Radiography of thinwall stainless steel piping welds

摘要

Radiographic inspection of thinwall stainless steel piping welds can present difficulties and anomalies with regard to the achievement of radiographic sensitivity. This paper describes a series of practical investigations which looked at the attained values of radiographic sensitivity when radiation type, film type and IQIs are varied on pipe butt welds ≤14 in Φ x ≤9.5 mm-thick. Results from the investigations show that improved radiographic sensitivity can be achieved when the radiation, film and IQI type are manipulated (in several combinations). Whilst it is recognised that a series of specific investigations such as these cannot be construed to be definitive, they serve as a reminder that the achievement of code-compliant radiographic sensitivity does not always guarantee the detection of important planar flaws.