Measurements of the acoustic field on austenitic welds: a way to higher reliability in ultrasonic tests

In nuclear power plants many of the welds in austenitic tubes have to be inspected by means of ultrasonic techniques. If component-identical test pieces are available, they are used to qualify the ultrasonic test technology. Acoustic field measurements on such test blocks give information whether the beam of the ultrasonic transducer reaches all critical parts of the weld region and which transducer type is best suited. Acoustic fields have been measured at a bimetallic, a V-shaped and a narrow gap weld in test pieces of wall thickness 33, 25 and 17 mm, respectively. Compression wave transducers 45, 60 and 70 and 45 shear wave transducers have been included in the investigation. The results are presented: (1) as acoustic C-scans for one definite probe position, (2) as series of C-scans for the probe moving on a track perpendicular to the weld, (3) as scan along the weld and (4) as effective beam profile. The influence of the scanning electrodynamic probe is also discussed. (orig.)