Measurement Units in NDT

NONDESTRUCTIVE
TESTING
MODULE 1
Measurement Units for Nondestructive Testing
International System
Part 3
In 1960, the General Conference on Weights and Measures established
the International System of Units. Le Systéme International d'Unités (SI)
was designed so that a single set of measurement units could be used
by all branches of science, engineering and the general public. Without
the International System of Units, the Nondestructive Testing Handbook
series would contain a confusing mix of obsolete centimeter gram
second (CGS) units, inch pound units and the units preferred by certain
localities or scientific specialties.
The International System of Units is the modern version of the metric
system and ends the division between metric units used by scientists
and metric units used by engineers and the public. Scientists have given
up their units based on centimeter and gram and engineers have
abandoned the kilogram-force in favor of the newton. Electrical
engineers have retained the ampere, volt and ohm but changed all units
related to magnetism.
Table 4 lists the seven base units of the International System of Units.
Table 5 lists derived units with special names. In the International
System of Units, the unit of time is the second (s); the hour (h) is
recognized for use with the International System of Units.
Table 4 SI base units.
.
Table 5 SI derived units with special names.
.
Old units should not be used in science and engineering. Table 6 gives
some conversions to units in the International System of Units. In
science and engineering, very large or very small numbers with units are
expressed by using multipliers, prefixes of 103 intervals (Table 7). The
multiplier becomes a part of the SI symbol. For example, a millimeter
(mm) is 0.001 meter (m). The volume unit cubic centimeter (cm Unit
submultiples such as the centimeter, decimeter, decameter and
hectometer are less common in scientific and technical uses of the
International System of Units because of their variance from the
convenient 103 or 10-3 intervals that make equations easy to manipulate.
Table 6 Examples of conversions to SI units.
.
Table 6 Examples of conversions to SI units.
.
Table 7 SI prefixes and multipliers.
.
In the International System of Units, the distinction between upper and
lower case letters is meaningful and should be observed. For example,
the meanings of the prefix m (milli) and the prefix M (mega) differ by nine
orders of magnitude.
For more information, the reader is referred to the information available
through national standards organizations and specialized information
compiled by technical organizations.
Units for Visual Testing
Illumination
Many characteristics of light, light sources, lighting materials and lighting
installations may be measured, including illuminance, luminance,
luminous intensity, luminous flux, contrast, color (appearance and
rendering), spectral distribution, electrical characteristics and radiant
energy.
In visual testing, units express measurements of visible light as part of
the electromagnetic spectrum. In the electromagnetic spectrum,
radiometry is the measurement of radiant energy, both visible and
invisible. Photometry in Greek means simply light measurement.
Radiometry measures all forms of electromagnetic radiation, including
light; photometry measures light alone. Radiometry and photometry have
the same principles but different units of measure (Table 8).
Table 8 Photometric quantities and corresponding
radiometric quantities.
.
Vision requires a source of illumination. The luminous intensity in a given
direction is measured in candela (cd), defined as the intensity of
luminous flux in a given direction of a source that emits monochromatic
radiation with a frequency of 540 THz and that has a radiant intensity in
that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian (W·sr-1 ).
Luminous flux is the time rate of flow of light. The luminous flux in a solid
angle is measured in lumens (lm). Although the candela is a base unit,
luminous flux is more fundamental because other photometric quantities
are defined in terms of luminous flux, measured in lumens with
appropriate geometric factors.
The measurement in lumens is the product of candela and solid angle
(for example, 1 lm = 1 cd·sr). A light flux of one lumen (1 lm) striking one
square meter (1 m2) on the surface of the sphere around the source
illuminates it with one lux (1 Ix), the unit of illuminance: 1 lm·m -2 = 1 Ix.
Luminance (in candelas per square meter) is the luminous flux at a
specified angle where the angle of incidence or refraction is considered.
The luminous flux may be exiting, passing through or arriving at the
surface.
If the source itself is scaled to one square meter (1 m2) and emits one
candela (1 cd), the luminance of the source is 1 cd·m -2. Historically,
luminance has been referred to as photometric brightness.
