Ultrasonic Testing of Ring Type Joint Flanges for Detection of Chloride Stress Corrosion Induced Cracking

摘要

Ultrasonic Testing using shear and longitudinal wave can be applied for detection of chloride stress corrosion cracking of ring type joint (RTJ) flanges. This method of detection is sensitive to locate cracks, provided proper test variables are used. These variables include using an appropriate transducer angle, transducer frequency, beam spread and optimizing the sensitivity. Although this technique is an excellent crack detection technique, it is still not being used on a regular basis. These cracks may go years undetected, but will ultimately lead to failure, resulting in loss time and unnecessary costs to the owner. This paper discusses the different ultrasonic techniques that can be used to detect stress corrosion cracking on ring type joint flanges.