Array imaging of inhomogeneous steel welds by measurement of weld material maps

该提案为一项为期三年的研究计划寻求资金，该计划旨在彻底改进非均匀焊缝（如奥氏体钢焊缝）的缺陷检测和尺寸。高温钢（如奥氏体钢和因科乃尔钢）的焊缝具有典型的各向异性和非均匀性的刚度特性，因此超声波射线往往会偏离和散射。这导致对缺陷大小的不准确解释。焊缝图描述了材料特性在整个焊缝中如何变化，将其应用于波传播模型，可以对阵列图像进行校正，以补偿射线的偏差。曼彻斯特大学的工作将研究如何使用切片、实验测量和材料建模来构建焊缝图。帝国理工学院的工作将研究超声波阵列测量的使用，以便无损地测量这些地图。这些发现将结合起来创建一个程序来纠正阵列图像，以使缺陷的精确尺寸。这项工作将与两家工业公司合作完成，他们都将提供真实的焊接样品。该提案正在英国NDE研究中心（RCNDE）内提交给目标研究计划，该计划的资金由EPSRC指定用于工业驱动的研究。

This proposal seeks funding for a three year research programme into the radical improvement of defect detection and sizing in inhomogeneous welds, such as austenitic steel welds. Welds of high temperature steels such as austenitic steels and Inconel have stiffness properties which are typically both anisotropic and inhomogeneous, so that ultrasonic wave rays tend to deviate and scatter. This results in inaccurate interpretation of defect sizes. Knowledge of weld maps which describe how the material properties vary throughout the weld, applied to wave propagation models, would allow array images to be corrected to compensate for the deviations of the rays. Work at Manchester University will investigate how weld maps can be constructed, using sectioning, experimental measurements, and materials modelling. Work at Imperial College will investigate the use of ultrasonic array measurements in order to measure such maps non-destructively. The findings will be combined to create a procedure to correct array images to enable accurate sizing of the defects. The work will be done in collaboration with two industrial companies who will both provide realistic weld specimens.The proposal is being submitted within the UK Research Centre in NDE (RCNDE) to the targeted research programme, the funding for which is earmarked by EPSRC for industrially driven research.