6.

1 Briefing

Before the start of inspection, the team members should be properly

briefed on the task to be undertaken, using the written procedures as
a basis. Particular attention should be paid to resolving any
uncertainties and ensuring that any peculiarities of the equipment or
the operation are understood, especially when no direct supervision is
possible.

Since the description of the findings is often crucial to the success of

inspection, the Inspector and any associated personnel should be
aware of the terminology to be used, especially any non-standard
jargon or terms. Reference may usefully be made to the UK Health
and Safety Executive publication: ‘A Handbook for Underwater
Inspection’; OTI 88-539; HMSO 1988.

6.2 Location reference marking

On large underwater constructions a good location reference system

is extremely important to pinpoint spots for repair or repeated in-
service inspection, and suitable aids must be available in order to
permit the inspector or ROV pilot to be able to navigate to and
identify the correct subjects for the inspection. Flaws and areas
examined for corrosion should be marked to allow re-examination on
subsequent occasions. When using ROVs it may be required to do a
local three-dimensional mapping of the inspection site using suitable
probes in order to locate the inspection probes accurately.

6.3 Cleaning

Most underwater NDT methods require some cleaning of the marine

growth to be done, the severity of the cleaning depending on
capability of the NDT equipment to operate on various types of
surface, and on the type of marine growth. If the structure has been
given protective coatings this will also be important.

The choice of cleaning method is thus influenced by a number of

factors, including the extent of cleaning required, the type of marine

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growth (soft or hard deposits), and the type of inspection to be
carried out.

The most common cleaning techniques are water jetting, grinding,

wire brushing, and abrasive blasting. Low-pressure water jetting guns
can be used down to 40 m water depth. Hand-held tools such as
scrapers and wire brushes are also used, and although they are slow
and relatively ineffective by comparison with the power methods,
they do find application for inspection of small areas.

Whichever cleaning method is chosen, it must not cause excessive

damage to the surface. Care must be taken not to introduce new
stress concentrations arising from notches or deep scratches
produced during cleaning. The cleaning must not peen over the
edges of any cracks, or work-harden the surface as this can affect
some NDT methods such as MPI or eddy current examination. Water
jetting, wire brushing and abrasive cleaning to bare metal are
generally acceptable for MPI or ultrasonic inspection. Grinding should
be done only as a last resort to remove hard deposits, and needle
guns should be avoided. Reflective metal finishes will make
photography difficult and may hinder MPI and so should be avoided.
A matt bare metal finish is normally achieved when cleaning is
specified to IS0 8501-1 :1 988 Grade 2%.

Most eddy current and ACFM systems can be used to carry out weld
inspection without having to clean the welds down to bare metal and
in some cases they can be applied with certain types of protective
coatings in place ( See section 7.3)

Cleaning equipment using power tools or high-pressure water jets is

capable of inflicting severe injury or even death in the event of an
accident. Supervisory personnel responsible for the cleaning
operation shall ensure that all personnel concerned in the inspection
have been properly trained and are familiar with the use and
characteristics of the equipment, and that the equipment is fully
serviceable and complies with relevant safety standards. The
cleaning method will be specified in the procedures, and should be
approved by the regulatory authority.

Further information on cleaning is given in Appendix A.

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