Search results for "Ultrasonic testing"
showing 10 items of 30 documents
Detection, characterization and sizing of hydrogen induced cracking in pressure vessels using phased array ultrasonic data processing
2016
Abstract Pressure vessels operating in sour service conditions in refinery environments can be subject to the risk of H₂S cracking resulting from the hydrogen entering into the material. This risk, which is related to the specific working conditions and to the quality of the steel used, shall be properly managed in order to maintain the highest safety at a cost-effective level. Nowadays the typical management strategy is based on a risk based inspection (RBI) evaluation to define the inspection plan used in conjunction with a fitness for service (FFS) approach in defining if the vessel, although presenting dangerous defects such as cracks, can still be considered “fit for purpose” for a giv…
Outlier analysis and principal component analysis to detect fatigue cracks in waveguides
2009
Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGWs) are a useful tool in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications that can benefit from built-in transduction, moderately large inspection ranges and high sensitivity to small flaws. This paper describes a SHM method based on UGWs, discrete wavelet transform (DWT), outlier analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) able to detect and quantify the onset and propagation of fatigue cracks in structural waveguides. The method combines the advantages of guided wave signals processed through the DWT with the outcomes of selecting defectsensitive features to perform a multivariate diagnosis of damage. The framework presented in this paper is applied to the de…
Robotic path planning for non-destructive testing of complex shaped surfaces
2015
The requirement to increase inspection speeds for non-destructive testing (NDT) of composite aerospace parts is common to many manufacturers. The prevalence of complex curved surfaces in the industry provides significant motivation for the use of 6 axis robots for deployment of NDT probes in these inspections. A new system for robot deployed ultrasonic inspection of composite aerospace components is presented. The key novelty of the approach is through the accommodation of flexible robotic trajectory planning, coordinated with the NDT data acquisition. Using a flexible approach in MATLAB, the authors have developed a high level custom toolbox that utilizes external control of an industrial …
3D simulations and experiments of guided wave propagation in adhesively bonded multi-layered structures
2010
Understanding guided wave propagation in multi-layered plates and interaction with discontinuities can be difficult, as well as the interpretation of the ultrasonic signals. Propagation of guided waves can be studied analytically solving the equations of motion with the proper boundary conditions; nevertheless analytical models can be difficult to solve for complex multi-layered structures or having inner discontinuities. The problem can be efficiently studied using numerical techniques. Simulation of guided wave propagation in multi-layered structures, for ultrasonic waves in the MHz range, is solved here with the finite element analysis based on an explicit integration rule to solve the e…
Bond characterization of monolithic and layered glass panels and ultrasonic tests to control glued surfaces
2019
Abstract An experimental investigation is presented regarding the compressive and shear strength of monolithic and PVB laminated glass elements connected by acrylic glue. Ultrasonic tests were also used to control the efficiency of glued surfaces of glass panels. Twenty-four triplets composed of three float glass elements glued with acrylic adhesive were prepared to perform bond tests. Of these twelve triplets were made with monolithic glass elements with a nominal thickness of 20 mm, while twelve were made with layered glass elements 20 mm thick. Three single elements of monolithic glass and three of layered glass were tested for compressive strength. Ultrasonic tests were performed on a s…
Global–local model for three-dimensional guided wave scattering with application to rail flaw detection
2021
This study presents a three-dimensional global–local formulation for the prediction of guided wave scattering from discontinuities (e.g. defects). The approach chosen utilizes the Semi-Analytical Finite Element method for the “global” portion of the waveguide, and a full Finite Element discretization for the “local” portion of the waveguide containing the discontinuity. The application of interest is the study of guided wave scattering from transverse head defects in rails. Theoretical scattering results are impossible to obtain in this case for a wide-frequency range. While three-dimensional Semi-Analytical Finite Element–Finite Element models for guided wave scattering studies have been …
Experimental study of bubble detection in liquid metal.
2017
International audience; Bubble detection in liquid metal is an important issue for various technological applications. For instance, in the framework of Sodium Fast Reactors design, the presence of gas in the sodium flow of the primary and secondary loops is an issue of crucial importance for safety and reliability. Here, the two main gas measurement methods in sodium are ultrasonic testing and eddy-current testing; we investigate the second method in our study. In a first approach, we have performed experiments with liquid metal galinstan containing insulating spherical beads of millimeter size. The liquid metal is probed with an Eddy-current Flowmeter (ECFM) in order to detect the beads a…
Ultrasonic inspection for the detection of debonding in CFRP-reinforced concrete
2017
Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) composites are extensively used to retrofit civil structures. However, the quality and the characteristics of the bond between the FRP and the structure are critical to ensure the efficacy of the retrofit. For this reason, effective non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods are often necessary to assess the bonding conditions. This article presents an ultrasonic technique for detecting defects at the FRP-substrate interface. The technique uses the Akaike Information Criterion, to detect automatically the onset of the ultrasonic signals, and the novel Equivalent Time Lenght (ETL) parameter, to quantify the energy of the propagating ultrasonic signals along the i…
In-process calibration of a non-destructive testing system used for in-process inspection of multi-pass welding
2020
Abstract In multi-pass welding, there is increasing motivation to move towards in-process defect detection to enable real-time repair; thus avoiding deposition of more layers over a defective weld pass. All defect detection techniques require a consistent and repeatable approach to calibration to ensure that measured defect sizing is accurate. Conventional approaches to calibration employ fixed test blocks with known defect sizes, however, this methodology can lead to incorrect sizing when considering complex geometries, materials with challenging microstructure, and the significant thermal gradients present in materials during the inter-pass inspection period. To circumvent these challenge…
Ultrasonic detection by photo-EMF sensor and by wideband air-coupled transducer
2004
Two non-contact remote ultrasonic detection systems are compared. The first consists of a continuous wave (CW) Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 532 nm used in conjunction with a photo-induced electromotive-force (EMF) sensor. The second system employs an air-coupled capacitance transducer that has a bandwidth from 100 kHz up to 2 MHz. Both systems exhibit higher sensitivity to out-of-plane than in-plane measurements of stress wave signals. Ultrasound generation is carried out by an Nd:YAG pulsed laser at 532 nm in the thermoelastic regime in a 1.6 mm aluminum plate. A0 Lamb mode is generated at frequency-thickness product with strong out-of-plane displacements. Ultrasonic waveforms acquired are r…