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Human factors approach to the reliability of NDT in nuclear waste management in Sweden and Finland
(2010)
Nuclear power industry has the responsibility to manage and dispose of all radioactive waste from its
plants. Finnish Posiva and Swedish SKB are leading in the world in the development of disposal of
spent nuclear fuel. Their method consists of encapsulating spent nuclear fuel in copper canisters and
depositing them in the bedrock at a depth of about 500 meters for the next 100 000 years, leaving the
radioactivity to decrease naturally through the decay of the radioisotopes in it. The copper canisters,
consisting of a copper tube, a lid and a bottom (which make the outer shell) and an insert made of a
cast iron, need to be inspected for their structural integrity to ensure no critical defects are present in
the materials and welds that could lead to a leakage of the waste into the environment. Data acquired
by 4 different non-destructive testing (NDT) methods (i.e. UT, ET, RT and VT with a remote camera)
are evaluated by skilled human operators and therefore could be subject to human error.
Human Factors approach lies in identifying potential errors made by the human, their causes
and ways of preventing them. A customized Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was
conducted to anticipate possible human failures during the data evaluation. The results led to
designing several experiments (e.g. diffusion of responsibility within the 4-eye principle, over trust in
automated systems) which are being experimentally tested in ongoing projects. The results are
expected to lead to the optimization of the procedures followed by the NDT operators and
consequently to the improvement of the overall NDT reliability.
Analyzing the reliability of non-destructive tests using the modular modell - a practical approach
(2016)
Non-destructive testing is an important tool to guarantee the safety of railway traffic.
The infrastructure with tracks, switches and sleepers is regularly tested, the
locomotives and wagons with their wheels, bogies and axles as well. Many years of experience and some events lead in Germany to a good practice in testing the railway components. Now, European authorities are drafting a system of common requirements and standards for the European Railway Market. The German practice combines an intensive training of the NDT-personnel including sufficient time for practical exercises with organizational measures of the companies, responsible for rolling stock and infrastructure. Through the example of UT-testing of railway axles it will be shown, how training and organizational measures influence the reliability of such testing.
The usefulness and purpose of evaluating nondestructive testing (NDT) systems and their capabilities has changed in the last decade. The conventional method of simply applying a familiar statistical algorithm to say whether the system is usable for the tasks is history.
Nowadays, multiple parameter methods which describe the probabilities of detection (POD) of different systems or real defects need new characteristics and a broader variety of statistical models to describe the true system behaviour. The appraisal of the NDT system involves diverse departments within a company (engineering, NDT-operators, and statisticians), but is, at the same time, more needed and requested than in the past. In this article, an approach is discussed in which professionals from different fields worked well together, accomplishing cost-intensive metallographic studies in correlation with well-understood physical behaviour of NDT-methods as well as deep-discussed mathematical methods to create a holistic evaluation of the technical reliability for a specific radiographic testing (RT) equipment. The first part of the publication will show the comparison between metallographic grinding and the RT indications. An essential innovation over past evaluation methods was the use of a multi-scale smoothing algorithm, which describes physical parameters, which were not used in evaluation like the POD in this way in the past.
In the second part the statistical requirements for the POD take the focus. It can often be hard to make significant statements; especially in the case where only a small amount of data is available. The combination of data and the use of knowledge from simulations are essential. One possible solution will be shown for the RT evaluation. The methodology is used for evaluating the digital RT system for the inspection of electron-beam welds, which was method considered to seal the Finnish copper canisters for the final deposit of spent nuclear fuel.
The Probability of Detection (POD) is used to evaluate the detectability of non-destructive testing (NDT) systems. The POD is highly dependent on the amount of available data. The Bayesian approach provides a solution to compute POD-curves in case of a small amount of real defects without losing the necessary information. The result contains the needed information for the computation of POD-curves for real defects with an acceptable amount of information, even for sparse amount of data. In this paper is shown limitations of the Bayesian approach and how it can be applied to NDT. The Bayesian approach is applied in this case to the evaluation of radiographic testing. Bayesian approach is applied to determine POD-curves for the inspection techniques of nuclear fuel disposal canisters. The reason for using Bayesian approach is the high safety demands and also the low amount of real defects due to the high quality of the reliable production techniques.