The intensity of light – visible radiation perceived as the brightness of an
illuminated surface – was formerly measured in foot-candles (ftc) and is
now expressed in lux (lx): 1 ftc = 10 Ix. Illuminance is the density (in lux)
of luminous flux incident on a given area of a planar surface at a given
instant. A typical indoor office has illumination of about 400 Ix. Daylight
ranges from 1 to 25 klx; direct sunlight, several times more.
Terms for some quantities have been replaced in the International
System. Brightness is luminance, and transmission factor is
transmittance. The measured quantity of illumination is illuminance. The
names of some units have changed: the meter candle is now lux; the nit
is now candela per square meter (cd·m-2). Foot-candle (ftc) and phot
convert to lux (lx). Stilb (sb), foot-lambert and lambert each convert to
candela per square meter (cd·m-2). See Table 6 for conversion factors for
luminance and illuminance.
Optometry
The diopter is a variable used to express the refracting power of curved
mirrors, lenses and the eye. The diopter is the inverse of the distance (in
meters) from the lens (or mirror) to an image of a distant object; that is,
the diopter is the inverse of the focal distance of the lens or mirror
(where that distance is measured in meters).
To express retinal illuminance, the troland (Td) is most often used. It is
not a true unit of illumination but is the product of the target luminance (in
candela per square meter) and the pupil area (in square millimeters).
Wavelength
Nanometer (nm) is used rather than angstrom (Á) for wavelength. The
velocity c of light is expressed as a ratio of distance in meters (m) to time
in seconds (s): in a vacuum, c = 2.99792458 x 108 m·s-1.
Wavelength is inversely related to frequency. Color temperature is a
characteristic of light sources such as discharge lamps. Hue depends on
the temperature of the source across a spectrum of frequencies. The
color temperature reported is generally that of the peak frequency, the
frequency at which the source temperature is greatest. Color
temperature is measured in kelvins.
Ultraviolet Radiation
Ultraviolet radiation is of concern to visual inspectors because they are
often called on to document the vision acuity and color discrimination of
personnel who use ultraviolet lamps to perform liquid penetrant and
magnetic particle testing. The term light is widely used for
electromagnetic radiation in the visible part of the spectrum. The term
black light, however, should not be used for ultraviolet radiation, because
(1) the term has become ambiguous, denoting sometimes the ultraviolet
lamp and sometimes its radiation, (2) the term black here means merely
invisible and not a color and (3) ultraviolet radiation is not truly light, any
more than X-rays are.
Although both light and ultraviolet radiation are measured in watts per
square meter, their wavelengths have distinct ranges. Because
ultraviolet radiation is invisible, photometric measurement units such as
the lumen and lux should never be applied to ultraviolet radiation.
Ultraviolet radiation is divided into three ranges: UV-A (320 to 400 nm),
UV-B (280 to 320 nm) and UV-C (100 to 280 nm). This is analogous to
the segmentation of visible light into the wavelengths that produce the
colors. Blue light, for example, generally has wavelengths between 455
and 492 nm. Yellow light is between 577 and 597 nm.
The analogy to visible radiation might help those first learning to
measure ultraviolet radiation. A certain intensity of yellow light will
produce on a surface a certain illuminance measured in lux. In the same
way, a certain amount of ultraviolet radiation will produce an irradiance
on a test surface.
Ultraviolet irradiance is a time dependent measure of the amount of
energy falling on a prescribed surface area and is expressed in watts per
square meter (W·m-2) or (to avoid exponents) microwatts per square
centimeter (μW·cm-2).
One unit of irradiance (1 μW·cm-2) is the power (microwatt) falling on one
square centimeter (cm-2) of surface area. At higher irradiance, the
milliwatt per square centimeter (mW·cm-2) is sometimes used: 1000
μW·cm-2 = 1 mW·cm-2, and 1 μW·cm-2 = 1010 W·m-2.
More information on the physics and safe use of ultraviolet radiation can
be found in literature about liquid penetrant and magnetic particle testing.
Units for Penetrant Testing and leak Testing
The quantities of pressure, volume, viscosity and porosity are relevant
for the methods of both penetrant testing and leak testing.
Ultraviolet radiation is often used to reveal penetrant indications. Its
measurement is discussed above, after visual testing.
