkwhileothersmaynotworkoutof64or128.Thisarrangementhelps
tofocusandsteertheangles.

TIMEOFFLIGHTDIFFRACTION(TOFD)

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TOFDtechniqueusestwoprobes,onefortransmittingandtheotherforreceivingThe
UTbeamproducesadiffractedsignalfromtheflawextremities,whichactaspoint
sources,aswellasareflectedsignal.Thediffractedsignalsappearassignalsarrivingat
differenttimesatthereceiver.Thistechniqueisusedtoimprovethedepthsizing
estimatesofaflawbasedongeometricalcalculationsofthesignalarrivaltimes.The
disadvantagesarewherethedifferentsignalscannotberesolvedintime(smallflaws,
flawsclosetotheinspectionsurface)andtheamplitudeofthediffractedsignalscanbe
low.

PhasedArrayUTvsConventionalUT

1.CommonbetweenPhasedArrayUTandConventionalUT

a.Bothtechniquesareultrasonictesting

b.PAUTcanbedeployedanywherewhereconventionalUTcanbutused.

2.AdvantageofPhasedArrayUToverConventionalUT

a.Faster

b.MoreAccurate

c.Capabilityofdoingmorewithultrasonicwaveswithsingleprobe

i.BeamSteering(ChangeofAngles)
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ii.BeamFocusing

iii.ElectronicScan

d.PermanentDigitalRecord

e.Varioussoftwareanalysisoptions

3.LimitationofPhasedArrayUToverConventionalUT

a.HighSensitivitywhencombinedwithTOFD

b.Higherequipmentcostresultinghigherinitialinvestment

AdvantageofTOFD

1.Itismoresensitive

2.BestAvailableNDTtechniqueforflawsizingandheight

3.HigherPOD

4.Exactheightmeasurement

5.Detectionisnotdependentoftheorientationofthediscontinuity.

6.Fasterandmostaccuratetechnique.

LimitationofTOFD

1.HigherSensitivityforourapplication

2.BothSideaccess

3.AnysupplementarytechniqueistobeusedwiththecombinationofTOFDfor
accuratecharacterization(inourcasewearehavingPAUTassupplementarytechnique
withTOFD).

ADOPTIONOFPAUTANDTOFDBYCODES

InearlydaysofdevelopmentofUT,UTwasseenasareplacementofUT.Itwas
firstadoptedbyB31.1.Thebriefofacceptanceismentionedhere.

ASMEPressurePipingCodeCase168(CC168)UseofUltrasonicExamination
inLieuofRadiographyforB31.1ApplicationApprovedJune1997

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ASMEBoilerandPressureVesselCodeCase22359(CC2235)Useof
UltrasonicExaminationinLieuofRadiographySectionISectionVIII,Division
1and2andSectionXIIApprovedOctober11,2005

ASMEPressurePipingCodeCase179(CC179)UseofUltrasonicExamination
inLieuofRadiographyforB31.1ApplicationsinMaterialsin.andLessin
WallThicknessApprovedJune28,2006

ASMEBoilerandPressureVesselCodeCaseN6592(CCN659)Useof
UltrasonicExaminationinLieuofRadiographyforWeldExamination:Section
III,Division1and3Revision2approvedJune9,2008

ASMEBoilerandPressureVesselCodeCaseN713(CCN713)Ultrasonic
ExaminationinLieuofRadiographyApprovedNovember10,2008

In2010,ASMEacceptedPAUTandTOFDasUTtechniquesandincludedinto
appendicesofArticle4ofASMESectionV(NondestructiveEvaluation)

DharmveerSingh

ASNTNDTLIIIET,IR,LT,MT,PT,RT,UT,VT

PCNNDTLIIIUT,PAUT,TOFD

API570

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Dharmveer Singh
Production Quality Control Manager at GE Power
3 articles

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RAJEEV J 3h

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M.Tech NDT, Advanced NDT Engineer
Nice work sir...
CC 2235 is replaced by
1. ASME sec VIII div 2 para 7.5.5 (UT in lieu of RT) and the same fracture mechanics based acceptance
criteria is mentioned in tables 7.8, 7.9...etc.

2. Cal block reflector requirements and scanning coverage are mentiond in MA VIII & IX...
Like Reply

MOHD FARHAN 4d
Student M.Tech-NDT
very useful article sir..
Like Reply 1

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