PAUT Butt Weld Inspection Utilising the veo3

Fig. 1 - Example of a dissimilar butt weld plan

PAUT can be used in lieu of conventional UT (Ultrasound Testing) in most cases and is increasingly replacing radiography due to its advantages in safety, faster inspection speed and result delivery, and that PAUT can be carried out without the need to evacuate the inspection area meaning surrounding work does not to be stopped for the inspection.

The Sonatest VEO3 provides a robust, portable, easy to use PAUT unit capable of inspecting large lengths of weld quickly and efficiently.

Fig. 2 - Veo3 in use on a double V shop butt weld

VEO3 Butt weld Setup Steps

Over the next few pages, we will briefly detail the steps for creating and gathering data for a PAUT weld inspection, along with useful tools and video links.

Scan Setup

Creating setups for phased array scans is easy on the VEO3, full setup wizards with step-by-step guidance and help boxes make the process of creating delay laws that have the correct coverage and focal settings. Probe and wedge selection is easy using the onboard library The Veo3 can also import delay laws created on ES Beamtool and CIVA.

Multiple group and probe setups are easy to setup with the VEO3 capable of up to 8 PA (Phased Array) groups in a single scan setup and can be run with PA, TOFD, TFM (Time of Flight Measurement) and TFMi scans simultaneously.

Fig. 3 - Setup Wizard on the VEO3

Calibrations

The VEO3 has made the calibration process simple, with easy to perform step by step guides to help get that calibration set first time and get through all the calibrations quicker than ever before.
The PA calibrations and checks available on the VEO3 are as follows:

• Wedge angle check
• Element activation Wizard (dead element check)
• Velocity and Zero
• Wedge Delay
• Sensitivity
• TCG (Automated, Manual, and constant dB options)
• Encoder Calibration

A full list of ‘how to’ videos are available on the Sonatest YouTube page

Scanning

Scanning with the VEO3 can be performed with an encoded scanner, or via timed free hand scanning. The VEO3 can gather data at a high speed with its Linux based operating system. The technician also has control over the PRF settings that can be set to increase scanning speeds if needed.

Scanning layout options can be chosen or created to be customised to the technicians' preferred views when scanning. Each window is fully customisable with cursors, colour pallets and window size being controllable.

Fig. 4 - Data acquisition performed on the VEO3

Data Review and Reporting

Once acquired, scanning data can be reviewed on the VEO3 itself and a PDF report can be generated for immediate onsite results.

The UTStudio+ PC software comes with advanced data review tools to help locate and automatically size defects within your scan data, this can then generate a full report providing the scan setup parameters, calibration details and defect measurements for submission to the clients.

Sonatest PA data is also compatible with CIVA review software for live data review and defect plotting using complex geometry weld profiles.

Fig. 5 - Data review on UTStudio+ PC Software

Conclusion

The VEO3 PA data acquisition unit is designed for fast, efficient portable PAUT inspections and is a perfect solution for butt weld inspection carried out under any regional standard. Technicians can be confident in their results, speed up setup times and scanning speeds with a world leading PA units and data review software.

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Please contact our Applications Team if you have any questions. You can also find more solutions on our website.

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