[2A3] Comparative study on over 150 m of welded joints using established (PA/TOFD) and emerging (PCI/TFM) ultrasonic imaging methods
F Turcu¹, D Visan², V Coman² and A Le Duff³
¹Evident Scientific Europe, Germany
²Namicon Testing SRL, Romania
³Evident Scientific, Canada
Instantaneous phase coherence imaging (IPCI), or simply phase coherence imaging (PCI), is a recent non-destructive testing (NDT) technique developed for imaging of small UT indications such as crack tips, inclusions or porosities in the welds. Derived from the more widely used technique of total focusing method (TFM) and full matrix capture (FMC), PCI relies on phase information rather than amplitude to enhance diffracted signals coming from discontinuities in the area of interest. In previous work, the authors have already explained the benefits of PCI over more traditional techniques such as time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD) on theoretical models and laboratory data. The current study aims to extend the previous work on PCI by applying it to a larger number of real-life pipeline construction welds. A 48 inch pipeline construction project represented a good opportunity to assess the benefits of phase coherence in a real-life project. One of the qualified and approved methods for the inspection of the 48 inch OD pipeline welds is phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) in conjunction with TOFD. The current study will include the analysis of more than 150 m of welded joints during the construction phase of the pipeline. The data files will be acquired using the qualified PA/TOFD method, while additional files will be generated on the same welds using the TFM/PCI techniques. The analysis of the results will consider several parameters such as acquisition time, accuracy of detection and sizing of indications in the TFM/PCI data with respect to the qualified PA/TOFD method.
