Electromagnetic tensor imaging for in-process welding inspection
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Abstract
Welding is one of the most commonly practiced fabrication techniques within manufacturing today. In particular, the manufacture of heavy 5 vessels such as in the nuclear industry from ferritic and austenitic steels is dependent on high quality welding of seams and joints to ensure component integrity and safety.
The development of in-process welding Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT/E) technologies is vital to underpin the safety of such components, but also provide a significant improvement in nuclear manufacturing productivity. Currently, in order to minimise the need for rework of the welded seams and joints, costly, time-consuming, and potentially hazardous mid-manufacture radiography in a dedicated NDT/E bay is used for NDT/E. Mid-manufacture inspection suffers from the need to allow the welded components to cool down, typically up to 4 hours, before transferring to a dedicated NDT/E bay.
In-process weld inspection would be able to provide real time indication of defects or abnormalities with the weld permitting immediate further investigation and if necessary corrective actions to be taken. This would have positive impact on facility operation efficiency, avoid costly remedy actions at a later stage, and consequently deliver a reduction in overall testing & rework costs and increased productivity. Currently, there are no such commercial techniques available.
The instrument proposed in this project if successful would make a step change in this area andwould have significant impact on the UK manufacturers' productivity for heavy nuclear vessels and their competiveness in the global market.
The development of in-process welding Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT/E) technologies is vital to underpin the safety of such components, but also provide a significant improvement in nuclear manufacturing productivity. Currently, in order to minimise the need for rework of the welded seams and joints, costly, time-consuming, and potentially hazardous mid-manufacture radiography in a dedicated NDT/E bay is used for NDT/E. Mid-manufacture inspection suffers from the need to allow the welded components to cool down, typically up to 4 hours, before transferring to a dedicated NDT/E bay.
In-process weld inspection would be able to provide real time indication of defects or abnormalities with the weld permitting immediate further investigation and if necessary corrective actions to be taken. This would have positive impact on facility operation efficiency, avoid costly remedy actions at a later stage, and consequently deliver a reduction in overall testing & rework costs and increased productivity. Currently, there are no such commercial techniques available.
The instrument proposed in this project if successful would make a step change in this area andwould have significant impact on the UK manufacturers' productivity for heavy nuclear vessels and their competiveness in the global market.
Planned Impact
The main impact will be in the area of nuclear manufacturing capabilities and other welding related manufacturing processes.
The UK has a strong track record in nuclear engineering. With a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK and worldwide, there are significant opportunities for UK companies to take advantage of this new market. A new nuclear power plant requires a wide range of equipment and components. Many of the manufacturing processes involve welding.
In the broadest sense, the industrial benefits will stem from an ability to provide reliable and more efficient manufacturing processes and components requiring welding techniques, which enhance the competitive edge of UK manufacturers across the world wide nuclear industry. On line in process welding monitoring technology would help UK suppliers reduce cost, improve quality, reduce lead time and cycle time, and reduce risk in manufacturing.
Component reliability and the ability to minimise the need for rework of the welded seams and joints in high value components is also of environmental and societal benefit in terms of contributing to increased efficiency in nuclear manufacturing (lower fuel consumption) and reductions in CO2 emissions.
The instrument developed would be capable of supporting research work into developing novel welding processes and materials. Demonstrations through nuclear manufacturing research centres such as the NAMRC and the Manchester Dalton Research Institute - Manufacturing Technology Research Laboratory will be arranged. There is further opportunity to develop the instruments into standard machines for NDT communities, which can be used in aerospace, automotive, power, civil and railway industries.
Although this project focuses on nuclear welding processes, the instrument and technology developed would be readily transferred to other welding processes such as those in the automotive and aerospace manufacturing industries, where reliability and efficiency is crucial for global competitiveness and success.
This research is also highly inter-disciplinary, and involves a variety of scientific and technical areas such as: metallurgy, electromagnetic engineering, modelling and simulation, electronics, digital signal processing, inverse algorithms, process and mechanical engineering and non-destructive testing (NDT). Results from the project will be beneficial to a cross-section of scientific workers in these areas.
The UK has a strong track record in nuclear engineering. With a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK and worldwide, there are significant opportunities for UK companies to take advantage of this new market. A new nuclear power plant requires a wide range of equipment and components. Many of the manufacturing processes involve welding.
