PAUT Procedure
PAUT Procedure
QA/PAUT/01
No:
ULTRASONIC EXAMINATION Rev. 0
OF TUBE No:
Date: 07.03.2023
WELDS
1.0 SCOPE:-
1.1 This procedure describes the requirement and application of advanced Phased Array
Ultrasonic Test (PAUT) for detection and evaluation of discontinuities within Tube to Tube
butt welds and heat affected zone of weld joints of Air box, Panels and coils. This procedure
is in accordance with the requirements of Article 4 of ASME Section V and ASME B 31.1
Code Case 179.
1.2 This procedure is applicable to weld thickness of 2.5 mm and above, single V groove weld
configuration and for examination of materials of product form pipes / tubes having diameter
20.3 mm to 114.3 mm. Examination shall be conducted from outer surface of the component
to cover 100% volume of the weld and 25% of thickness on each side of the weld. Details of
weld bevel geometries and wall thicknesses will be provided in a scan plan that will be
prepared prior to commencement of examination in accordance with this procedure.
2.0 REFERENCE
2.1 Latest revisions of the following documents shall be referred to in conjunction with this
procedure:
ASME Section V Article 4: Ultrasonic Examination Methods for Welds.
ASME Code Case 179: Use of Alternative Ultrasonic Examination acceptance criteria
in ASME B 31.1.
OmniScan and COBRA Scanner Operation Manual
6.5 All circumferential measurements shall be made clockwise from the zero reference position
on the weld when looking in the direction of product flow. When scans are made from a pipe
to a flange where no scan access is had on the flange or fitting, the circumferential
measurement shall be made clockwise when looking at the flange from pipe side. When
multiple scanning is required, reference point shall be the same so that the location of the
flaw will match.
7.0 COUPLANT
7.1 Couplants having good wetting characteristics, transmission of ultrasound, resistance to
corrosion and removal characteristics shall be used. For this inspection, couplant shall be
starch, water or any other similar material. The same couplant shall be used for calibration
and examination.
8.0 TECHNIQUE
8.1 Phased Array Ultrasonic (PAUT) examination shall be carried out by direct contact, angle
beam technique using search units with more than two elements for welds and straight beam
technique for adjacent base metal.
8.2 This technique is a process wherein UT data are generated by controlled incremental
variation of the ultrasonic beam angle in the azimuthal or lateral direction while scanning the
object under examination
11.0 EQUIPMENT
11.1 The phased array ultrasonic instrument shall be an OmniScan MX2 pulse echo type
PROCEDURE FOR PHASED ARRAY Doc. QA/PAUT/01
No:
ULTRASONIC EXAMINATION Rev. 0
OF TUBE No:
Date: 07.03.2023
WELDS
13.2 The scan plan shall be prepared by plotting or by using a computer simulation for each type
of weld configuration of equal or unequal wall thickness and selecting the appropriate
refracted angle for E-scan and range of angles for S-scan that will be used during the
examination. ESbeam software tool shall be used to prepare the scan plan.
13.3 Scan plan shall include beam angles and direction with respect to the axis reference point
and geometry.
13.4 The examination range of angles for S-scan shall be adequate for the part to be examined. An
overlap of 10% of the active aperture shall be maintained and in case of S-scan the angular
sweep increment shall be a maximum of 1degree.
13.5 Scan plan shall contain following information also:
The effective size of pulsing element which is usually comprised of a group of individual
elements (i.e. virtual aperture size) that are pulsed simultaneously.
Effective height of virtual aperture
First and last element number of virtual aperture
13.6 Scan plan for each type of weld shall be attached to the report.
15.0 SCANNER
15.1 PAUT shall be carried out with the Olympus small manual scanner (COBRA) as shown in
figure 15.1. The scanner is capable of inspecting standard tubes / pipes of size 21.3 mm OD
to 114.3 mm OD. The scanner is characterized by a smooth rolling encoded movement (32.08
steps/mm) enabling precise data acquisition.
15.2 Mechanical holders shall be used to ensure that the probe spacing is maintained at a fixed
distances for scan offset and index offset.
