Special Report
Ultrasonic testing for detecting corrosion
Technical advances in ultrasonic test methods open up new
perspectives for damage analysis
T
he increasing use of 3D and digi-
tal non-destructive test methods
supplies increasingly precise
information on flaws and defects. Us-
ing a stirred tank reactor (STR) as a
case study, TV SD Chemie Service
presents aspects that must be taken
into consideration. In the case at hand,
leakage caused by corrosion occurred
at a junction sheet welded onto the
outer jacket.
Plant operation can give rise to
conditions that were not considered in
the design phase and in material selec-
tion. Given this, in spite of a high level
of thoroughness, corrosion is repea-
tedly encountered in practice even
in stainless steel and enamel-coated
components. The chemical industry is
particularly vulnerable to corrosion,
as aggressive operating fluids and at-
Fig.1: The phased-array procedure can be used to detect and assess flaws such as corrosion
in solid components
Chemical Weekly July 9, 2013
mospheres challenge the resistance to
chemicals of piping, tanks and valves.
Subsequent changes of operating
conditions to improve production ef-
ficiency are a further factor promot-
ing corrosion. To this end, owners/
operators often increase operating para-
meters such as pressure and tempera-
ture. However, a 10C increase in tem-
perature will double the rate of a chemi-
cal reaction and thus also accelerate the
corrosion processes. Unfortunately,
stakeholders do not always give suffi-
cient consideration to all these facts.
The phased-array ultrasonic test
method offers one possibility of iden-
tifying and analysing flaws such as
corrosion in solid components. This
method provides reproducible results
for detailed analysis of the material
structure or welding joints. The phased-
Dipl.-Ing. Jens Keil
Head of Materials Technology
Email: jens.keil@tuev-sued.de
Dr.-Ing. Manuel Scholz
Test Engineer Materials & Testing
Email: manuel.scholz@tuev-sued.de
TV SD Chemie Service GmbH
www.tuev-sued.de/chemieservice
array technique is a state-of-the-art
pulse-echo method, which uses ultra-
sound probes made up of a number of
individual elements that can function
separately as transmitter or receiver. By
introducing a time delay in the excita-
tion of the elements, test experts can
steer and focus the ultrasound beam.
The test data can be displayed as
A-scans, B-scans and C-scans (see
Figures 2 and 3), i.e. in horizontal,
vertical and top view, enabling the
results to be displayed in 2D and 3D.
The phased-array technology offers
better reproducibility of results than
manual pulse-echo techniques. Com-
pared to other non-destructive test
methods such as digital radiography,
it also does not involve any radia-
tion protection measures, which often
prove cost-intensive.
Case study: stirred tank reactor
(STR)
The experts at TV SD Chemie
Service have successfully applied
the phased-array method in areas
such as damage analysis at a manu-
facturer of speciality chemicals. At
this manufacturer, leaks had occurred
in the outer jacket of a steam-heated
enamel-coated STR. The tank, built in
1971, is equipped with an agitator and
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 Special Report
processes the raw materials used for
plastics manufacturing. It is made of
high-temperature pressure-vessel steel
P265 GH. This material is suitable for
the design load in this case, tem-
peratures of between 155 and 170C
at a steam pressure of 4.5 to 5 bar (450 to
500 kPa) and service water for cooling.
This type of steel generally offers good
cold and hot forming properties and suit-
able minimum yield strength for STR
used in this segment of industry.
The leaks in the tank reactor oc-
curred in the upper part of a junction
sheet welded to the tanks outer jacket.
