TWI Industrial Member Report Summary 559/1996
B W Kenzie
This report describes the findings of a preliminary study carried out within a Core Programme Research Project to quantity and to develop further the performance of advanced ultrasonic inspection techniques for detection and assessment of weld flaws.
Background
Industry needs reliable ultrasonic testing procedures capable of providing accurate quantitative information from weld flaws. Such information is required to enable sound engineering judgements to be made on the future serviceability or safety of the plant or component in question. A response to this requirement has been the development of a variety of advanced computer-based ultrasonic inspection systems. These systems are used increasingly in situations where 'fitness-for- purpose' criteria are applied as opposed to the traditional flaw acceptance criteria based on 'good workmanship' for quality control. However, there is a need to quantify the performance and reliability of such systems for flaw detection and sizing accuracy, as well as to quantify better the performance obtained from conventional ultrasonic testing procedures.
Objectives
- To investigate the different methods of quantifying the capabilities of conventional and advanced ultrasonic inspection techniques for the detection and sizing of weld flaws.
- To identify the most appropriate form of data presentation capable of providing the required quantitative estimates of ultrasonic performance and reliability for use in fitness-for-purpose assessments.