Pressure
The Pascal (Pa), equal to one newton per square meter (1 N·m -2), is
used to express pressure, stress and similar quantities. It is used in
place of units of pound force per square inch (lbf·in-2), atmosphere,
millimeter of mercury (mm Hg), torr, bar, inch of mercury (in Hg), inch of
water (H2O) and other units (Table 9).
Table 9 Factors for conversion of pressure values to
pascal (Pa).
.
Specifications must indicate whether gage, absolute or differential
pressure is meant. Negative pressures might be used in heating duct
technology and in vacuum boxes used for bubble testing, but in vacuums
used in tracer leak testing absolute pressures are used.
Volume
The cubic meter (m3) is the volume measurement unit in the International
System of Units. It takes the place of cubic foot, cubic inch, gallon, pint,
barrel and others. In the International System of Units, the liter (L) is also
approved for use.
The liter is a special name for cubic decimeter (1 L = 1 dm 3 = 10-3 m3).
Only the milli (m) and micro (p) prefixes may be used with liter.
The fundamental units of time, temperature, pressure and volume are
expressed every time that a movement of a fluid (liquid or gas) is
measured.
Viscosity
Dynamic viscosity is expressed in the International System of Units by
the Pascal second. An older unit is the poise (P), or centipoise (cP): 100
cP = 1 P = 0.1 Pa·s.
Kinematic viscosity is expressed in the International System of Units as
square meter per second, equivalent to the dynamic viscosity divided by
mass density. An older unit is the stokes (St):
1 cSt = 0.01 St = 1 mm2·s-1;
1 St = 0.0001 m 2·s-1.
Porosity
Porosity is reported as a ratio of volume to volume and can be
expressed as a percentage. For example, if hydrogen content in
aluminum is measured as 2.5 mm3·g-1, this value reduces to 2.50
mm3·(0.37 cm3)-1 x 1000 mm3 cm-3 = 0.675 or about 0.7 percent.
Therefore, the hydrogen content should be reported as 6.75 mm 3·cm-3 in
volume, for a porosity of 0.7 percent.
Abrasives and Finish Treatment
Surface abrading is a matter of concern in liquid penetrant testing
because grinding, shot peening and sand blasting can close surface
breaking cracks and so keep them from being indicated in tests. Finish
also affects adherence of materials to a surface. In preparation of test
panels for evaluation, the type and size of abrasive blasting is often
specified.
Abrasive particle size (coarse versus fine) in the United States has
traditionally been specified using industry accepted gage numbers that
correspond to the number of lines (or wires) per inch in sieves used to
sift the abrasive grit. A number of standards govern grit specifications in
the abrasive industries – for example, ANSI B 74.16 for industrial
diamonds. Table 10 shows several of the many levels of grit designations
based on particle size.
Organizations that issue standards in this area include ASTM
International, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the
Federation of the European Producers of Abrasives (FEPA) and the
International Standardization Organization (ISO).
Table 10 Abrasive particle size and sieve apertures.
.
Quantitative Description of leakage Rates
The significant quantitative measurement resulting from leak testing is
the volumetric leakage rate or mass flow rate of fluid through one or
more leaks. Leakage rate thus has dimensions equivalent to pressure
times volume divided by time. The units used previously for volumetric
leakage rate were standard cubic centimeter per second (std cm 3·s-1). In
SI units, the quantity of gas is measured in units of Pascal cubic meter
(Pa·m3). The leakage rate is measured in Pascal cubic meter per second
(Pa·m3·s-1).
For this leakage rate to be a mass flow, the pressure and temperature
must be at standard values of 101 kPa (760 ton) and 0 °C (32°F). Table
11 gives factors for conversion of leakage rates in various common units,
past and present. Table 12 provides leakage rate comparisons that
permit a better understanding of the quantities involved, when leakage
rates are specified.
Table 12 Leakage rates expressed in various units
.
Leakage is not simply the volume of air entering the vacuum chamber.
Instead, the critical factor is the number of gaseous molecules entering
the vacuum system. This number of molecules, in turn, depends on the
external pressure, temperature and the volume of gas at this pressure
that leaks into the vacuum system.
