Characteristics and Application of Ultrasonic Flaw Detection Method for Seamless Steel Pipe

Ultrasonic testing technology for seamless steel pipes:

Ultrasonic testing refers to the detection of seamless steel pipes using the principle of electromagnetic induction. When using the ultrasonic testing method for detection, it is first necessary to excite a beam of ultrasonic waves inside the seamless steel pipe, and the beam of ultrasonic waves will propagate inside the pipe of the seamless steel pipe. If the ultrasonic waves are reflected, it indicates that there are defects on the surface of the seamless steel pipe. During the detection process, ultrasonic waves will produce a series of changes inside the seamless steel pipe. Using a flaw detector to process this information can fully display the quantitative information of seamless steel pipe defects. The detection method can simultaneously detect a variety of steel pipe defects, and has high sensitivity. It should be noted that due to the slow detection speed, this detection method is not suitable for fast production lines. Therefore, this detection method is mostly used when inspecting high-quality seamless steel pipes in detail.

Due to the characteristics of shape and geometric size of seamless steel pipes, shear wave reflection method is generally used for flaw detection. According to the coupling method between the probe and the surface of the pipe, it can be divided into two basic methods: the contact method and the water immersion method.

1. Contact method for flaw detection

The contact method refers to the method in which the probe is in direct contact with the surface of the pipe for flaw detection. It is generally operated manually. This method has a slower flaw detection speed, but the equipment is simple, easy to operate, and easy to debug when changing specifications. Therefore, in the case of small batches and many specifications is still frequently used.

2. Flaw detection by water immersion method

The water immersion method refers to a method in which the probe is not in contact with the surface of the pipe, and water is used as the medium between the two. Water immersion flaw detection has the following advantages: it can use a focused acoustic beam, so it can significantly improve the detection sensitivity, resolution and ability to detect small diameter pipes, which is convenient for mechanization and automation; because it solves the problem of probe wear and uses cheap coupling media , so the production cost can be reduced. Therefore, the water immersion method has been widely used in the inspection of large quantities of pipes.

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