Inspection of pipeline girth welds with ultrasonic phased array technique

A novel automatic ultrasonic system used for the inspection of pipeline girth welds is developed, in which a linear phased array transducer using electronic scan is adopted. Optimal array parameters are determined based on a mathematical model of acoustic field for linear phased army derived from Huygens＇ principle. The testing method and the system structure are introduced. The experimental results show that the phased array transducer system has the same detectability as that of conventional ultrasonic transducer system, but the system architecture can be simplified greatly, and the testing flexibility and the testing speed can be improved greatly.

Study on Microstructure and Properties of TIG Welded Joint of TC2 Titanium Alloy and Quality Inspection

TIG welding experiments of TC2 titanium alloy sheet was carried out,and the well-formed weld was obtained.After welding process,the cross-section microstructure,mechanical properties,fracture morphology and quality inspection of the joint were studied.The results show that the microstructure of the weld consists of a large number of acicularα′andβblock.The microhardness curve shows that the microhardness value in the fusion zone(FZ)of the joint is significantly higher than that in the heat affected zone(HAZ)and the base metal(BM),and the microhardness of the base metal is the lowest.The tensile strength of the joint is equivalent to that of the base metal,and the fracture morphology shows that the fracture mechanism of the joint is mixed ductile-brittle fracture mode.The weld quality is excellent through chemical inspection,penetrant inspection and X-ray inspection.

Development of an automatic post-weld inspection system based on laser vision

In order to overcome the limitations of manual post-weld visual inspection approach, an automated inspection system is developed which uses three-dimensioual laser vision system based on the principle of optical triangulation. The system hardware consists of a modular development kit （MDK）, a computer, an actuating mechanism and so on. In image processing algorithms, extraction accuracy of centric line of laser stripe is the critical factor that determines the system performance. So according to the features of laser stripe image, a novel algorithm is developed to detect the central line of laser stripe fast and accurately. Experiments have demonstrated that this system can be used in various weld features inspection of both butt and fillet types of weld. Compared with traditional manual inspection method, this method has obvious dominance. The three-dimensional reconstruction result shows that this system has high accuracy and reliability.

Novel inspection of welded joint microstructure using magneto-optical imaging technology

A novel method for measuring differences of microstructure by advanced use of the Faraday magneto-optical effect is proposed. Two groups of YAG laser welds on Q235 have been investigated in order to compare MO imaging and traditional methods. Microstructure images have been compared with MO images, and MO diagrams display different colors and gray scales for the base metal, the weld zone, and the heat affected zone. Experimental results indicate that the welded joint microstructure can be inspected by MO imaging without metallographic preparation.

Development of Automatic Extraction Weld for Industrial Radiographic Negative Inspection

In industrial X-ray inspection, in order to identify weld defects automatically, raise the identification ratio, and avoid processing of complex background, it is an important step for sequent processing to extract weld from the image. According to the characteristics of weld radiograph image, median filter is adopted to reduce the noise with high frequency, then relative gray-scale of image is chosen as fuzzy characteristic, and image gray-scale fuzzy matrix is constructed and suitable membership function is selected to describe edge characteristic. A fuzzy algorithm is adopted for enhancing radiograph image processing. Based on the intensity distribution characteristic in weld, methodology of weld extraction is then designed. This paper describes the methodology of all the weld extraction, including reducing noise, fuzzy enhancement and weld extraction process. To prove its effectiveness, this methodology was tested with 64 weld negative images available for this study. The experimental results show that this methodology is very effective for extracting linear weld.

Inverse Kinematics Analysis of Weld Inspection Manipulator at Pipe Joint in Nuclear Industry

A redundant manipulator that can online clamp pipe was developed to track along a cylinder intersection curve. With an ultrasonic transducer mounted on its end-effector, the manipulator can perform welding seam inspection at pipe joint in nuclear industry. An inverse kinematics solution expressed in joint space was solved based on the combination of geometric method and D-H matrix transformation. Expression about joints variables was obtained based on the scanning parameters of pipeline. The analysis method and results can be widely applied for online trajectory planning of intersection curve scanning manipulators.