The leakage rate is expressed in terms of the product of this pressure
difference multiplied by the gas volume passing through the leak, per
unit of time. Thus, the leakage rate is directly proportional to the number
of molecules leaking into the vacuum system per unit of time.
The molecular unit of mass flow used for gas by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology is mole per second (mol·s -1), a mass flow unit
measured at standard atmospheric pressure and standard temperature
of 0 °C (32 °F). A common unit of gas is the standard cubic meter (std m
3
). This unit is equivalent to one million units given as atmospheric cubic
centimeter (atm cm3). Both units indicate the quantity of gas (air)
contained in a unit volume at average sea level atmospheric pressure at
a temperature of 0 °C (32 °F). The average atmospheric pressure at sea
level is 101.3 kPa (760 mm Hg or 760 torr). The SI unit of pressure, the
Pascal (Pa), is equivalent to newton per square meter (N·m -2).
Table 11 Mass flow conversion factors for leakage rate.
.
Derived Units for leak Testing
Gas Quantity. The SI unit used for measuring gas quantity is Pascal
cubic meter (Pa·m3). The quantity of gas which is stored in a container
or which has passed through a leak is described by the derived SI unit of
Pascal cubic meter, the product of pressure and volume. To be strict, the
temperature should be specified for the gas quantity or leakage
measurement to define the gas quantity (sometimes loosely described
as the mass of gas) more precisely. Often, gas quantity is defined for
standard temperature and pressure, typically the standard atmospheric
pressure of 100 kPa (1 atm) and a temperature of 0 °C (32 °F).
Temperature corrections are usually required if temperature varies
significantly during leak testing. However, small changes in temperature
may sometimes be insignificant compared with many orders of
magnitude of change in gas pressure or leakage quantity.
Gas leakage Rate. The SI unit for leakage rate is Pascal cubic meter
per second (Pa·m3·s-1). The leakage rate is defined as the quantity
(mass) of gas leaking in one second. The unit in prior use was the
standard cubic centimeter per second (std cm3·s-1). Use of the word
standard in units such as std cm3·s-1 requires that gas leakage rate be
converted to standard temperature and pressure conditions (293 K and
101.325 kPa), often even during the process of collecting data during
leakage rate tests. Leakage rates given in units of std cm3·s-1 can be
converted to SI units of Pa·m3·s-1 at any time by simply dividing the SI
leakage rate by 10 or (more precisely) by 9.87.
Gas Permeation Rate. The compound unit for permeation rate in SI is
Pascal cubic meter per second per square meter per meter
(Pa·m3·s-1)/(m2·m-1). Permeation is the leakage of gas through a (typically
solid) substance that is not impervious to gas flow. The permeation rate
is larger with an increased exposed area, a higher pressure differential
across the substance (such as a membrane or gasket) and is smaller
with an increasing thickness of permeable substance. In vacuum testing,
the pressure differential is usually considered to be one atmosphere
(about 100 kPa). One sometimes finds permeation rate measured where
the gas quantity is expressed in units of mass.
Units for Infrared Thermography
Old units are converted (Table 6). British thermal unit (BTU) and calorie
convert to joule (J). British thermal unit per hour converts to watt (W).
Poe measurement of wavelength nanometer (nm) obviates angstrom
(Å): 10 Å = 1 nm.
Volume
The cubic meter (m3) is the volume measurement unit in the International
System of Units. It takes the place of cubic foot, cubic inch, gallon, pint,
barrel and more. In SI, the liter (L) is a so approved for use. The liter is a
special name for cubic decimeter (1 L = 1 dm3 = 10-3 m 3). Only the milli
(m) and micro (μ) prefixes may be used with liter.
The fundamental units of time, temperature, pressure and volume are
expressed every time movement of a fluid (liquid or gas) is measured.
Heat, Temperature and Thermal Radiation
Heat can be described as the energy transfer associated with the
random and chaotic motions of the atomic particles from which matter is
composed. The unit of heat is the joule (J), equal to about 0.24 calorie
(cal) or 9.481 x 10-4 British thermal units (BTUs).
all materials (hot or cold) transfer heat and radiate infrared energy. As a
material is cooled, it continuously loses heat and radiation power. At
absolute zero (0 K = 0 °R = -273.16 °C = -459.69 °F), all energy content,
radiation and particle motion cease to exist. It has been physically
impossible to create the temperature of absolute zero.
