Automated Ultrasonic (UT) Weld and Flaw Inspection

 

The automated ultrasonic (UT) system provide high speed accurate measurements for weld / flaw detection. The instruments are fully programmable / configurable to provide high resolution C-Scans of weld seams for a large number of different structure geometries.

 

The instruments perform inspections quickly (about 0.5m/min linear scanning velocity), with resolution, in this case, of 1.25 [transverse to weld] x 6 mm. The results are available in real-time, and consist of color-coded amplitude "maps" corresponding to the severity of the indications found. Location (depth) of defects can be determined using time-of-flight data, which is also recorded along with the amplitude data.

 

As shown on the accompanying figures, the ultrasonic data, which is available as either 2-D or 3-D C-Scan images, shows both the presence and location of a weld defect. The same defect is shown on the corresponding x-ray image on the left.

 

X-Ray and C-Scan of crack
X-ray (left) image of a crack.
Same crack shown in weld C-Scan (right)

3D Scan of crack from automated Ultrasonic testing
3D scan image of same crack

C-Scan of HIC
Hydrogen Induced Cracking (HIC) flaw image.