Since decades the evaluation of flaw indications on radiographs from welds or castings are based on well accepted reference film catalogues from organizations like IIW (weldments), ASTM (castings) or DGZfP (D5 recommendation on heavy steel castings). Today, the transformation of classical film radiography to the digital world is in full progress. Some ASTM standards do not permit the evaluation of digital radiographs in reference to film catalogues. Therefore, these reference film catalogues have to be converted into the digital age too. BAM is supporting this transition by high definition film scanning. The result is a corresponding reference image catalogue. The different standard organizations selected different ways to distribute the digital data. ASTM used high definition film scanning at 10 μm pixel size and distribution of a huge amount of high-res data via DVD. The user sub-samples these high-res data during catalogue import to the resolution of his system. The comparison is done by synchronized image viewing on the computer work station. IIW recently decided to distribute their ISO 5817 reference images installed on tablets, which are used for image viewing too. The tablet image has to be compared with the digital image on the system monitor. DGZfP transformed their D5 reference radiographs into a PDF for monitor viewing. This is the simplest and cheapest solution, but still allows the full usage of the catalogue in the digital era. The status of ongoing work in progress will be discussed.
Der Ersatz von Röntgenfilmen durch digitale Detektoren in der zerstörungsfreien Prüfung wurde in den letzten 10 Jahren kontrovers diskutiert. Nach der Erfolgsgeschichte der digitalen Photographie und der fast vollständigen Ablösung der Filmtechnik in der optischen Bilderfassung wurde erwartet, dass sich der Übergang von der Filmradiographie zur digitalen Radiographie schnell vollziehen sollte. Dieser Trend ist derzeit so noch nicht zu beobachten. Zur mobilen Prüfung wird in Europa immer noch vorrangig die Filmradiographie und nur teilweise die Speicherfolientechnik eingesetzt. Im Bereich der stationären Prüftechnik haben sich die Matrixdetektoren (DDA) weitgehend durchgesetzt, wobei es auch hier noch alternative Detektoren wie Bildverstärker und Fluoroskope gibt. Mit Einführung der DIN EN ISO 17636-2 wird seit 2013 erstmalig geregelt, wie man einen digitalen Detektor für die technische Radiographie auswählen soll, um im Vergleich zur Filmradiographie eine äquivalente Bildqualität zu erhalten. Essentielle Parameter bestimmen, ob die geforderte Bildgüte erreicht werden kann. Es wird ein Überblick gegeben, welche Parameter zum praktischen Einsatz wichtig sind und wie sie ermittelt werden. Erste Erfahrungen im praktischen Einsatz werden diskutiert.
This work presents the use of limited experimental measurements to develop a set of calibrated Simulation parameters that can then be used for reliable simulation of subsea pipeline inspections. The modelling software aRTist is used as the simulation tool, and the calibration is through comparison with experimental images of a well characterised sample in a water tank. Image Quality parameters such as signal-to-noise ratio, contrast and basic spatial resolution are compared with the aim of matching simulated values to experimental results. Currently the model is partially calibrated, with signal-to-noise ratio successfully matched while differences are still found in contrast-to-noise ratio comparisons. This means that measurements depending on absolute intensity are not accurate enough in the simulation at this stage. However, the simulation is found to be accurate for wall thickness measurements in tangential images, which are not based on absolute intensity, with simulated and experimental cases producing similar results.
In situ crack detection in the mushy zone and the solid weld of a gas tungsten arc (GTA) weld using X-ray imaging during welding is a new research area for NDT inspection. Usually, NDT flaw detection is done after the complete solidification of the weld seam. In this paper, we present the use of real-time radiography with a minifocus X-ray source (YXLON X-ray tube Y.TU 225-D04) and a 75μm pixel size digital detector array (Dexela 1512) for the acquisition of 2D radiographic images by a sequence of exposures with time intervals of 80 ms for hot crack detection during single pass bead-on-plate GTA welding of 3 mm thick plates of aluminium alloy AlMgSi (6060). An analysis of the crack distribution in the weld sample is conducted from the acquired 2D radiographs and its corresponding 3D volumetric reconstruction achieved by linear coplanar digital laminography.
This in situ approach opens new possibilities in the field of hot crack research by having the direct information of both the crack initiation and growth and its correlation to the welding parameters.