Integrity management decisions related to operating energy transmission pipelines affected by Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) represent a formidable challenge to the pipeline industry. Effective management of SCC damage requires the development of tools and technology to identify the occurrence of SCC and to assess the impact of the SCC on pipeline integrity. Development of practical non-destructive evaluation (NDE) solutions for the measurement and evaluation of SCC, including crack depths, is difficult due to the complexity of crack shapes and their inter-relationship and distribution within crack colonies. Laser ultrasonics is an inspection technology using laser beams to generate and detect ultrasonic waves in the pipeline wall to be inspected. Unlike conventional ultrasound, it has a large bandwidth and the beams have a very small (∼0.5mm) footprint. These characteristics make it ideally suited for application as a depth sizing tool for SCC in pipelines. Through a collaborative research project jointly funded by the US Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and PRCI, Applus RTD and its research partners have conclusively shown that laser ultrasonic inspection technology using the Time of Flight Diffraction (TOFD) technique reliably and accurately measures the depth of SCC. In addition, this technique may also be applicable to measuring the depth of other cracks such as seam weld anomalies. The project included the development of a prototype NDE inspection tool for measurement of SCC, and recently culminated with a series of full-scale demonstrations of the tool. This paper describes the detailed technical work conducted to support the development of the tool and validation of the TOFD technique for sizing the depth of SCC. In addition, this paper presents the preliminary results of work on a closely related project that builds on the technology described above to produce an integrated approach and tool for mapping, sizing, and evaluating SCC that filters significant (i.e., deep) cracks from more benign cracks within an SCC colony.
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2010 8th International Pipeline Conference
September 27–October 1, 2010
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Conference Sponsors:
- International Petroleum Technology Institute and the Pipeline Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-4420-5
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Sizing Stress Corrosion Cracks Using Laser Ultrasonics Available to Purchase
Marvin Klein,
Marvin Klein
Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
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Richard Kania,
Richard Kania
TransCanada, Calgary, AB, Canada
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Martin Fingerhut,
Martin Fingerhut
Applus-RTD, Houston, TX
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Homayoon Ansari
Homayoon Ansari
Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
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Hamood Rehman
Applus-RTD, Houston, TX
Marvin Klein
Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Richard Kania
TransCanada, Calgary, AB, Canada
Steve Rapp
Spectra Energy, Houston, TX
Rick McNealy
Applus-RTD, Houston, TX
Martin Fingerhut
Applus-RTD, Houston, TX
Homayoon Ansari
Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Paper No:
IPC2010-31278, pp. 417-421; 5 pages
Published Online:
April 4, 2011
Citation
Rehman, H, Klein, M, Kania, R, Rapp, S, McNealy, R, Fingerhut, M, & Ansari, H. "Sizing Stress Corrosion Cracks Using Laser Ultrasonics." Proceedings of the 2010 8th International Pipeline Conference. 2010 8th International Pipeline Conference, Volume 1. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. September 27–October 1, 2010. pp. 417-421. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/IPC2010-31278
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