In the broadest sense, the industrial benefits will stem from an ability to provide reliable and more efficient manufacturing processes and components requiring welding techniques, which enhance the competitive edge of UK manufacturers across the world wide nuclear industry. On line in process welding monitoring technology would help UK suppliers reduce cost, improve quality, reduce lead time and cycle time, and reduce risk in manufacturing.
Component reliability and the ability to minimise the need for rework of the welded seams and joints in high value components is also of environmental and societal benefit in terms of contributing to increased efficiency in nuclear manufacturing (lower fuel consumption) and reductions in CO2 emissions.
The instrument developed would be capable of supporting research work into developing novel welding processes and materials. Demonstrations through nuclear manufacturing research centres such as the NAMRC and the Manchester Dalton Research Institute - Manufacturing Technology Research Laboratory will be arranged. There is further opportunity to develop the instruments into standard machines for NDT communities, which can be used in aerospace, automotive, power, civil and railway industries.
Although this project focuses on nuclear welding processes, the instrument and technology developed would be readily transferred to other welding processes such as those in the automotive and aerospace manufacturing industries, where reliability and efficiency is crucial for global competitiveness and success.
This research is also highly inter-disciplinary, and involves a variety of scientific and technical areas such as: metallurgy, electromagnetic engineering, modelling and simulation, electronics, digital signal processing, inverse algorithms, process and mechanical engineering and non-destructive testing (NDT). Results from the project will be beneficial to a cross-section of scientific workers in these areas.
People |
ORCID iD |
Wuliang Yin (Principal Investigator) | |
Anthony Peyton (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Xie Y
(2016)
Simulation of ultrasonic and EMAT arrays using FEM and FDTD.
in Ultrasonics
Lu M
(2016)
A Novel Compensation Algorithm for Thickness Measurement Immune to Lift-Off Variations Using Eddy Current Method
in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
Xie Y
(2016)
A Novel Variable-Length Meander-Line-Coil EMAT for Side Lobe Suppression
in IEEE Sensors Journal
Xie Y
(2016)
A wholly analytical method for the simulation of an electromagnetic acoustic transducer array
in International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics
Tao Y
(2017)
A Very-Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Inductive Sensor System for Workpiece Recognition Using the Magnetic Polarizability Tensor
in IEEE Sensors Journal
Lu M
(2017)
Acceleration of Frequency Sweeping in Eddy-Current Computation
in IEEE Transactions on Magnetics
Xie Y
(2017)
Directivity analysis of meander-line-coil EMATs with a wholly analytical method.
in Ultrasonics
Yin W
(2018)
Custom edge-element FEM solver and its application to eddy-current simulation of realistic 2M-element human brain phantom.
in Bioelectromagnetics
Yin W
(2018)
Acceleration of eddy current computation for scanning probes
in Insight - Non-Destructive Testing and Condition Monitoring
Xu H
(2018)
Imaging x70 weld cross-section using electromagnetic testing
in NDT & E International
Description | 1. Imaging weld cross-sections off-line using the instrument we developed. 2. Real time monitoring of welding process for potential defects. 3. extension of this method for additive manufacturing. |
Exploitation Route | There are potentially opportunities to take this technique to the manufacturing process of nuclear vessel to improve productivity and safety. Consultation have been made to take the developed technology for metal 3D printing. |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Energy |
Description | The instrument has been used for imaging welding micro-structure. Work has been carried out to test this within the NAMRC welding facilities. Built on this technology, an eddy current scanning instrument has been in development and currently in evaluation. The instrument is now being used for interfacing with an AR kit to explore enhancing NDT capability. |
Sector | Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
Impact Types | Economic |
Title | A steel microstructure imaging tool |
Description | A steel micro structure imaging tool is developed during the project which allow the micro structure to be visualised quickly using EM methods |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This would allow the steel micro structure of a weld to be identified as quickly and non contact. |
URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0963869518300811 |
Description | Rolls-Royce Civil Nuclear |
Organisation | Rolls Royce Group Plc |
Department | Rolls-Royce Civil Nuclear |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We have established regular contact through emails and telephone and we are actively seeking their perspective on how the project can potentially impact their productivity. |
Collaborator Contribution | Has contributed to know-how in welding technology and will attend project meetings. |
Impact | multi-disciplinary sensing & detection welding and advanced manufacturing |
Start Year | 2015 |
Title | fast magnetic induction imaging instrument |
Description | an instrument capable of producing 150 frame of images per second |
Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Impact | Have been used to support the project on how to image welds |