Saipennr

Radiography has beenusedto inspectpipelineweldsfor decades,butthishas severelimitations,

particularly
for ECAassessment. As a result,radiographyfor pipelinesis beingsteadilyreplaced
by ultrasonics
worldwide.

Advantagesof AUT over RT

Specifically,
radiography
hasthe disadvantages
shownon
the side.
1\ DISADVANTAGES
Furthermore AUTofferthe advantaoe of: A Of RADIOGRApI{y
Safetv
- Absenceof radiation hazards; Cannotmeasure
defectdepths
- Absenceof an RT crawlerunit;
Enviroment
Absenceof chemicalproducts, ls typicallyslowerthan
Cvcletime
- Speedof inspection;
Insoectionrecords
- Fastaccessto acquireddata;
Qualitvcontrol
- Accurated measured of defectdeoth: Detectionis usuallyinferiorto
- Applicabilityof fracturemechanicsacceptance
criteria conventional mechanized
ultrasonics
insteadof workmanship;
Accuracv
- The ProbabilityOf Detection(POD) of defectsis
betterthanRT;
- Abilityto accuratelysizedefects;
- Weldrepairare morejustifiedwithAUTthanwithRT;

Overall,ultrasonicscansaveconstruction
costsby processcontrolandthe useof ECAto minimize
the rejectrate,oftenbelow1%.

A new development
in Automatedultrasonic of pipelines(AUT)comesin the form of
inspection
pnaseoarrays.

1.2TypicalWeld Defects
In autogenousfusionweldingdiscontinuities
can be foundbothin the weldmetaland in the heat
alteredzone.
somediscontinuities,
formedin oneof thesetwozones,can propagate in the parentmaterial.

1. INTRODUCT]ON