Successful postgraduate radiography course at the University of Warwick

19/08/2010

During the week commencing 22 March 2010, a number of EngD students attended a 3½ day postgraduate Radiography NDT course at the University of Warwick. This was the second time the course has been presented, which focuses more on the theoretical and mathematical aspects of radiography rather than the practical.

The course was organised by Dr Steve Dixon (Chair of the NDT Technical Committee of BINDT) on behalf of the UK’s Research Centre in Non-Destructive Evaluation (RCNDE). It was developed by Dr George A Georgiou (President, BINDT) in association with Dr Dixon and RCNDE. It is an intensive course. The students worked very hard and completed two daily topic assessments followed by an end-of-course assignment. The following topics were covered:

1.   Introduction to radiography
   a.   A brief history
   b.   Why and where it is used
   c.   Comparison with other methods
   d.   Overall basic principles

2.   The physics of radiography
   a.   Atomic structure
   b.   Nature of X-rays and y-rays
   c.   Generation of X-rays and production of y-rays
   d.   Absorption and attenuation
   e.   Recording radiation

3.   The interaction of radiation with matter
   a.   Conventional radiography measurements and what they measure
   b.   Advantages and limitations
   c.   The interpretation of radiographic images
       i.   Welds
       ii.    Castings
       iii. Reference radiographs

4.   State-of-the-art radiographic techniques
   a.   Digital radiography
       i.   Real-time radiography
       ii.   Computed radiography (CR)
       iii.   Computed tomography (CT)
       iv.   Digitising radiography
       v.   Filmless radiography
   b.   Special methods
   c.   The future directions of radiography
    d.   Trip to GE, Coventry

5.   Health and safety considerations
   a.   Radiation units
   b.   Permissible dose limits
    c.   Radiation monitoring equipment
    d.    y-ray course containers
    e.   Safety requirements
    f.   The significant and harmful effects of radiation

There were 11 attendees on the March 2010 course, listed in the Table.

The course also included a visit to GE in Coventry, which was organised with the kind co-operation of Peter Sinclair (GE Entsol SensInsp). The picture shows the BINDT President, Peter Sinclair and the rest of the students at GE.

Peter Sinclair demonstrated GE’s computed radiography (CR) system with a range of CR images of watches, mobile phones and calculators, which all came back safe and still working! Peter also produced a unique image of the President’s pet scorpion, Rory (pictured). Rory remained angelic throughout the whole procedure.

For further information and details of future courses, contact George Georgiou on george@jacobiconsulting.co.uk

Name	Academic/Industrial Association
Name	Academic	Industrial	Topic
1. Andrew Galvagni	Imperial College, London	BP	Permanently installed pipeline monitoring system
2. Chris Charlesworth	University of Warwick	RWE Npower	Advanced ultrasonic inspection of steam turbine rotors
3. Christopher Lane	University of Bristol	Rolls-Royce	Volumetric inspection of aerospace components with 2D ultrasonic arrays
4. David Duxbury	Imperial College, London	Rolls-Royce	Further development of advanced array technology
5. Gabriel Bolu	University of Strathclyde	Rolls-Royce	NDT of dirty parts
6. Gregory Ptaszek	Imperial College, London	Alstom	Thermal NDE
7. Jake Ward	University of Bristol	Airbus	Active structural health monitoring
8. Keith Tiplady	University of Bristol	Airbus	Acoustic emission monitoring of complex aerospace structures
9. Melody Drewry	University of Bristol	QinetiQ plc	Non-linear ultrasonics
10. Robin Jones	Imperial College, London	BP	Use of microwaves for the detection of corrosion under insulation
11. Sam Fletcher	Imperial College, London	E.ON	Guided waves for power plant applications

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