The importance of Nondestructive Testing (NDT) as a Quality Control/ Quality

Assurance tool in the industrial domain cannot be over-emphasized. With the rapid
advancement in research and technology, the NDT field is becoming larger and more
sophisticated day by day. Innovative research in materials science and digital technology
is paving the way for more and more new methods in NDT technology.
Although the NDT technology has improved over the years, the basic ‘human factor’
underlying the success of the NDT field remains the same. There are two major factors
that influence the ‘Quality Assurance in NDT’. First, knowledgeable and skilled NDT
Operators are the most important factor in assuring the reliable test results. Second, the
Management oversight of the NDT operations plays a major role in assuring the overall
quality of NDT.
Whether the NDT operations are performed in-house or by a contractor, periodic
Management Self-assessments should include the following question: How can the
Management assess and improve the ‘Quality Assurance in NDT’?
This paper attempts to answer the above question. Some practical examples are provided
to illustrate the potential quality incidents that could lead to costly failures, and the role of
NDT Operator and the Management in preventing such quality incidents. Also, some
guidelines are provided on how the Management can apply the elements of Quality
Assurance to NDT in order to assess and improve the ‘Quality Assurance in NDT’.
Nondestructive testing (NDT) plays a vital role in assuring the quality and reliability of
several critical products whose integrity is of paramount importance for safety. As an
inspection, condition monitoring and diagnostic tool in a variety of applications, NDT
plays a key role in the safety of our lives. Billions of parts in the manufacturing, power
generation and transportation industries throughout the world are being inspected on a
daily basis using one or more NDT methods. Many potential accidents are avoided due
to the timely detection and elimination of the defects in materials and products through
careful application of the principles of ‘Quality Assurance in NDT’.
Most of us agree that Quality and Safety go hand in hand. In other words, a quality
product is a safe product. In this context, quality is defined as ‘freedom from defects’.
There is a considerable risk associated with the inspection of the pressure boundary
structures, systems and components. However, the importance of NDT is often not
realized until serious accidents occur that lead to personal injury and/or economic losses.
A single major accident in the field could seriously damage the reputation of the
organization responsible for the product and/or testing service. On the other hand,
undesirable quality incidents in the manufacturing plants or research laboratories could
also lead to costly rework and delayed shipments.
“Quality Assurance in NDT” means all those planned and systematic actions needed to
provide adequate confidence to the customers, regulators and other stake holders that the
NDT operations were performed and documented in accordance with the specified
requirements.
There are two major factors that influence ‘Quality Assurance in NDT’- the qualified
NDT personnel who perform the tests, and the Management oversight on NDT
operations.
The purpose of this Paper is to review the key elements of Quality Assurance (QA)
relevant to NDT and emphasize the role of the Management in implementing a Quality
Management System (QMS) that focuses on NDT. It is beyond the scope of this Paper to
discuss the technical details of the essential variables that affect the reliability of NDT.

The Role of the NDT Operator in Quality Assurance

Despite the automation of several NDT techniques, NDT technology today is very much
operator dependant. There is no doubt that the reliability of the test results depends on
the experience, knowledge and skill of the NDT Operator. The testing environment,
accessibility and other site conditions during the test have major influence on the operator
performance. Therefore, the ‘human factor’ plays a major role in the reliability of NDT.
From this point of view, it is possible that a critical defect might be missed even by an
experienced and skilled NDT operator. On the other hand, the root cause of a component
failure could be traced to the inadequate NDT technique applied, poor sensitivity of the
test setup or incorrect procedure employed during the test, which are operator dependent.
Also, there are several important essential variables that affect the test results. For
example, the test sensitivity and resolution are the most important parameters, which
depend on the capability of the equipment, selection of the appropriate techniques,
calibration standards, surface preparation and the procedure employed. Such factors can
be controlled by a qualified NDT Operator to the best of his ability by applying the
correct techniques and following the approved procedures. Hence, NDT Operator is
taken into consideration while determining the Probability of Detection (POD) during the
qualification of the Ultrasonic Testing (UT) examination system.
Thus the NDT Operator plays a key role in the reliability of the test results. It is the
responsibility of the qualified NDT Operator to follow the Code of Ethics and apply
his/her technical knowledge and skills to ensure the best results possible out of the tests.

Non-destructive testing is one of the most important means to detect and verify the
quality of items. As an organization providing NDT services, it is essential to assure the
correctness and accuracy of the test results. To assure the quality of the NDT inspections,
it is necessary to have not only the advanced equipments and material, but also well
trained and qualified inspectors and good inspection procedures, as well as adequate
attentions paid to the environmental impacts on the inspection results. The article
describes the practices of the quality assurance for the non-destructive testing service
organization by carrying out ISO 9000 quality performance in its service activities.

