TECHINFO
Book Review
Ultrasonic Flaw Detection for Technicians
J.C. Drury
Available from ATTAR - 03 9574 6144, admin@attar.com.au
Cost $125.00 plus P&P $15.00.
At long last Drury has been updated and reprinted, gone
is the familiar black and green striped cover, mauve or is
it lilac, is in. Some of the contents have been
compressed, chapters 2 to 4 have been reduced to one
and modified to encompass modern flaw detection
equipment, but the principles of ultrasound generation
and properties are still the same. Compression, shear,
surface and plate waves are provided with the more
detailed equations for calculating the velocities, not that
technicians are expected to do the calculations. Yes
creeping waves are added. The diagrams and
photographs have been redone, but still contain some
inaccuracies due to the use of computer drawing
packages and inadequate use of the appropriate spell
checker, and I still do not understand why he writes
Snell’s Law as:
SinI SinR
=
V1 V2
for me Sin i Sin r
=
Vi Vr
is mathematically correct and far less confusing.
ATTAR
Advanced Technology Testing and Research
Unit 27, 134 Springvale Road, PO Box 286, Springvale Victoria 3171 T (03) 9574 6144 F (03) 9574 6133 E admin@attar.com.au www.attar.com.au
The section on piezoelectric materials and transducer
construction has been enlarged to cover newer
developments such as emats, composite probes and the
use of lasers. Similarly the flaw detector chapter has
been updated, gone is the section through the CRO,
though the basic schematic circuit diagram is still
provided. The chapter also covers the variety of names
given to some of the control knobs by equipment
manufacturers who have difficulty in standardizing
equipment. Gates are given more coverage as well.
However, the Experiments are gone.
Chapters 9 to 15 take the technician through the
practical application of compression, shear and surface
waves, then look at the inspection of Castings, Forgings
and Welds in the detail necessary to achieve reliable
results. These sections are, for me, the essence of the
book because they guide technicians through the
inspection processes for a wide range of applications.
The detail of weld inspection from plates to nozzles
gives the second largest chapter and is followed by the
largest chapter, on sizing techniques. Although 007’s
intensity drop pig has been supplanted by the town
planning inspector checking house dimensions, the
chapter on defect sizing still points out the problems
associated with sizing real defects. The chapter has
been expanded to take in TOFD, which is explained with
a clarity not readily available elsewhere.
Drury is still the book for technicians, uncluttered by
unnecessary equations, with plenty of diagrams
illustrating the principles and practice of ultrasonic
inspections. It is a must read for all technicians.
Dr Gary Martin MIEAust CPEng
Technical Director - ATTAR