Robotic Non-Destructive Testing

Non-destructive testing (NDT) and evaluation (NDE) are commonly referred to as the vast group of analysis techniques used in civil, medical, and industrial sectors to evaluate the properties of materials, tissues, components, or structures without causing any damage [...]

Residual stress measurement round robin on an electron beam welded joint between austenitic stainless steel 316L(N) and ferritic steel P91

This paper is a research output of DMW-Creep project which is part of a national UK programme through the RCUK Energy programme and India's Department of Atomic Energy. The research is focussed on understanding the characteristics of welded joints between austenitic stainless steel and ferritic steel that are widely used in many nuclear power generating plants and petrochemical industries as well as conventional coal and gas-fired power systems. The members of the DMW-Creep project have under- taken parallel round robin activities measuring the residual stresses generated by a dissimilar metal weld (DMW) between AISI 316L(N) austenitic stainless steel and P91 ferritic-martensitic steel. Electron beam (EB) welding was employed to produce a single bead weld on a plate specimen and an additional smoothing pass (known cosmetic pass) was then introduced using a defocused beam. The welding re- sidual stresses have been measured by five experimental methods including (I) neutron diffraction (ND), (II) X-Ray diffraction (XRD), (III) contour method (CM), (IV) incremental deep hole drilling (iDHD) and (V) incremental centre hole drilling (iCHD). The round robin measurements of weld residual stresses are compared in order to characterise surface and sub-surface residual stresses comprehensively

Measurement of residual stresses induced by sequential weld buttering and cladding operations involving a 2.25Cr-1Mo substrate material

Dissimilar metal welds are necessary in high-pressure subsea systems and in cases where forged components must be welded to pipelines. F22 (2.25Cr-1Mo) steel is often used in such forged steel components and, since this steel cannot enter service without undergoing post-weld heat treatment (PWHT), the components are usually prepared for field welds through the application of a buttering layer. Furthermore, a weld overlay is deposited for the purpose of mitigating corrosion. This combination of multiple welding tasks and dissimilar materials leads to the possibility of developing substantial residual stresses. This study aims to provide insights to the evolution of residual stresses at each stage of the welding operation. The assessment has been undertaken on laboratory-scale weld mock-ups using the contour method for residual stress measurement, and incremental centre hole drilling. It was found that both buttering and cladding introduce near-yield levels of tensile residual stresses, but that these stresses are successfully relieved upon PWHT

Integrated model for flood forecasting and river inundation in Taiwan

This is the author accepted manuscriptRoyal Societ

Analysis of Interaction of Multiple Cracks Based on Tip Stress Field Using Extended Finite Element Method

This is the final version. Available on open access from Hindawi via the DOI in this recordData Availability: The data supporting this paper are from previously reported studies and datasets, which have been cited. The processed data are available from the corresponding author upon request.A new method is presented to study the interaction of multiple cracks, especially for the areas near crack tips by using the extended finite element method. In order to track the cracks, a new geometric tracking technique is proposed to track enriched elements and nodes along the crack instead of using the narrow band level set method. This allows to accurately determine enriched elements and nodes and calculate enrichment values. A method is proposed for constructing a multicrack matrix, which involves numbering enriched nodes of multiple cracks and solving the global stiffness matrix. In this approach, the stress fields around multiple cracks can be studied. The interaction integral method is employed to study the crack propagation and its direction by calculating the stress intensify factor. The developed model has been coded in MATLAB environment and validated against analytical solutions. The application of the model in the crack interaction study is demonstrated through a number of examples. The results illustrate the influence of the interaction of multiple cracks as they approach each other.Chinese Scholarship CouncilUniversity of Exete

Using Coded Excitation to maintain Signal to Noise for FMC+TFM on Attenuating Materials

Ultrasonic Non-Destructive Evaluation using Full Matrix Capture (FMC) and Total Focusing Method (TFM) is used for high resolution imaging as every pixel is in optimal focus. FMC excites one element in turn, so operates with lower transmitted energy compared to phased array beamforming. The energy at a reflector is further reduced by the broad directivity pattern of the single element. The large number of Tx/Rx A-scans that contribute to each pixel recover the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) in the final TFM image. Maintaining this in the presence of attenuating materials is a challenge because relevant information in each A-scan signal is buried in the thermal noise, and the TFM process assumes no quantization effects in the Analogue-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) in each receiver. In-process inspection during Additive Manufacturing (AM) requires ultrasonic array sensors that can tolerate high temperatures, scan over rough surfaces and leave no residue. Dry-coupled wheel probes are a solution, but the tire rubbers are often highly attenuating, causing a problem for FMC+TFM needed to adapt the focus through the rough surface. Common approaches to maintain the SNR are to drop the frequency or to average over multiple transmissions, but these compromise resolution and acquisition rate respectively. In this paper, the application of coded excitation to maintain the SNR in the presence of high signal attenuation is explored

Intentional weld defect process: From manufacturing by robotic welding machine to inspection using TFM phased array

