Development of ultrasonic testing equipment incorporating electromagnetic acoustic transducer

This paper describes an automatic flaw detection equipment and heat-resistant ultrasonic transducer for plate thickness measurement. The automatic flaw detection equipment is used during in-service inspection. It comprises an angle-beam electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT), mounted on a vehicle, for scanning the pipe surface to be inspected. The EMAT functions without direct contact with the pipe surface through a coupling liquid, the vehicle does not require a guide track installed on the pipe surface, since it is equipped with magnetic wheels that adhere to the pipe, permitting it to travel along the circumferential weld joint of a carbon steel pipe. Another heat-resistant ultrasonic transducer is a normal beam EMAT and is used during plant operation. As a result, the automatic flaw detection equipment could detect a 1 mm deep notch cut on a test piece of 25 mm thick carbon steel plate. The vehicle location accuracy on the piping was ±2 mm. The normal beam EMAT could measure the plate thickness, within ±0.3 mm accuracy for the range of plate thickness 4 mm to 12 mm at 300degC. (author)