Thesis

Considerations for industrial qualification of in-process phased array ultrasonics during high-integrity cladding

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2026
Thesis identifier
  • T18129
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 202393858
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Abstract
  • The nuclear industry has always had a turbulent time in terms of public support and funding within the UK, albeit is now seeing a resurgence in both civil and nuclear applications to ensure energy security and to keep our country safe from foreign aggressors. This has led to a demand for better value for money from nuclear projects, which have consistently seen cost overruns on projects; requiring modernisation of manufacturing processes to deliver high integrity components more efficiently with scheduled certainty at increased quality metrics of ‘right first time’. In the manufacture of high integrity welded pressure vessels, required within the nuclear industry, a great deal of cost and programme delays are accrued through the traditional sequential of manufacturing operations e.g. welding, machining, Non Destructive Evaluation (NDE), dressing/machining of defects, repair, machining, NDE etc. By implementing a method of assessing the weld integrity during the welding process, both reduces the manufacturing cycle time and environmental impact of the manufacturing processes through reduced weld pre-heating gas requirements and time on machine, with increased knowledge of the welding process through real-time data capture driving further efficiency advancements through better manufacturing controls. This thesis presents significant advancements in the pursuit of real-time in-series phased array ultrasonic inspection of high integrity weld cladding. The challenges associated with deploying an in-series inspection are non-trivial in a highly regulated industry with technology far exceeding current codes and standards guidance. Considerable research has been undertaken to close these gaps and enable methodologies to address and overcome them. The work in this thesis introduces a method of quantifying and improving the ultrasonic transmission through as-welded complex geometries in a ‘multi-beam’ method with experimental proof on varying surfaces showing an order of magnitude improvement in signal variability on reference reflectors. Furthermore, a calibration compensation algorithm is developed and justified on elevated temperature ranges found during industrial pre-heated Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) cladding operations to justify compensations in material velocity, reflector amplitude, position and size. The accumulation of this work is demonstrated on a full-size industrial vessel inspected robotically, during a weld cladding operation with seeded defects in a blind trial format. Demonstrating a front wall tracking algorithm to aid inspector interpretation and validation of the method through conventional Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing and macrographs. This work sets the foundation for industrial adoption of the in-series cladding inspection and provides evidence in criterion that cannot be met in current conventional UT codes and standard requirements.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Macleod, Charles
Resource Type
DOI

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