Phased Array Ultrasonics (PAUT)
Phased array is widely used for nondestructive testing (NDT) in several industrial sectors, such as... View more
Phased array instruments and ability to define anisotropic velocity?
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Phased array instruments and ability to define anisotropic velocity?
Does anyone know of any PAUT equipment that allows you to define velocity as a function of angle? I believe that Olympus PipeWIZARD V4 has this capability, but beyond that I’m not aware of any regular sort of, “field portable” PAUT set that permits you define velocity as a function of angle (a “velocity vector”, if you will).
Last year I came across this problem first hand while inspecting welds on TMCP pipeline steel. Ed Ginzel and I got a sample, and figured out a very simple way to calibrate for it using two phased array probes in pitch-catch, placed on the pipe material. It was much more common than we thought. I fear they may be many PAUT crews out there looking at “melting S-scans”, and plotting defects incorrectly. This is something that we hope (one day ) to be integrated into field portable PAUT equipment (hint hint my PAUT OEMs!).
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1 Reply
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Hello,
unfortunately I’m not aware of any field portable equipment with these capabilities but would also be interested in seeing this functionality being implemented.
As you seem to have quite extensive experience with TCMP steel: What would be your approach for calibration when checking welds in a sheet steel construction? For welds in rolling direction and transverse to the rolling direction its manageable as you mentioned. But there are also all the angles in between, sometimes even within one weld, for example with a circular part in a cutout.
Our approach so far is to calibrate for one speed and for the highest losses of amplitude and if indications are found, we recalibrate for that specific area of interest and reevaluate.
