TPT March 2007

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Inspection, Measuring, Testing & Marking
98 March/April 2007
Western Instruments, USA, is a specialist
in the manufacture of ultrasonic testing
systems for welded tube and pipe mills.
These tube and pipe UT systems are
designed to meet industry specifications
such as API, ISO, ASTM, and CSA,
for both mill-line and conveyer-line
applications.
Systems are offered for both electric
resistance welded (ERW), and spiral/
straight seam submerged arc welded
(SAW) processes.
One of Western’s highly regarded
innovations was the introduction of
the Inside Flash Gauge in 1987. The
Flash Gauge is installed on the mill-line
immediately downstream of the welder and
flash cutting tools, and draws a profile of
the outside and inside weld geometry. With
continuous improvements to this product,
the company has since installed over 60
Flash Gauges around the world.
Like the Flash Gauge, Western’s mill-line
weld testing systems are renowned for
testing the weld area immediately after flash
removal. Exclusive pipe mill probes form the
basis of these tubular testing systems.
These probes, with their integral
transducers, have been developed
specifically to follow the surface of welded
tube and pipe. Western’s multi-channel
systems are highly advanced due to their
superior mechanical designs.
Western Instruments has always tailored
its ultrasonic instrumentation and controls
to the specific application of either mill-line
or conveyer-line installations. The company
has introduced a number of innovations
including high speed gating, multiple
gates per channel, multi-channel operator
displays, and coupling monitoring.
Western Instruments – USA
Fax: +1 780 459 7837
Email:
Website:
Tactic line of ultrasonic
inspection systems
TAC Technical Instrument Corp, USA,
manufactures the Tactic™ line of ultrasonic
inspection systems for bars, billets and
tubes for the production of precision parts
for critical applications.
This equipment is used for testing material
of round, rectangular and hexagonal
cross sections. System configurations
are designed for high-volume, semi-
automatic production tests or for lower
quantity manual operation. The company
also provides instrument calibration
services, reference block certifications
and transducer profiling. Typical ASTM
standards accommodated include A 450A
450M, E 127, E 213, E 273, E 314, E 317,
E 1001, E 1065, E 2375 and others.
The company’s systems provide material
handling and transducer positioning
apparatus and can utilise a range of
flaw detection instruments. These are
connected to TAC’s specialised instruments
for automatic stopping, marking, or sorting
of defect indications.
TAC Technical Instrument Corp – USA
Fax: +1 609 882 3147
Email:
Website:
Advanced ultrasonic flaw detection system
Olympus NDT, USA, has launched the OmniScan iX advanced ultrasonic data
acquisition system for tubular flaw detection, designed for high-speed immersion or non-
immersion testing of critical components.
The system can be configured for 2, 4,
or 8 conventional ultrasound channels,
and features a high-resolution VGA
display, strip chart, 16 logical alarms,
16 analogue outputs, and helicoidal
scan mode.
The compact OmniScan iX is housed
in a rugged bench-top casing, and is
also available in a rack-mount version
for integration into inline production
testing systems.
Tubular flaw detection can be configured using multiple channels to achieve 100 per
cent inspection of critical defects. Inspections often require the ability to interrogate
for ID and OD notches and internal flaws or delaminations. Five pulse-echo channels
are often required: two transducers diametrically opposed for axial-flaw detection, two
transducers diametrically opposed for transverse flaw detection, and one 0º probe for
thickness- or laminar-flaw indications. Additional channels can be used for oblique
angles.
Olympus NDT Inc – USA
Fax: +1 781 419 3980
Email:
Website:
Ultrasonic testing systems for welded tube and pipe mills
fi A 24" mill-line installation (630mm) OD, with a 6 channel weld testing system (left) and a Flash Gauge (right)
› Olympus NDT’s OmniScan iX