The aim of all the effort devoted to NDE reliability is to evaluate the reliability accurately, reliably and efficiently, in accordance with the specific requirements of industrial application taking into account the very different nature of influencing factors. The set up of the Modular Reliability Model in 1997 was a big step forward in the understanding of influencing mechanisms in terms of the three different main elements, i.e. the intrinsic capability (IC), the application parameters (AP) and the human factors (HF). The intrinsic capability stands for the pure physical-technological process of the signal detection caused by the waves or the rays from a material defect in the presence of noise (caused by the material and the devices). This intrinsic capability is the upper bound of the possible reliability. Already when measuring this intrinsic capability for thick walled components the original one-parameter POD should be extended to a multi-parameter POD, where, in addition to the defect size, a number of additional physical parameters, such as the grain size distribution (or attenuation), defect depth, and angle or surface roughness, must be considered. For real life cycle assessments it is necessary to evaluate the signal response from real defects. The industrial application factors, e.g. coupling conditions, limited accessibility, heat and environmental vibrations, diminish the reliability. The amount of reduction can be determined quantitatively, if the underlying conditions are controlled. In case they are not controlled it is necessary to count for a (unknown) fluctuation in the reliability in the field anyway. The third group of important influencing factors are the human factors, which do not only cover the individual performance capability of the inspectors but also the design of the working place, the procedure, the teamwork quality, interaction with systems, the organization, and finally, the relationship between the companies involved in the inspection process and to which extend the responsible parties are aware of it. Both the internal and external organizational context, affect not only the HF but also the IC and AP. After having analysed the single factors separately it is necessary to look how everything is interconnected. When comparing an “ideal inspection” with a “real inspection” it is worthwhile to look at the existing practices, rules and standards. How do they really support reliable testing? With respect to the industrial end user, it needs to be shown how the level of reliability of NDE, influenced by the different factors and their interaction, has an impact on acceptance or rejection of safety critical parts. The approach of analysis and synthesis will be illustrated by examples of the reliability investigation of the inspection of copper canisters for nuclear fuel deposit in Sweden and Finland and German Railway inspections (hollow axle testing).
The paper will give an overview of new methodology for evaluating the
reliability of NDE systems accurately, reliably and efficiently in accordance with the
specific requirements of industrial application. After a review of the substantive
issues from the previous workshops, the go forward guidance from these
interactions is considered.
At the beginning of the reliability analysis, the actual safety demands have to
be defined in order to fit the investigation to the level of risk when the component
would fail. Next, all the essential influencing parameters need to be documented and
transferred to an appropriate design of experiments (DOE) to determine the
reliability in terms of a qualitative assessment for lower risk or in terms of a
quantitative probability of detection (POD) or ROC (Receiver Operating
Characteristics) curves for higher safety demands. A new paradigm is offered to
consider the POD or reliability of the system as a function of the configuration of
input variables and use it for optimisation rather than for a final judgement. An
advantage for the end user is also to sample all single PODs to an integral 'Volume
POD' of a part.
Among the influencing parameters, the human factor is the most important one.
A systematic psychological approach shall help to find out where the bottlenecks are
but most importantly to provide best possible working conditions for the human
inspectors.
Reliability analysis of the ultrasonic inspection system for the inspection of hollow railway axles
(2016)
Axles are safety critical train components that are subjected to significant cyclic loading during operation. If the crack is initiated in the axle, cyclic loading will lead to crack propagation. To maintain structural integrity, axles must be periodically inspected for fatigue cracks in the material. Deutsche Bahn uses mechanized ultrasonic inspection system to inspect hollow railway axles. The inspections are performed from the bore surface, using several conventional transducers with different incident angles, inspecting the axle along the entire length. As with the every safety critical system, the reliability of these inspections must be determined with regard to their flaw detection capabilities. Traditionally this is done according to the relevant standards for railway vehicles. To investigate the capability of the NDT system more thoroughly, we want to evaluate the capability of the inspection system to detect flaws by means of probability of detection (POD) curves. It will be shown that other parameters, beside the size of the crack, for example crack position in the axle, influence the detection of the crack. The influence of these parameters was evaluated using ultrasonic simulation. The evaluation served as an input for the manufacturing of the flaws in the real scale axle. Once these axles are inspected and the data evaluated, using data from both measurement and simulation, we will express the POD of the crack as function of influencing parameters using the multiparameter POD model.