It seems to be the trend that the non-destructive testing of material, semi- and
final products or installed components are designated to the special servicing companies
providing NDT services other than the manufacturer or the owner himself to do the work.
Therefore special NDT servicing companies are becoming popular. It is the responsibility
for the service company to provide reliable testing and provide confidence to the
customer of its good quality of test results. The practices of SNPI, Suzhou Nuclear Power
Research Institute, which provides NDT services, shows that quality assurance provide us
an effective tool to reach this goal.

The main objective of a NDT service organization is to meet the requirements of

customers and regulatory bodies for the safety of industry applications, for example,
pressure vessels, electrical components. The customer's requirements are normally related
to the high quality of the NDT service, i.e. accurate and reliable test results, good service,
 as well as low cost. The regulatory requirements are normally related to the test method,
personnel qualification and classification of test results. The practices of SNPI is to set up
and maintain a quality system with reference to ISO 9000 family standards, so that a
good quality culture are created and maintained by the whole staff within the institute.

The quality system is maintained so that all the customer demands and regulatory
requirements are satisfied during all our site applications of non-destructive testing
activities.

3.0 Quality assurance measures for NDT activities

All aspects required by ISO 9001 standard are controlled by the quality system, which
includes the organizational structure, procedures, processes and resources for
implementing quality management. The main idea of setting up ISO 9001 quality system
is to prevent occurrence of any non-conformance through various of preventive measures.
Despite of different kinds of such systematic measures, the main QA measures for
controlling site NDT activities are: controlling NDT inspector qualifications, validness of
test equipment and test material, effectiveness of test procedures, impact of
environmental conditions to test results, and monitoring actual NDT performance by
quality surveillance inspectors.

3.1 Personnel qualifications

Inspector qualification is essential to a reliable inspection, and it is also mandatory
required by regulatory bodies. China has such a NDT personnel qualification system that
each industrial sector has its specific requirements in addition to the basic NDT society
requirements. Therefore, in order to fulfill different requirements for different industrial
applications, our NDT personnel hold different qualification certificates, including
foreign certificates, to satisfy different customers for different requirements. Although
much expenses are spent for the training and qualifications, our NDT personnel are well
qualified in such a way.

3.2 Test equipment and material

Test equipment and material are very important for NDT inspections. As an inspection
service organization, we developed and purchased all necessary equipment and materials
for our services, including ultrasonic testing, radiographic testing, eddy current testing,
magnetic particle testing, liquid penetrate testing, and visual testing as well as acoustic
emission testing. These equipment and materials are mainly used in power generating
industry and chemical industry for pressure vessel and related component inspections.

Periodic calibration of test equipments are carried out and documented so that their
accuracy and tolerance are identified and controlled.

Test materials are controlled so that they are valid for the tests, and have no harmful to
the component tested, which is extremely important to stainless steel component testing.
For example, when stainless steel components for nuclear power plants are tested by
 ultrasonic testing method, the coupling material should contain very little amount of
chlorinate, sulphate, phosphate materials, and should be qualified.

3.3 Test procedure

Test procedures define the responsibilities, techniques, operational steps and control
means for specific method of testing and test objects. SNPI establishes a series of test
procedures for different tasks, which we consider is necessary for carrying out quality
services of testings.

3.4 Environmental conditions

Environmental conditions affect the test results seriously on some occasions. Attention
should be taken for the temperature, humidity, radioactive, and/or surrounding materials
to the test objects. For example, the ultrasonic transmission speed in the steel changes
about 8 m/s when the temperature varies 1°; radioactive background of test objects affect
the radiographic testing results.

3.5 Monitoring of NDT processes

As an important quality assurance measure, quality surveillance inspectors are assigned
to verify the effectiveness of actual performance of NDT activities. The surveillance
inspectors have very good background knowledge of NDT, they check the prerequisite of
testing for a specific task, including NDT examiner's personnel qualification, status of
test equipment and materials to be used, test procedures adapted, and the environmental
conditions presented. They make sample checks to major test performance to verify if the
test procedures are followed by the NDT examiners. They check also the test results to
verify if the results are correct and the regulatory requirements are met.

Of course, the responsibility of testing is still on NDT examiner shoulders; the quality
surveillance inspector is responsible for the verifications. Such verifications are normally
carried out by means of implementation of witness and hold points inspections of quality
plans for NDT testing.

high praise of the quality provided and reached as well as the quality management system
implemented.

