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Reduction of Layered Dead Zone in Time-of-Flight Diffraction (TOFD) for Pipeline with Spectrum Analysis Method

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Abstract

When ultrasonic time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD) B-scan is implemented along the circumferential direction of pipeline, the ray path of direct longitudinal wave (DLW) is not parallel to the curved pipeline surface, inducing the layered dead zone. In this paper, the spectrum analysis method based on Fourier transform is employed to establish the relationship between flaw depth and harmonic frequency interval. On this basis, the relative position between flaw tip and DLW is determined combining with the characteristics of the tip-diffracted waves in B-scan image, realizing the quantitative detection of the defects with different depths. Simulated and experimental results show that the range of dead zone in pipeline is reduced by 40% with spectrum analysis method, and the relative quantitative errors of flaw depths are within 11%. Finally, the formation mechanism of extreme values for the tip-diffracted waves in B-scan image is discussed by theoretical analysis.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFA0709003), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51905079), the Dalian Science and Technology Innovation Fund (Grant No. 2020JJ26GX041) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. DUT20ZD204).

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  1. NDT & E Laboratory, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China

    S. J. Jin, B. Zhang, X. Sun & L. Lin

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  1. S. J. Jin
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  2. B. Zhang
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  3. X. Sun
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  4. L. Lin
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Correspondence to L. Lin.

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Jin, S.J., Zhang, B., Sun, X. et al. Reduction of Layered Dead Zone in Time-of-Flight Diffraction (TOFD) for Pipeline with Spectrum Analysis Method. J Nondestruct Eval 40, 48 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-021-00781-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-021-00781-x

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