Quantities in infrared and thermal testing are measured and expressed
with a variety of compound units. Some of the more common are listed in
Table 13. Thermal conductivity is a body's relative ability to carry heat by
conduction in a static temperature gradient. A material's thermal
resistance is its resistance to the flow of thermal energy and is inversely
proportional to the material's thermal conductance.
Table 13 Compound units used in infrared and thermal
testing.
.
Units for Radiography
The original discoveries of radioactivity helped establish units of
measurement based on observation rather than precise physical
phenomena. Later, scientists who worked with radioactive substances
(or who managed to manufacture radioactive beams) again made
circumstantial observations that were then used for measurement
purposes. This practical approach was acceptable at the time, but a
broader understanding of physics and the modern practice of using only
one unit for a quantity has led to the modification of many of the original
units (Tables 14 to 16). In the International System of Units, radiation
units have been given established physical foundations and new names
where necessary.
Physical Quantities
Three physical quantities in particular (Table 14) are widely used as
measurement units – the electronvolt (eV), the speed of light (c) and the
unified atomic mass unit (u). Their precise values, however, are obtained
experimentally.
Electronvolt. The electronvolt is the kinetic energy acquired by an
electron in passing through a potential difference of 1 V in vacuum; 1 eV
= 1.602176462 x 10-19 J with a combined standard uncertainty of 6.3 x
10-27 J. The electronvolt is accepted for use with SI.
Table 14 Physical quantities used as units. Values of physical quantities are
experimentally obtained and may only be approximated in SI. Conversions are
provided here for descriptive purposes.
.
Speed of Electromagnetic Radiation. The quantity c represents the
speed of light, that is, the speed of electromagnetic waves in vacuum; 1
c = 299 792458 m·s-1 exactly (670616629 mi·h-1). The speed of light is a
physical quantity but can be used as a unit of measure.
Unified Atomic Mass Unit. The unified atomic mass unit (u) is 1/12 of
the mass of the atom of the nuclide carbon-12; 1 u = 1.66053873 x 10-27
kg with a combined standard uncertainty of ±1.3 x 10-34 kg.
Radiation Measurement
Because of existing practice in certain fields and countries, the
International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM, Comité
Internationale des Poids et Mesures) permitted the units given in Table
15 (curie, roentgen, rad and rem) to continue to be used with the
International System of Units until 1998. However, these units must not
be introduced where they are not presently used.
Table 15 Conversion to SI radiographic units.
.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology strongly discourages
the continued use of curie, roentgen, rad and rem. ASTM International,
the American National Standards Institute, the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers, the International Organization Standardization
(ISO) and the American Society for Nondestructive Testing all support
the replacement of older English units with the International System of
Units.
Becquerel Replaces Curie. The original unit for radioactivity was the
curie (Ci), simply the radiation of one gram of radium. Eventually all
equivalent radiation from any source was measured with this same unit.
It is now known that a curie is equivalent to 3.7 x 1010 disintegrations per
second. In SI, the unit for radioactivity is the becquerel (Bq), which is one
disintegration per second. Because billions of disintegrations are
required in a useful source, the multiplier prefix giga (10 9) is used and
the unit is normally seen as gigabecquerel (GBq).
Coulomb per Kilogram Replaces Roentgen. The unit for quantity of
electric charge is the coulomb (C), where 1 C = 1 A x 1 s. The original
roentgen (R) was the quantity of radiation that would ionize 1 cm 3 of air
to 1 electrostatic unit of electric charge, of either sign. It is now known
that μC·kg-1 of air). This corresponds to 1.61 x 1015 ion pairs per 1 kg of
air, which has then absorbed 8.8 mJ (0.88 rad, where rad is the obsolete
unit for radiation absorbed dose, not the SI symbol for radian).
