Non-Destructive Inspection of High Temperature Piping Combining Ultrasound and Eddy Current Testing.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Non-Destructive Testing (NDT)
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Orbital welds on tubular components are critical in high-temperature industrial applications.
• In-service inspection of these welds at elevated temperatures presents significant challenges for traditional NDT methods.
• Ensuring weld integrity at temperatures up to 200°C is vital for operational safety and efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an automated Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) system for in-service inspection of orbital welds.
• To address the challenges of inspecting welds operating at high temperatures (up to 200°C).
• To combine multiple NDT techniques for comprehensive defect detection.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of an automated NDT system integrating phased array ultrasound and Eddy current techniques.
• Phased array ultrasound was utilized for detecting volumetric defects within the weld bead.
• Eddy current testing was employed for identifying surface and sub-surface cracks.

Main Results:

• The phased array ultrasound system demonstrated effective cooling mechanisms and temperature compensation for sound attenuation up to 200°C.
• Eddy current testing showed minimal influence from temperature variations, remaining effective up to 300°C.
• The combined NDT approach successfully covered the detection of various potential weld defect conditions.

Conclusions:

• The developed automated NDT system is effective for in-service inspection of orbital welds at high temperatures.
• The synergistic combination of ultrasound and Eddy current techniques provides a robust solution for comprehensive weld integrity assessment.
• The system's ability to compensate for temperature effects ensures reliable defect detection in demanding operational environments.