SAFT and TOFD evaluation for ultrasonic testing of longitudinal welds in large-diameter pipes; SAFT- und TOFD-Auswertung fuer die Ultraschall-Schweissnahtpruefung von laengsnahtgeschweissten Grossrohren

The authors present a mobile multichannel system for testing of longitudinal welds in large-diameter tubes. The prototype was designed for in situ inspection of longitudinal welds using transversal and longitudinal waves impacting at an angle from both sides in combined SE and IE operation. The reconstruction and imaging software enables SAFT calculations for all surface curves and superposition of the SAFT reconstructions from both sides into a general image of the weld. This includes superposition of the TOFD test data with a suitable evaluation and assessment concept. Details are presented, as are test results on test pieces for validation and on longitudinal welds in large-diameter tubes. (orig.)