Improved Inspection of CRA-Clad Pipeline Girth Welds with the Use of Accessible Advanced Ultrasonic Phased-Array Technology André Lamarre, Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas 11th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, Prague, October 2014
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Improved Inspection of CRA-Clad Pipeline Girth Welds with
the Use of Accessible Advanced Ultrasonic Phased-Array
Technology
André Lamarre, Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas
11th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing,
Prague, October 2014
Contents
• Ultrasonic phased-array inspection for pipeline girth
weld inspection
• CRA-clad pipes inspection issues and solution
• Validation study
• Automated solutions
• Summary
ULTRASONIC PHASED-ARRAY FOR
PIPELINE GIRTH WELD INSPECTION
Phased-array basics principles
Wedge
Weld
Electronic focusing at different
angles without moving the probe
Note the rebound on the ID
Phased-array advantages
• Offers all the benefits of Ultrasonics
with the following advantages
– Increased coverage and
detection capabilities through
multi-angle, electronic rastering
and beam control
– Imaging and recordable data in
manageable file sizes viewable
by all parties as needed.
– Reduced mechanics and
difficulties over multi-probe
techniques
PA Typical
display
ASCAN
SSCAN
CSCCAN
Weld inspection with portable ultrasonic
phased-array instrument: OmniScan
Automated girth weld inspection system:
PipeWIZARD
Strong field experience : > more than 180 units in the field > 3 million welds inspected > hundreds operators trained on PipeWIZARD
Advantages of AUT phased-array vs.
radiography
High probability of detection
- Accurate sizing of defects height > less repair using
ECA(Engineering Critical Assesment)
- No radiation > no hazard > no licensing
- No chemical > no waste material
- Real-time analysis for instant evaluation and welding
adjustment
- Setup and inspection reports in electronic format
AUT phased-array vs. radiography
PipeWIZARD qualification
All major oil and gas companies already qualified the
PipeWIZARD system for one of their pipeline construction
projects :
• Exxon Mobil
• Shell
• Chevron
• PetroChina
• Total
• BP
• CNOOC
• Sinopec
• Saudi Aramco
• Petrobras
• Eni
• Kuwait Oil Company
and more…
Codes governing pipeline AUT inspection
ASTM E 1961 API 1104 DNV-OS-F101
Emitter
Receiver
F1
F2
F3
F4
F5
Zones
Description:
Zone discrimination technique
- The weld is separated in zones
- Emitter and receiver hit each zones
- Beam size is adjusted to maintain overlap between zones
Cap
HP LCP Root
- Results presented in a strip chart imaging
CRA-CLAD PIPES INSPECTION
ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS
Main problems for UT inspection of clad pipes
• Zone discrimination cannot be used on clad pipes
• Skipping on the ID of the pipe is hazardeous or
impossible because of the clad layer
• Anisotropic structure and grain size of the weld is
difficult to penetrate with transverse waves(SW)
Solution description
Acoustic solution who can work on the
first leg (without skipping on the ID of
pipe)
Low-frequency and L-wave
configuration to penetrate the weld
with sufficient energy
Capable to generate surface waves
and high-angles to inspect upper part
of the weld
Easy set-up creation
Off-the-shelf instrumentation
Dual matrix array description
• 7X4 element configuration utilizing 28 elements for the transmitter and 28 elements
for the receiver with an aperture of 19 x 12 mm
• Frequency: 2.25 MHZ mounted on LW wedges
• Modeling showed it can perform full weld coverage