Gray Replaces Rad. The roentgen (R) was an intensity unit but was not
representative of the dose absorbed by material in a radiation field. The
radiation absorbed dose (rad) was first created to measure this quantity
and was based on the erg, the energy unit from the old centimeter-gram-
second (CGS) system. In the SI system, the unit for radiation dose is the
gray (Gy). The gray is useful because it applies to doses absorbed by
matter at a particular location. It is expressed in energy units per mass of
matter or in joules per kilogram (J·kg-1). The mass is that of the
absorbing body.
Sievert Replaces Rem. The SI system's unit for the dose absorbed by
the human body (formerly rem for roentgen equivalent man; also known
as ambient dose equivalent, directional dose equivalent, dose
equivalent, equivalent dose and personal dose equivalent) is similar to
the gray but includes quality factors dependent on the type of radiation.
This absorbed dose has been given the name sievert (Sv) but its
dimensions are the same as the gray, that is, 1 Sv = 1 J·kg -1.
Compound Units
Exposure to ionizing radiation could be measured in roentgens with an
ionization chamber that, when placed 1 m (39 in.) from the radiation
source, provided necessary information – one roentgen per curie per
hour at one meter (R·Ci-1·h-1 at 1 m), for example. The numbers,
however, had limited physical meaning and could not be used for
different applications such as high voltage X-ray machines.
The roentgen per hour (R·h-1) was used to designate the exposure to an
ionizing radiation of the stated value. Because the radiation received
from 1 R·h-1 was considered about equal to 2 rem, the relationship
as 1 R·h-1 = 0.01 Gy·h-1 = 10 mGy·h-1.
A previously popular unit, roentgen per curie per hour at one meter (R·Ci -
1
·h-1 at 1 m) is expressed in the International System of Units as
millisievert per gigabecquerel per hour at one meter (mSv·GBq -1·h-1 at 1
m), such that 1 mSv·GBq-1·h-1 at 1 m = 3.7 R·Ci-1·h-1 at 1 m. In this
relationship, roentgen converts to millisieverts on a one-to-ten basis.
Exposure charts were often made by using curie minutes at a source-to-
film distance in inches squared. This was written Ci·min·in. -2. Exposure
charts made in SI use gigabecquerel minutes for a source-to-film
distance in centimeters squared, where 1 Ci·min·in. -2 = 50 GBq·min.cm-2.
Table 16 lists some of these compound units.
Table 16 Compound radiographic units.
.
Units for Electromagnetic Testing
In this discussion, electromagnetic testing includes techniques such as
magnetic particle and eddy current testing.
Radian
The radian (rad) is the international unit for measurement of plane angle
and is equal to the angle subtended by an arc from the center of a circle
and equal to its radius. The radian is useful in theoretical physics, but
physical measurements are typically in degrees. The degree (deg) is
approved for use with the International System of Units.
CGS Units
Centimeter-gram-second (CGS) units such as the oersted, gauss and
maxwell are not accepted for use with the International System of Units.
Furthermore, no other units of the various CGS systems of units, which
includes the CGS electrostatic, CGS electromagnetic and CGS
Gaussian systems, are accepted for use with the International System of
Units except such units as the centimeter (cm), gram (g) and second (5)
that are also defined in the International System of Units.
The oersted, gauss and maxwell are part of the electromagnetic three-
dimensional CGS system. When only mechanical and electric quantities
are considered, these three units cannot strictIy speaking be compared
each to the corresponding unit of the International System of Units,
which has four dimensions. The SI units include the weber (Wb) and the
tesla (T).
Magnetic Field Intensity. The ampere per meter replaces the oersted.
Magnetic field intensity (magnetic field strength) is expressed in ampere
per meter (A·m-1). One ampere per meter (A·m-1). about one eightieth of
an oersted (Oe). The relationship is 1 Oe = 1000·(4π)-1 A·m-1 = 79.57747
A·m-1 . 1 A·m-1 = 0.013 Oe = 13 mOe.
Magnetic Flux Density. The tesla replaces the gauss. Magnetic flux
density is expressed in weber per square meter (Wb·m-2) , or tesla (T), to
indicate flux per unit area. One tesla equals ten thousand gauss (G): 1 T
= 104 G = 10 kG. 1 G = 10-4 T = 0.1 mT. Tesla is a large unit and is often
used with the multiplier prefixes (Table 7) in the International System of
Units.