On-line quality inspection in laser blank welding using ART2 neural network

Laser blank welding is becoming more and more important in the automotive industry and the quality of the weld is critical for a successful application. A fully automated solution is required to inspect the quality of the blanks. This paper presents a vision inspection system with a CMOS camera which uses ART2 network to inspect the defects on-line to obtain the geometry and the quality of the weld seam. The neural network ART2 has the capability of self-learning fiom the environment. It can distinguish the defects that have been learned before and give new outputs for new defects. So ART2 network is suitable for weld quality inspection in laser blank welding. Additionally, a CO2 laser is used for the blank butt-welding.

Development of an automatic weld surface appearance inspection system using machine vision

In this paper, an automatic inspection system for weld surface appearance using machine vision has been developed to recognize weld surface defects such as porosities, cracks, etc. It can replace conventional manual visual inspection method, which is tedious, time-consuming, subjective, experience-depended, and sometimes biased. The system consists of a CCD camera, a self-designed annular light source, a sensor controller, a frame grabbing card, a computer and so on. After acquiring weld surface appearance images using CCD, the images are preprocessed using median filtering and a series of image enhancement algorithms. Then a dynamic threshold and morphology algorithms are applied to segment defect object. Finally, defect features information is obtained by eight neighborhoods boundary chain code algorithm. Experimental results show that the developed system is capable of inspecting most surface defects such as porosities, cracks with high reliability and accuracy.

Weld seam recognition algorithm based on HSI space for pipeline ultrasonic flaw inspection

In order to realize automatic weld seam tracking for pipeline ultrasonic flaw inspection, an image processing algorithm based on HSI color space was presented. Since the color tones of weld seam were different from the parent metal, weld seam images were transformed to HSI color space. In the HSl colar space, the weld seam and base metal area can be apparently distinguished. By using this image processing algorithm, the edges and centerline of pipeline weld seam can be correctly extracted. An industrial application system was developed based on the image processing algorithm, and the image processing time is less than 70 ms and the accuracy of weld seam recognition is better than 2mm.

Automated X-ray Defect Inspection on Occluded BGA Balls Using Hybrid Algorithm

Automated X-ray defect inspection of occluded objects has been an essential topic in semiconductors,autonomous vehicles,and artificial intelligence devices.However,there are few solutions to segment occluded objects in the X-ray inspection efficiently.In particular,in the Ball Grid Array inspection of X-ray images,it is difficult to accurately segment the regions of occluded solder balls and detect defects inside solder balls.In this paper,we present a novel automatic inspection algorithm that segments solder balls,and detects defects fast and efficiently when solder balls are occluded.The proposed algorithm consists of two stages.In the first stage,the defective candidates or defects are determined through the following four steps:(i)image preprocessing such as noise removal,contrast enhancement,binarization,connected component,and morphology,(ii)limiting the inspec-tion area to the ball regions and determining if the ball regions are occluded,(iii)segmenting each ball region into one or more regions with similar gray values,and(iv)determining whether there are defects or defective candidates in the regions using a weighted sum of local threshold on local variance.If there are defective candidates,the determination of defects is finally made in the following stage.In the second stage,defects are detected using the automated inspection technique based on oblique computed tomography.The 3D precision inspection process is divided into four steps:(i)obtaining 360 projection images(one image per degree)rotating the object from 0 to 360 degrees,(ii)reconstructing a 3D image from the 360 projected images,(iii)finding the center slice of gravity for solder balls from the axial slice images in the z-direction,and getting the inspection intervals between the upper bound and the lower bound from the center slice,and(iv)finally determining whether there are defects in the averaged image of solder balls.The proposed hybrid algorithm is robust for segmenting the defects inside occluded solder balls,and improves the performance of solder ball segmentation and defect detection algorithm.Experimental results show an accuracy of more than 97%.

