HOIS Highlights 2023-2024
Inspection of Weld Root Corrosion on Small Bore and Thin-Walled Components
Background
This project focuses on inspection of the welds on small bore, thin-walled components. It complements the active project on corrosion mapping for small bore pipework which had excluded weld inspection.
Currently, for small bore/thin-walled components, radiography is considered to be the default method for detection of local pitting in and around the weld root. However, there are other techniques such as TOFD and PAUT that have been highlighted by HOIS members as also being applicable.
HOIS has previously developed guidance for in-service weld inspection; however, the publicly available recommended practice (RP2) has not been updated since 2012. It is therefore hoped that the results of this trial programme will offer an opportunity to update the guidance and include specific recommendations for small bore thin-walled components.
Progress Update
The trial phase is now complete with participation from Altrad Babcock (PAUT), CAN (PAUT & TOFD) and TesTex (LFET). In addition, ESR inspected the samples using TOFD to evaluate the flaw sizing performance using only compression-compression, and then including the mode converted signal.
The trial report is currently being drafted and will be available later in 2024.