Altrad Babcock

With over 40 years' experience and 40+ permanent staff based at Renfrew, Altrad Babcock provides services that encompass the full breadth of technology transfer, from research and development to the design and manufacture of specialised equipment and systems to providing site application. Its worldwide reputation is based on providing high-quality, high-integrity inspection, always with an eye to practical application.
The capability includes:

• Conventional and specifically developed ultrasonic and eddy current techniques (TOFD/phased array)
• Automated ultrasonic (MIPS/GUIDE) and eddy current inspections
• Inspection qualification, including technical justification (ASME/ENIQ)
• Procedure and equipment validation
• Inspection of austenitic and duplex welds
• Inspection of complex-geometry components
• Defect fingerprinting, characterisation and sizing using semi-automated equipment
• High-temperature ultrasonic inspection
• Fitness-for-purpose inspections
• Provision of ISI services
• Use of novel solutions, including the 'swimming' robot AIRIS, to provide ISI services to remote and difficult-to-access areas within NPP plant
• Laser scanning to generate 3D as-built models of plant
• Panoramic imaging
• Offshore inspection services, including TOFD and laser scanning.

Altrad Babcock is accredited by UKAS and SWEDAC for automated UT inspections and by UKAS for manual UT, MT and PT inspections.

Altrad Babcock offers NDT consultancy covering:

• Advice on inspection problems
• Feasibility studies
• Troubleshooting
• Independent third-party review of inspection procedures
• Group-sponsored projects
• Computer modelling of inspection capability
• Design for inspection
• NDT equipment evaluation
• Strategies for fitness-for-purpose inspections and revalidation
• Inspection qualification
• Risk-based and non-invasive inspection.

In addition, a range of consultancy services are offered to operators who wish to implement condition-based maintenance strategies. Development and implementation of risk-based strategies for inspection and maintenance programmes is also available.

Services associated with assessing the condition of plant and predicting the remaining life of critical components include:

• All plant: a range of techniques is used to determine the condition of equipment, including thermography, metallography, visual inspection (camera, fibrescope) and performance benchmarking.
• Rotating machinery and pipework systems: for monitoring services, ranging from setting up databases and classifying machinery through to taking measurements and carrying out analysis and diagnostics.
• High-temperature plant: remanent life assessment using replication techniques to evaluate creep fatigue damage. On-site services are backed up by metallurgical and chemical analysis facilities.

Altrad Babcock also carries out R&D in the fields of manual, semi-automated and fully automated ultrasonic and eddy current methods. Specialist areas include ultrasonic inspection of austenitic and duplex welds, development of ultrasonic and eddy current inspection techniques for difficult geometries and materials, phased array ultrasonics, hot ultrasonic inspection, TOFD technique, high-reliability computer-controlled fully automated ultrasonic inspections, inspection qualification, computer modelling of inspection capability, consultancy, troubleshooting and group-sponsored projects.