Dynamic characteristics of the pipeline inspection gauge under girth weld excitation in submarine pipeline

Pipeline inner inspection technology based on Pipeline Inspection Gauge(PIG),is the primary means for ensuring the safety of submarine pipelines.The dynamic characteristics of a PIG can change abruptly with the excitation of obstacles such as girth welds inside the pipeline,which would result in failure or inaccuracy of the inspection results.This study establishes a dynamic model of the PIG sealing disc based on Kelvin spring damping in the circumferentially confined space.The axial vibration differential equations of the PIG is examined in detail.MSC/ADAMS is used to conduct the dynamic simulation of the PIG at different motion velocities and center of mass positions while passing through the girth weld process.Results indicate that the axial vibration caused by the girth weld intensifies substantially as the speed of the PIG increases,while the pitch and vertical vibrations exhibit a significant decline with an increase in the motion velocity.The change in the PIG’s center of mass positions has little effect on its axial vibration,while the pitch and vertical vibration conditions are significantly different in the same circumstances.

Application of ultrasonic inspection in monitoring dynamic healing of mandibular fracture in rabbit model

Objective:To investigate the feasibility of ultrasonic diagnosis for monitoring fracture healing. Methods:Thirty rabbit models with fraction of mandible body were established by surgically removing partial lower jawbone.At the 1st,2nd,4th,6th,8th and 12th week after the operation, they were examined by X-ray and ultrasound,respectively.All detection results were scored according to a generally accepted standard.Spearman rank correlation analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between the results of the two inspection methods.Results:In each healing stage,the results of the ultrasonic inspection were basically consistent with those of the X-ray examination,as supported by a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of 0.892(P【0.001). Conclusions:Non-invasive ultrasonic inspection can be used instead of X-ray examination to monitor and diagnose fracture healing.

A fast and adaptive method for automatic weld defect detection in various real-time X-ray imaging systems

A first and effective method is proposed to detect weld deject adaptively in various Dypes of real-time X-ray images obtained in different conditions. After weld extraction and noise reduction, a proper template of median filter is used to estimate the weld background. After the weld background is subtracted from the original image, an adaptite threshold segmentation algorithm is proposed to obtain the binary image, and then the morphological close and open operation, labeling algorithm and fids＇e alarm eliminating algorithm are applied to pracess the binary image to obtain the defect, ct detection result. At last, a fast realization procedure jbr proposed method is developed. The proposed method is tested in real-time X-ray image,s obtairted in different X-ray imaging sutems. Experiment results show that the proposed method is effective to detect low contrast weld dejects with few .false alarms and is adaptive to various types of real-time X-ray imaging systems.

Ultrasonic inspection for circumferential butt joint of austenitic stainless steel with carbon steel

Tthe practical application of ultrasonic wave inspection in welded joint by austenitic stainless steel with carbon steel is presented. It is shown from the experimental results that the high frequency narrow-pulsed longitudinal ultrasonic wave inspection technique can detect the defects in deferent sound path and location within the tested welded joint clearly and exactly. The study in the paper may provide a new approach for further application of ultrasonic inspection in coarse-grained materials.

Study on the distribution of residual stresses in linear friction welds of Ti6AI4V

The linear friction welding process of Ti6Al4 V was modeled and computed ,for obtaining the residual stresses. Temperature, stress and strain fields were simulated, based on which, the residual stresses were also cah＇ulated. Simulated resttlts showed that the longitudinal residual stresses were tensile stresses at the bonding interface, and decreased rapidly with the increase of the distance from the bonding interface until turned into compressive stresses. The compressive stresses decreased slowly as the distance increased, and approached to zero finally. The distribution of the transverse residual stresses was similar to that of the longitudinal residual stresses, but showed much smaller values. The residual stresses in one linear friction weld were measured by an X-ray diffrnctometer. The average valwe of errors between computed and measured results was 14. 5 %.

Rapid digitalization and panoramic evaluation of weld X-ray film

The computer evaluation of weld X-ray film is an attractive technique for weld seam NDT （ nondestructive testing）. To achieve this target, digitalization of film is the first step and automatic defect identification is another key technique. In this paper, a weld X-ray film digitalizing system has been established with linear array CCD and highlight LED light source. Its space resolution can reach 0. 04 mm/pixel and scanning speed can reach 100 mm/s for an industrial film. The transfer function curves of the system have been measured and the results indicate that its image gray resolution can reach 88 G/D at 4. 5D, and its dynamic range can be wider than 2. OD. In order to facilitate the evaluation of large welded structure, a panoramic evaluation algorithm is developed also. The algorithm includes image matching, image fusion and panoramic evaluation of the long linked film image.

