Methodologies for the performance demonstration of nondestructive testing systems

The importance of nondestructive testings have been well recognized through a number of big accidents such as the collapses of buildings and bridges in recent years. A nondestructive test to be performed should be fitted to its purpose. In order to assess the nondestructive testing systems whether they are capable of attaining their objectives, performance demonstration is carried out in addition to the existing personnel qualification and certification scheme. However, there are a lot of different ways how the performance demonstration is implemented depending not only on the safety relevance of the component but also on the significance of the defects. At present time, there are two distinct methodologies. One is the American approach and the other is the European approach. In this paper, typical methodologies on the performance demonstration of NDT systems are reviewed and compared. Hence, when a PD system is to be established, a better way can be employed.