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Phased Array Ulatrasonic
Phased Array Ulatrasonic
Phased Array Ulatrasonic
Development of
Phased-Array Ultrasonic
Testing Acceptability
Criteria (Phase I)
FHWA Publication No.: HRT-14-074
NTIS Accession No. of the report covered in this TechBrief:
PB2014-108873
FHWA Contact: Hamid Ghasemi, HRDI-60, (202) 493-3042,
hamid.ghasemi@dot.gov
This document is a technical summary of the unpublished
Federal Highway Administration report Development of
Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) Acceptability Criteria
(Phase I), available through the NationalTechnical Information
Service at www.ntis.gov.
Introduction
Background
Weld inspections have been primarily carried out as part of quality control in
manufacturing processes, mainly using
radiography. Several research entities
including Electric Power Research Institute
(EPRI), Naval Sea Systems Command, and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among many
othershave focused on improving the examination of welds using both ultrasonic and
PAUT System
An ultrasonic phased-array probe is composed
of multiple elements, usually between 32 and
128, each of which can act as a single ultrasonic
transducer. The patterns in which the elements
may be arranged offer a variety of options,
the simplest of which is a linear array. The
Based on interactions with other federal agencies and experts in steel bridge
fabrication, eight test specimens were
fabricated. The specimens were manufactured by two steel bridge fabricators. The
electro-slag welding (ESW) and submerged
arc welding (SAW) processes were used to
fabricate the specimens. The objective
of using two welding processes was to
determine the influence of the microstructure on the inspection technology. A brief
overview of the two welding processes used
to fabricate the specimens is described in
the next section. These test specimens were
developed in a controlled manner so as to
implant defects that they typically encounter during their manufacturing process. The
typical defects often found in welds are
cracks, lack of fusion, lack of penetration,
cavities, inclusions, excess penetration,
undercut, concavity, burn-through, mismatch,
and lamination. Each defect was implanted
with intent to be separated from each other,
and the defects could be surface or subsur-
Welding Processes
SAW
Specimen
Designation
Welding Process
Thickness (inches)
Length (inches)
Width (inches)
TP-2
ESW
1.5
28.0
24.5
TP-3
ESW
3.3
22.0
23.5
Fabricator
ESW-2-CP
ESW
2.0
48.0
48.8
TP-4
SAW
3.0
36.5
18.0
TP-1
SAW
1.02.0
26.5
25.0
TP-5
ESW
1.52.75
24.5
30.0
ESW-1-2-CP
ESW
1.02.0
48.0
49.0
GSAW-1-2-CP
SAW
1.02.0
48.0
48.0
Calibration
Two phased-array probes with center frequencies of 5 and 2.25 MHz were used for testing.
The two frequencies were used to compare and
contrast the effect of frequency on locating and
sizing defects. The phased-array probes are
linear-array type consisting of 16/64 elements.
A nominal shear-wave refracted 60-degree
wedge was used to ensure coverage of the
weld and the HAZ. The following procedures
ensure good calibration:
Velocity calibration.
Sensitivity calibration.
Time-corrected gain.
Encoder calibration.
Calibration Blocks
Typically, calibration blocks are made of the
same material and heat-treated in the same
fashion as the test specimen. Different types
Figure 2. Calibration verification.
6.6 inches
of reflectors, like side-drilled holes (SDH), flatbottomed holes (FBH), or notches, are used
to calibrate phased-array examination. SDH
is a widely used, well-defined, and reproducible reflector. Considering the thickness
of our test specimens (up to 3.3 inches), a
2-inch-thick Phased Array Calibration Standard
(PACS) block was used for velocity calibration, and a special calibration block for heavy
walls was used for wedge delay and sensitivity calibration. The PACS block is made of
1018 steel consists of three radii (0.50, 1.00,
and 2.00 inches). The block contains five holes
at 3/64-inches diameter drilled through the
1.00-inch width, located at 0.10, 0.20,
0.40, 0.60, 0.80, 1.20, 1.40, 1.60, 1.80, and
1.90 inches from the respective scanning surface. It also includes an engraved scale from 30 to
70 degrees, associated with the 0.800-inch
hole for beam angle verification. The block is
18 inches long, 2 inches high, and 1 inch wide.
The specialpurpose, phased-array calibration
block for heavy walls is made of 1018 steel
and is 26 inches long, 6.5 inches high, and
1.25 inches wide. The block has ten SDHs that
are 0.05 inches in diameter. All SDHs are parallel to the scanning surface. The calibration
verification (carried out using the special block
after performing all the checks and calibration
steps) is shown in figure 2.
Figure 3. TP-3 scan plan showing the refracted angles at index point 1.
Figure 8. S-scan indicating defects located at the bottom half of specimen TP-3.
Figure 9. S-scan indicating defects located at the top half of specimen TP-3.
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Figure 10. A- and B-scan images used to determine the height and depth of a defect located in speciment TP-3.
References
Conclusions
The preliminary technical approach and scan
plans developed during phase I of this research
were tested on four butt-weld specimens. The
ray path analysis carried out when developing the scan plans and the preliminary data
analysis indicated the need to carry out a minimum of two scans at different index points to
enable complete volume coverage of the weld,
particularly for thick weld specimens. The
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ResearchersThis study was initiated by Engineering and Software Consultants, Inc., Chantilly, VA,
Contract No. DTFH61-08-D-000014.
DistributionThe report covered in this TechBrief is being distributed through the National Technical
Information Service at www.ntis.gov.
AvailabilityThis TechBrief may be obtained from the FHWA Product Distribution Center by email to
report.center@dot.gov, fax to (814) 239-2156, phone to (814) 239-1160, or online at http://www.fhwa.dot.
gov/research.
Key WordsCorrosion, section loss, nondestructive evaluation, phased-array ultrasonic, pulsed radiography, steel bridge.
NoticeThis document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of
Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for
the use of the information contained in this document. The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers names appear in this TechBrief only because they
are considered essential to the objective of the document.
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OCTOBER 2014
12
FHWA-HRT-14-074
HRDI-60/10-14(50)