Anna Runnemalm

Comparison of NDT-methods for automatic inspection of weld defects

The purpose of this study is to investigate different NDT-methods for weld inspection in an objective manner. Test objects are produced with known variation of flaws: internal pores, surface and in ...

Ultraviolet excitation for thermography inspection of surface cracks in welded joints

Infrared thermography is a non-contact and full field inspection method which has proven to be suitable for automatic surface crack detection. For automatic analysis of the inspection results, a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is required. In this paper an alternative excitation method, using ultraviolet (UV) illumination, is presented and evaluated. Artificial surface defects, so-called notches, in a titanium plate are detected both in the weld seam and in the heat affected zone. Notches with a size from 80 μm in width and 250 μm in length are detected. The SNR using UV illumination is compared with that using flash lamp excitation. The results show that UV illumination using a mercury lamp is a good alternative as excitation source for thermography when detecting surface cracks. To validate the excitation method, results from real surface cracks are included.

Improved corner detection by ultrasonic testing using phase analysis.

In ultrasonic testing, corners are used for sensitivity calibration in the form of notches, for measuring the sound velocity in the material, and as known reference points during testing. A 90° corner will always reflect incoming waves in the opposite direction due to a double reflection and therefore give a strong echo. This article presents a method for separating the echo from a corner from other echoes and more accurately find the position of the corner. The method is based on analysing the phase of the reflected signal. The proposed method was tested on a steel calibration block and the width of the indication was reduced by up to 50% compared to the amplitude signal. This results in a more accurate positioning of the corner. Using the phase instead of the amplitude will also improve the reliability, since reflections other than from corners will disappear.

Influence of Vibration Induced Disturbances in an Automatic Inspection Cell

In the modern manufacturing industry, quality assurance is important. Over the last few years, the interest in automatic inspection has increased and automatic non-destructive testing (NDT) has been introduced. A general automated inspection cell consists of a mechanized system for scanning and a computer system for automatic analysis of the data. In the manufacturing industry, it is preferable to use industrial robots as the scanning equipment since they offer great flexibility, excellent support organization and the in-house know-how is normally high. Another benefit is that a robot can carry different inspection equipment and an inspection cell can therefore include more than one NDT method. For an automatic analysis, high quality of the resulting data is essential. However, a non-stable condition of the NDT sensor mounted on the robotic arm may influence the results. This paper focuses on the influence of the vibration induced disturbances on the results from an NDT system. Vibration amplitude of a point to point robot movement on the robotic arm is measured. The influence of vibration disturbances on the inspection results are evaluated on the thermal images from a thermography system mounted on a six axis industrial robot. The thermal images taken by the system during the movement and after the stop of the robot are evaluated, and the influence of the vibration in these two situations is considered.