Method for Detecting Weld Feature Size Based on Line Structured Light

With the rapid development of the machining and manufacturing industry,welding has been widely used in forming connections of structural parts.At present,manual methods are often used for welding and quality inspection,with low efficiency and unstable product quality.Due to the requirements of visual inspection of weld feature size,a visual inspection system for weld feature size based on line structured light(LSL)is designed and built in this paper.An adaptive light stripe sub-pixel center extraction algorithm and a feature point extraction algorithm for welding light stripe are proposed.The experiment results show that the detection error of the weld width is 0.216 mm,the detection error of the remaining height is 0.035 mm,the single measurement costs 109 ms,and the inspection stability and repeatability of the system is 1%.Our approach can meet the online detection requirements of practical applications.

Acoustic Emission Studies on Weld Bead Defects in Nuclear Grade SS 316L Materials

This paper contributes about the behaviour of Acoustic Emission (AE) signatures of implanted weld defects of SS 316L materials. Lack of penetration and lack of side fusion defects were implanted in weld bead region of the materials. Tungsten Inert Gas Welding (TIG) is adopted to weld the Stainless Steel (SS316L) nuclear grade materials. The material is fabricated with dimensions of 140 × 16 × 10 mm and AE signatures are studied under preload conditions. Mechanical Jig is fabricated to maintain constant load in concentrated weld region. When external load is applied on the weld region, the deformed specimen experiences acoustic emission signals form the weld defect region which are potential source of releasing stress energy. Liner Location Technique (LLT) is adopted for AE singal studies and the generated signal is processed by 2-channel USB—AE node and AE-WIN software. The tests are conducted on two different samples having each defect. A conventional NDT method i.e. X-ray Radiography is conducted on the samples to know the defect ranging and correlated with AE signatures. This study will be helpful to standardize the AE signals for different implanted weld defects of SS 316L materials and it is found that, the parameter “counts vs. amplitude” has given the widest distinction with respect to the type of defects.

Study of acoustic signal in the process of resistance spot welding based on array sensor system

This investigation was performed to study acoustic field signal in order to improve RSW quality. Researchers firstly built an acoustic array sensor system, which included 8 MPA-416 acoustic sensors, data acquisition card and LabVIEW. The system obtained the acoustic field information in the process of nugget growing. Due to the nonlinearity field signal, array sensor algorithm was utilized to quantitatively analyze the characteristics of acoustie field and reduced noise. The experiment and calculation results show that array sensor system can acquire acoustic field signal of nugget growing in the RSW process and array processing algorithm based on acoustic field can extract characteristic parameters to evaluate RSW quality. It was concluded that the acoustic array sensor system offers a new methodology for RSW quality inspection.

Residual Stresses in Resistance Spot Welded AZ61 Mg Alloy

The use of magnesium alloys has been rapidly increased due to their ability to maintain high strengths at light weights.However weldability of steels and aluminum alloys by using resistance spot weld(RSW)process is a major issue,because it cannot be directly utilized for magnesium alloys.In this study,a structural-thermal-electrical finite element(FE)model has been developed to predict the distribution of residual stresses in RSW AZ61 magnesium alloy.Thermophysical and thermomechanical properties of AZ61 magnesium alloy have been experimentally determined,and have been used in FE model to increase the accuracy of the model.X-ray diffraction(XRD)technique has been utilized to measure the residual stresses in welded samples,and its results have been used to validate the FE model.Comparison study shows that the results obtained by using FE model have a good agreement with the experimental XRD data.In specific,the results show that the maximum tensile residual stress occurs at the weld center while decreases towards the nugget edge.In addition,the effects of welding parameters such as electrical current,welding time,and electrode force have been investigated on the maximum tensile residual stress.The results show that the tensile residual stress in welded joints rises by increasing the electrical current;however,it declines by prolonging the welding time as well as increasing the electrode force.