Gerhard Brekow

ADVANCED CRACK SHAPE ANALYSIS USING SAFT

The spatial resolution in ultrasonic testing as a wave phenomenon in nature is limited to a certain fraction of the wavelength, usually defined to be close to the Rayleigh criterion. In case of complicated reflector surfaces—such as stress corrosion cracking—this limitation prevents an exact visualization of the defect shape. There exist a few approaches to improve the spatial resolution, whose reconstruction quality all in common also depend on the achieved signal‐to‐noise ratio of the raw data. In this work we present a specific SAFT analysis, in which a high number of different angles of incidence produce a sufficiently high number of different reflections at the crack edges resulting in an improved SNR. In doing so, we reconstruct a coherent crack structure. First investigations were made at artificially simulated crack configurations with different contours and curvatures in flat and cylindrical test blocks. The measurements results—visualized by representative scans—show details of crack design and ...

Ferroelectret transducers for air-coupled ultrasonic testing of fiber-reinforced polymers

Ferroelectrets are promising materials for air-coupled ultrasonic transducers. A transducer made of polarized cellular polypropylene, including its electronic interface, was developed and compared with conventional air-coupled probes. Test pieces of fiber-reinforced polymer containing impact flaws and flat-bottom holes were inspected in transmission. The ferroelectret transducers achieved a considerably higher signal-to-noise ratio. The impacts were clearly visible with all transducers, but less noisy with ferroelectret transducers. The flat-bottom holes were better detectable than with a conventional probe with about the same focus size.

Reliable Evaluation of Acceptability of Weld for Final Disposal Based on the Canister Copper Weld Inspection Using Different NDT Methods

Abstract The inspection of the sealing weld is an important phase for the evaluation of the acceptability of final disposal canister, but the weld is only a part of the 3D shielding of copper shell. The main tasks for reliable NDT evaluation requires an extensive evaluation of the parameters – which contains typical inspection related items like repeatability, S/N ratio, POD, setting up the equipment for inspection, and all practices for inspections. The other parameters are material parameters, their variation must be taken into account in the evaluation of NDT reliability. Further parameters include human factors, i. e. human inspectors and their interaction with technical systems; their effects were studied on an example of the evaluation of eddy current data. Final parameters are related to evaluation of detected defects, which means sizing and base for acceptance and this can be done in different ways. Some examples are given and results are compared with different methods for instance between radiographic testing and ultrasonic testing by raw data analysis and PA-SAFT results. Also, preliminary curves for the evaluation of metallographic results of 55 defects will be shown by EB weld measurements. Some practical items concerning copper inspections will be also discussed related to acceptability.

Matrix phased arrays for the inspection of CFRP-components

Lightweight components are increasingly used in different industrial sectors such as transportation, energy generation and automotive. This growing field includes different types of CFRP-structures, hybrid materials and glued components showing - compared to their pure metallic counterparts- a significant more complicated structure in terms of internal interfaces and anisotropy of material parameters. In this work we present the use of matrix phased array to increase the amount of obtained information to enhance the inspection quality. We used different types of carbon materials such as 6 mm thick uni- and bidirectional prepreg specimens containing impact damages. The latter were introduced with different energy levels ranging from 1.3 to 7.2 J. By scanning a 2.25 MHz matrix array with 6 × 10 elements above the prepreg surface and using different angels of incidence a complete 3D-image was generated which allows the detection of defects as small as 1mm in a depth of 4 mm. A comparison with conventional ap...

PHASED ARRAY‐BASED SAFT FOR DEFECT SIZING ON POWER PLANT COMPONENTS

Quantitative NDE methods play a key role when it comes to inspect components, which requires high operational safety. UT‐SAFT is one of the well‐known reconstruction tools, which provides information about the defect size. In this work we studied the use of phased array technique in combination with the SAFT algorithm to inspect power plant components. As a first example we inspected a real‐sized mock‐up model representing a part of a reactor pressure vessel with a 180 mm‐thick ferritic base material followed by a 6 mm‐thick austenitic cladding layer. The phased array probe was coupled at the outer ferritic surface. We detected and sized fatigue cracks within the cladding with a depth ranging from 4 mm to 10 mm. Secondly, we investigated a mock‐up model resembling a nozzle including a thermo sleeve inlet and a maximum wall thickness of about 37 mm. Artificially inserted notches with a depth of 3 mm could be detected and sized, where the thermo sleeve is welded at the inside of the nozzle.

Parameter reproducibility of polypropylene ferroelectret transducers for air-coupled ultrasonic testing

The extremely low acoustic impedance of polypropylene ferroelectret combined with its piezoelectric properties makes this material suitable for construction of air-coupled ultrasonic transducers for non-destructive testing. For the fabrication of transducers with a stable quality, the reproducibility of their key parameters is of interest. The reproducibility was evaluated by means of (i) impedance spectroscopy and (ii) pulse-echo measurements. (i) Impedance spectroscopy was applied to identify the resonance frequency, the coupling factor and the acoustic impedance of several nominally identical transducers. (ii) Pulse-echo measurements yielded the signal form of these transducers. The variation of the signal amplitude measured with pulseecho technique was about 10 dB. A part of this variation comes from the deposition of transducer electrodes and another part from local variations of ferroelectret properties. The variation of the signal amplitude was caused by the observed variation of the coupling factor, which was also about 10 dB. The variation of the acoustic impedance was only about 1 dB, thus having no effect on the variation of the signal amplitude. These results indicate that the variability can be reduced by improving the control of electrode deposition and by optimizing the production technology affecting the reproducibility of material properties.

TIME OF FLIGHT DIFFRACTION (ToFD) WITH THz RADIATION—AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE ULTRA SOUND—ToFD TECHNIQE FOR NON‐METALLIC MATERIALS

A time domain spectrometer in the range of 0.5–2 THz was used for time of flight (ToF) measurements of THz pulses for imperfection detection in non metallic materials. The measurements were performed in comparison to the established ultra sound pulse echo (PE) and time of flight diffraction (ToFD) technique. No coupling agent and no contact to the surface is required for THz ToFD measurements. Plastic test specimen with notches, voids and drilled side holes were used to study reflected and diffracted response signals. No major differences were observed between the UT and THz ToFD records for the first surface of the notches, voids and holes. Additionally to the UT records also signals were obtained from its back side and a second raw of holes. The THz measurement is fast and has the potential to substitute UT applications in some industrial areas. Within the German project “Handheld” the potential for miniaturization of the time domain equipment is explored for efficient application.

ULTRASONIC INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED ROUND‐BAR‐TESTING BASED ON PHASED ARRAY TECHNIQUE

Within a know‐how transfer project funded by the government conventional ultrasonic technique was replaced by phased array technique for automated round‐bar testing. Instead of applying a great number of conventional probes to achieve acceptable volume coverage we used curved linear arrays. The benefits of phased array technique such as programmable skew angles, beamforming and beam positions, led not only to a significant decrease in inspection time, but also the number of probes could be substantially reduced . Finally, the testing parameters for a large range of bar‐diameters could be adapted by software control instead of time‐consuming mechanical replacement. The probe‐design was carried out by a proprietary modelling program. Both the theoretical calculations as well as the latter experimental verifications revealed significant advantages of curved arrays versus the planar types. A radial oriented probe offers perfect adaption to the cylindrical shape of the specimen allowing wide variations of the ...