Magnetic Flux. The weber replaces the maxwell. One weber (Wb)
equals 108 maxwell (Mx): 1 Wb = 100 MMx. 1 Mx = 10-8 Wb = 0.01 μWb
= 10 nWb.
Conductivity and Resistivity
In the twentieth century, the conductivity of a given metal was
conventionally expressed as a percentage of pure copper's conductivity
with reference to the International Annealed Copper Standard (IACS). In
the International System of Units, conductivity is expressed in Siemens
per meter (S·m-1). The conductivity of pure copper (100 percent IACS) is
58 MS·m-1.
Resistivity is the inverse of conductivity and is expressed in ohm meter.
Table 17 gives the formulas for conversion to and from units for
conductivity and resistivity.
Table 17 Conversion of Units for Conductivity o and Resistivity p.
.
Units for Magnetic Testing
In magnetic testing, units are mainly for magnetism, visible light and
ultraviolet radiation. The units in the International System of Units include
the weber (Wb), the tesla (T) and several derived units. Originally, these
units were developed by scientists using the CGS (centimeter gram
second) metric system. For magnetic theories, the introduction of SI
meant the removal of intermediate units (such as the unit pole) and
made possible a direct conversion from flux per second to voltage.
Ultraviolet radiation is often used to reveal magnetic particle indications.
Its measurement is discussed above, after visual testing.
Units for Acoustics
In this discussion, acoustics includes the methods of ultrasonic testing
and acoustic emission testing.
Pressure, Displacement and Related Quantities
Acoustic emission and ultrasound are mechanical waves inside a
stressed material, where a displacement ripples through the material and
moves its surface. A transducer on that surface undergoes this
displacement as a pressure. The pressure is measured as force per unit
area in Pascal (Pa), equivalent to newton per square meter (N·m 2). The
signal from the transducer is sometimes related to velocity displacement
(m) or acceleration (m·s-2).
Units for Acoustics
Properties of piezoelectric transducers are related to electric charge: a
pressure on the element creates a charge (measured in coulomb) on the
electrodes. A rapidly changing pressure alters the charge fast enough to
allow the use of either voltage or charge amplifiers. After this, signal
processing may analyze and store data in terms of distance in meter (m),
velocity in meter per second (m·s-1) acceleration in meter per second per
second (m·s-2) signal strength in volt·second (V·s), energy in joule m,
signal in volt (V) or power in watt (W) .
Units for Acoustics
Hertz
Frequencies usually correspond to bandwidths for specific applications.
Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz), where 1 Hz equals one cycle per
second.
Decibel
The term loudness refers to amplitude in audible frequencies. some
acoustic waves are audible; others have frequencies above or below
audible frequencies (ultrasonic or subsonic, respectively). A signal at an
inaudible frequency has measurable amplitude but is not called loud or
50ft.
Units for Acoustics
A customary unit for measuring the amplitude of an acoustic signal is the
decibel (dB), one tenth of a bel (B). The decibel is extensively used in
acoustics and electronics. The decibel is not a fixed measurement unit
but rather expresses a logarithmic ratio between two conditions of the
same dimension (such as voltage or energy). In auditory acoustics, an
arbitrary sound pressure such as 20 μPa can be used for the reference
level of 0 dB. In acoustics, the reference level 0 dB AE is defined as a
signal of 1 μV at the transducer before any amplification.
Units for Acoustics
Because they are ratios of reference values, bel and decibel are not part
of the International System of Units. There are often two definitions given
for the decibel, so voltage decibel is sometimes written dB(V).
Precision
In calculating and reporting measurements, care must be given to
expressing values with a precision that does not exceed the resolution of
the interrogating system. This care requires both a mathematical
understanding of significant digits and an appreciation of what sort of
data are needed and possible from the sensors.
Units for Acoustics
A reasonable and useful number of significant digits should be reflected
in the instrument settings, and this resolution may be specified in the
written test procedure.
The mathematical concepts of accuracy and precision are discussed in
published standards.

Measurement Units in NDT

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Measurement Units in NDT

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

NONDESTRUCTIVE

You might also like