Experimental Study of Flaw Evaluation Performance Using Zonal Discrimination Ultrasonic Testing Technique

Abstract

Automatic ultrasonic testing (AUT) using the zonal discrimination technique is commonly applied inspect pipeline girth welds overseas. The technique has been developed for pipeline construction using high-speed automatic welding technology. To make a high-speed inspection, probes are scanned only circumferentially. We studied the inspection performance of the zonal discrimination technique experimentally using specimens with artificial defects. In this paper we describe the results of this experiment and discuss the performance of the technique.