The junction sheet forms part of the
support ring. Reliable root-cause analy-
sis was particularly important given
that the manufacturer operated further
STRs of the same type under similar
conditions at various locations. TV
SDs experts first developed a stra-
tegy that promised successful non-de-
structive testing for investigating pos-
sible corrosion damage with the help of
the phased-array method. One option
was the immersion phased-array tech-
nique (based on HydroFORM). Water
coupling offers optimised coupling
conditions even on rough surfaces, and
204
Fig. 2: The test data displayed as C-scan
thus has the advantage of not requiring ingly use 3D and digital methods that
removal of any coatings. deliver highly accurate results even at
high test speeds. However, these state-
Technical advancement has opened of-the-art technologies also make high
up new perspectives for imaging, and demands on the expertise of test ex-
thus also for finding tailored solutions perts, who require extensive knowhow
and actions that offer safety and relia- in handling test equipment on the one
bility while ensuring a high degree of hand and in interpreting the displayed
availability. Todays experts increas- results on the other. After all, as pre-
A comparison of NDT methods
TOFD technique (Time of Flight Diffraction)
This ultrasonic test method is particularly suitable for recognising volumi-
nous defects. The technique analyses diffracted signals rather than reflected
signals and is thus highly suitable for determining the size of inhomogeneities
in the material.
Digital radiography
This radiation technique permits testing of components with coatings,
enamelled parts and systems that cannot be accessed from the outside. Special
evaluation systems provide immediate results, making time-intensive develop-
ment of X-ray films a thing of the past.
Phased array
Ultrasonic testing of welds increasingly relies on the phased-array method.
The key advantage of the method is the 2D and 3D display of faults in real time
also in high-speed testing. Use of the test method requires expert and qualified
assessment of a broad array of information.
Chemical Weekly July 9, 2013

Fig. 3: The test data image enabling the results to be displayed in 2D and 3D
cision and resolution improve, the
number of alleged flaws displayed in-
creases. Experts must therefore be able
to differentiate between critical results
and results that pose no risk for compo-
nent integrity.
Interaction between people and
technology
Incorrect interpretation of results
may lead to defects being overlooked
or excessive refurbishment being un-
dertaken. This equally applies to com-
ponents that are vulnerable to corro-
sion, structural components and parts
exposed to dynamic loads. Imperfect
interaction between the new techno-
logy and the qualification of the ex-
perts may cause considerable follow-up
costs. Matters are further complicated
by loss of testing know-how and test-
ing experience at the manufacturers
company, e.g. based on spin-off of this
field of activity or increasingly fast in-
novation cycles in the research of NDT
applications.
To return to our STR case study,
phased-array examination provided a
clear result. Further material testing
Chemical Weekly July 9, 2013
revealed that the defect was caused
by strain-induced corrosion cracking.
But what exactly does this mean? At
higher temperatures, a magnetite layer
may form when water and water
steam in particular attacks the iron
in the steel. The magnetite layer acts
as a protective coating, shielding the
underlying material against further
corrosion. The detected flaws were lo-
cated in the areas exposed to the high-
est mechanical and thermal loads and
the strain induced thereby. There, the
magnetite layer had been damaged to
some extent, leaving these points vul-
nerable to corrosive attacks caused by
the cooling or service water. In the
case at hand, the damaged areas re-
peatedly recovered under service con-
ditions. The micrographs showed that
the sides of the crack were covered by
a layer of magnetite. However, in the
case at hand the existing magnetite
layer had been repeatedly damaged
to some extent, so that corrosion pro-
gressed until leakage occurred.
An appropriate solution must
take a multi-faceted approach. TV
SDs experts firstly recommended
Special Report
that improvements should be made
to the design of the support device.
A change in junction-sheet design
helps to avoid load peaks, and thus
strain. On the other hand, the mode
of operation of the STR should be
changed to ensure smaller tempera-
ture gradients and thus reduce ther-
mal loads (and consequently strain).
Based on these findings, the manu-
facturer took action, replaced the
junction sheets on a further six STRs
and changed the service parameters
of the tanks. These measures have
now significantly reduced the prob-
ability of corrosion and have proved
that early involvement of a third-par-
ty service provider saves costs and
improves plant availability. How-
ever, to reap these benefits, experts
with long-standing experience must
use the right test methods and inter-
pret the results correctly.
The testing laboratory of TV SD
Chemie Service offers flexible ac-
creditation, enabling the laboratory to
validate innovative test methods itself
and provide for their fast application in
practice.
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