Specimens with intentionally embedded weld defects or flaws can be employed for training, development and research into procedures for mechanical property evaluation and structural integrity assessment. It is critical that the artificial defects are a realistic representation of the flaws produced by welding. Cylindrical holes, which are usually machined after welding, are not realistic enough for our purposes as it is known that they are easier to detect than the naturally occurring imperfections and cracks. Furthermore, it is usually impractical to machine a defect in a location similar to where the real weld defects are found. For example, electro-discharge machining can produce a through hole (cylindrical reflector) which neither represents the weld porosity (spherical voids) nor the weld crack (planar thin voids). In this study, the aim is to embed reflectors inside the weld intentionally, and then locate them using ultrasonic phased array imaging. The specimen is an 8 mm thick 080A15 Bright Drawn Steel plate of length 300 mm. Tungsten rods (ø2.4-3.2 mm & length 20-25 mm) and tungsten carbide balls (ø4 mm) will be used to serve as reflectors simulating defects within the weld itself. This study is aligned to a larger research project investigating multi-layer metal NDE found in many multi-pass welding and wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) applications and as such, there is no joint preparation as the first layer is deposited over the plate surface directly and subsequent layers contribute to the specimen build profile, similar to the WAAM samples. A tungsten inert gas welding torch mounted on a KUKA robot is used to deposit four layers for each weld, with our process using nine passes for the first layer, down to six passes for the last layer. During this procedure, the tungsten artificial reflectors are embedded in the weld, between the existing layers. The sample is then inspected by a 10 MHz ultrasonic phased array in direct contact with the sample surface using both conventional and total focusing method (TFM) imaging techniques. A phased array aperture of 32 elements has been used. The phased array controller is FIToolbox (Diagnostic Sonar, UK). Firstly, a focused B-scan has been performed with a range of settings for the transmit focal depth. Secondly, a full-aperture TFM method has been processed. All the reflectors of interest were detected successfully using this combination of B-scan and TFM imaging approaches

High-temperature in-process inspection followed by 96-h robotic inspection of intentionally manufactured hydrogen crack in multi-pass robotic welding

This investigation introduces two new techniques to quantitatively address the challenging problem of understanding Hydrogen Induced Cracking (HIC) in welding processes. The first technique is a novel procedure to create a known and controlled HIC in a welded sample. The second is an in-process monitoring technique to measure the initial formation and subsequent growth of the HIC in a multi-pass weld whilst being compatible with the high temperatures associated with the welding process. The HIC was initiated using a localised quenching method of the weld and its character was verified using both macrograph and microscopic investigations. During HIC initiation and growth, the sample was monitored every 1–30 min for a total of 96 h using a custom non-destructive testing (NDT) system, mounted on a robot which ensured repeatable inspection positioning. Combining these techniques has therefore allowed for the first time, a detailed understanding of the evolution of HIC in a multi-pass welded sample. Our findings reveal that the HIC was initiated 43 min after the weld ended and that it then grew rapidly for about 15 min and continued growing at a slower rate for around 24 h. No significant growth was observed for the remaining 72 h of the experimental measurement

Lateral load bearing capacity modelling of piles in cohesive soils in undrained conditions; an intelligent evolutionary approach

The complex behaviour of fine-grained materials in relation with structural elements has received noticeable attention from geotechnical engineers and designers in recent decades. In this research work an evolutionary approach is presented to create a structured polynomial model for predicting the undrained lateral load bearing capacity of piles. The proposed evolutionary polynomial regression (EPR) technique is an evolutionary data mining methodology that generates a transparent and structured representation of the behaviour of a system directly from raw data. It can operate on large quantities of data in order to capture nonlinear and complex relationships between contributing variables. The developed model allows the user to gain a clear insight into the behaviour of the system. Field measurement data from literature was used to develop the proposed EPR model. Comparison of the proposed model predictions with the results from two empirical models currently being implemented in design works, a neural network-based model from literature and also the field data shows that the EPR model is capable of capturing, predicting and generalising predictions to unseen data cases, for lateral load bearing capacity of piles with very high accuracy. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of individual contributing parameters and their contribution to the predictions made by the proposed model. The merits and advantages of the proposed methodology are also discussed

Continuous monitoring of an intentionally-manufactured crack using an automated welding and in-process inspection system

Automated weld deposition coupled with the real-time robotic Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) is used in this paper. For performance verification of the in-process inspection system, an intentionally embedded defect, a tungsten rod, is introduced into the multi-pass weld. A partially-filled groove (staircase) sample is also manufactured and ultrasonically tested to calibrate the real-time inspection implemented on all seven layers of the weld which are deposited progressively. The tungsten rod is successfully detected in the real-time NDE of the deposited position. The same robotic inspection system was then used to continuously monitor an intentionally-manufactured crack for 20 h. The crack was initiated 22 min after the weld ended and it grew quickly within the next 1.5 h. The crack growth stopped approximately after 2 h and no considerable change in the reflection signal was detected for the next 18 h of monitoring