Hi to all, just like to briefly introduce myself. British 30 year NDT, Weld Inspection and Quality professional, wishing to exchange opinions and ideas on any engineering topic but specifically the above three. I like to think I am pragmatic, reasonable and quality- and open-minded.

When Ultrasonic inspection is proposed to replace radiography in accordance with either Code Case 181 (pipework to B31.3) or CC 2235, then it is a requirement that the written ultrasonic examination procedure shall be demonstrated to perform acceptably on a qualification block. But acceptable to who? Shouldn't it be to someone knowledgeable of these advanced computerised methods - Phased Array, TOFD, AUT? I cannot imagine many AI's have any training on such matters. And yet ASME VIII Div 1 UW-53 says that:

"The written examination procedure shall be available to the Inspector and shall be proven by actual demonstration to the satisfaction of the Inspector to be capable of detecting and locating
imperfections described in this Division."

Has anybody any experience of the performance qualification process.

Thanks in advance

NDEGUY,

you are right, the performance demo shall be acceptable to the AI, and for most AI the UT methods are black magic.
But the AI does not have the duty to check the technical details and the technological tricks.

Demonstration is going more the QC path.

Does the procedure include the variables required by T-x21, is the procedure approved by the Manufacturer, and available to the UT personnel, did they read it, is the equipment used the same than in the procedure, is calibration performed satisfactory, what is the couplant, does the computer store unprocessed data, is the indication of the test block visible, can the examination be re-evaluated afterwards based on the stored data, is the report filled in correctly?

When all the these questions are answered satisfactory, there is confidence that the UT will be performed correctly.
Believe me, some UT guys need more than three attempts, which in turn makes me question their qualification. And I have no clue of UT, can not even find the holes in the cal block with a manual head.

DK