15.3 The scanner holds two low profile phased array probes and wedges as mentioned above.
15.4 For pipe to component inspections, the scanner shall be configured to make one sided
inspections with only one probe after demonstrating by plotting or with using a computer
simulation that full volume of weld will be examined.
15.5 The easy integration and assembly of the scanner to suit various diameters is accompanied by
two templates that are provided in the scanner kit.
15.6 Probe motion shall be achieved by moving scanner manually. The mechanical holder for the
probes shall be equipped with a positional encoder that is synchronized with the sampling of
A-scans.
PROCEDURE FOR PHASED ARRAY Doc. QA/PAUT/01
No:
ULTRASONIC EXAMINATION Rev. 0
OF TUBE No:
Date: 07.03.2023
WELDS
d) After calibration, the encoder shall be moved through a measured distance of 358 mm.
The system read out shall be within 1% of the actual distance moved. Encoder failing this
check shall be recalibrated and this check repeated.
e) Above check shall be performed prior to first use, at interval not to exceed one month or
prior to first use thereafter.
Scan direction
0 0
Skew 270°
PROCEDURE FOR PHASED ARRAY Doc. QA/PAUT/01
No:
ULTRASONIC EXAMINATION Rev. 0
OF TUBE No:
Date: 07.03.2023
WELDS
18.4 Scanning speed shall be such that drop-out is less than 2 data lines per 25 mm of the linear
scan length and there are no adjacent data line skips. OmniScan equipment has the capability
of rewriting the data if loss of data is observed. The encoder is retrieved back to home
position whenever data is missed. Missing data is represented by dark black lines in the C-
scan display.
18.5 For S-scan techniques, the angular sweep incremental change shall be a maximum of 1
degree or sufficient to assure 50% beam overlap.
19.0 AUTOMATIC ALARM AND OR RECORDING EQUIPMENT
19.1 Automatic alarm shall not be used.
19.2 An encoder interfaced with the Omni Scan® phased array instrument shall be use to track the
phased array probe movement and data recording. The encoder shall be calibrated to
coordinate its movement with the Omni Scan instrument. The Omni Scan system incorporates
encoder calibration as well as scan resolution. The smaller the resolution the higher is the
data file length for a given weld length.
20.0 CALIBRATION CONFIRMATION
20.1 When any part of the examination system is changed, a calibration check shall be made on
the basic calibration block to verify that distance range point and sensitivity settings satisfy
the requirements of 20.3 and 20.4.
20.2 A calibration check on at least one of the reflectors in the basic calibration block shall be
performed at the finish of each examination or series of similar examinations and when
examination personnel are changed.
20.3 Sweep Range Correction.
If any distance range point has moved on the sweep line by more than 10% of the distance
reading or 5% of full sweep, whichever is greater, correct the sweep range calibration and
note the correction in the examination record. If reflectors are recorded on the examination
report, those examination reports shall be marked void and a new calibration shall be
recorded. All recorded indications since the last valid calibration shall be re-examined with
PROCEDURE FOR PHASED ARRAY Doc. QA/PAUT/01
No:
ULTRASONIC EXAMINATION Rev. 0
OF TUBE No:
Date: 07.03.2023
WELDS
the corrected calibration and their values shall be changed on the examination reports.
20.4 Sensitivity setting
If any sensitivity setting changed by more than 20% or 2 dB of its amplitude, correct the
sensitivity calibration. If the sensitivity setting has decreased, all examination reports since
the last valid calibration or calibration check shall be marked void and the area covered by
the data marked void shall be re-examined. If the sensitivity setting has increased all
recorded indications since the last valid calibration or calibration check shall be re-
examined and their values shall be changed on the examination reports
RECORD OF REVISIONS
Rev. Date Details of Revision
PROCEDURE FOR PHASED ARRAY Doc. QA/PAUT/01
No:
ULTRASONIC EXAMINATION Rev. 0
OF TUBE No:
Date: 07.03.2023
WELDS
No.
0 07.03.2023 First Issue
Prepared & checked by Reviewed & Accepted By Approved By
Shehzad Alam Jishnu S Ajay R.M. Sawant
NDE Level II NDE Level III HOD – Quality & Control
Management