ROUND ROBIN TEST OF TOFD ULTRASONIC TESTING SYSTEMS FOR WELDED JOINTS OF STEEL BRIDGES

Abstract

The ultrasonic test could be applied to evaluate welded joints of steel bridges. The time of flight diffraction (TOFD) technique was developed in the United Kingdom in the 1980’s and the technique has been applied to pressure vessels of power plants. However, the applicability of the TOFD technique to steel bridges has not been investigated sufficiently. A collaborative study was organized by the Ministry of Construction. The collaborative study focused on the applicability of the ultrasonic testing to the steel bridges, including the TOFD technique. A round robin test of the TOFD systems was carried out. Considering the ratios of detection and overdetection, the performance of the systems was evaluated. This paper describes the round robin test and some remarks on the applicability of the TOFD systems.