All feedback information are analyzed and used for continuous improvement of our
quality of NDT services and our quality management system.

5.0 Conclusion

Quality management system should be set up and improved continuously to assure the
quality of NDT services. Effective quality assurance measures should be taken to prevent
any non-conformance occurring during NDT activities.
Basic Principles of Ultrasonic Testing

Ultrasonic Testing (UT) uses high frequency sound energy to conduct examinations and make
measurements. Ultrasonic inspection can be used for flaw detection/evaluation, dimensional
measurements, material characterization, and more. To illustrate the general inspection principle,
a typical pulse/echo inspection configuration as illustrated below will be used.

A typical UT inspection system consists of several functional units, such as the pulser/receiver,
transducer, and display devices. A pulser/receiver is an electronic device that can produce high
voltage electrical pulses. Driven by the pulser, the transducer generates high frequency ultrasonic
energy. The sound energy is introduced and propagates through the materials in the form of
waves. When there is a discontinuity (such as a crack) in the wave path, part of the energy will
be reflected back from the flaw surface. The reflected wave signal is transformed into an
electrical signal by the transducer and is displayed on a screen. In the applet below, the reflected
signal strength is displayed versus the time from signal generation to when a echo was received.
Signal travel time can be directly related to the distance that the signal traveled. From the signal,
information about the reflector location, size, orientation and other features can sometimes be
gained.

Ultrasonic Inspection is a very useful and versatile NDT method. Some of the advantages of
ultrasonic inspection that are often cited include:

• It is sensitive to both surface and subsurface discontinuities.

• The depth of penetration for flaw detection or measurement is superior to other NDT
methods.
• Only single-sided access is needed when the pulse-echo technique is used.
• It is highly accurate in determining reflector position and estimating size and shape.
• Minimal part preparation is required.
• Electronic equipment provides instantaneous results.
• Detailed images can be produced with automated systems.
• It has other uses, such as thickness measurement, in addition to flaw detection.

As with all NDT methods, ultrasonic inspection also has its limitations, which include:

• Surface must be accessible to transmit ultrasound.

• Skill and training is more extensive than with some other methods.
• It normally requires a coupling medium to promote the transfer of sound energy into the
test specimen.
• Materials that are rough, irregular in shape, very small, exceptionally thin or not
homogeneous are difficult to inspect.
• Cast iron and other coarse grained materials are difficult to inspect due to low sound
transmission and high signal noise.
• Linear defects oriented parallel to the sound beam may go undetected.
• Reference standards are required for both equipment calibration and the characterization
of flaws.
A customer (also known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is usually used to refer to a current or
potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller,
or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services. However, in certain
contexts, the term customer also includes by extension any entity that uses or experiences the
services of another. A customer may also be a viewer of the product or service that is being sold
despite deciding not to buy them. The general distinction between a customer and a client is that
a customer purchases products whereas a client purchases services

Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues. The theory enables
mathematical analysis of several related processes, including arriving at the (back of the) queue,
waiting in the queue (essentially a storage process), and being served at the front of the queue.
The theory permits the derivation and calculation of several performance measures including the
average waiting time in the queue or the system, the expected number waiting or receiving
service, and the probability of encountering the system in certain states, such as empty, full,
having an available server or having to wait a certain time to be served.

Queueing theory has applications in diverse fields,[1] including telecommunications[2], traffic

engineering, computing[3] and the design of factories, shops, offices and hospitals.[4]

Queueing theory is generally considered a branch of operations research because the results are
often used when making business decisions about the resources needed to provide service. It is
applicable in a wide variety of situations that may be encountered in business, commerce,
industry, healthcare,[5] public service and engineering. Applications are frequently encountered in
customer service situations as well as transport and telecommunication. Queueing theory is
directly applicable to intelligent transportation systems, call centers, PABXs, networks,
telecommunications, server queueing, mainframe computer queueing of telecommunications
terminals, advanced telecommunications systems, and traffic flow.

Networks of queues are systems which contain an arbitrary, but finite, number m of queues.
Customers, sometimes of different classes,[11] travel through the network and are served at the
nodes. The state of a network can be described by a vector , where ki is the number
of customers at queue i. In open networks, customers can join and leave the system, whereas in
closed networks the total number of customers within the system remains fixed.

Limitations of queueing theory

The assumptions of classical queueing theory may be too restrictive to be able to model real-
world situations exactly. The complexity of production lines with product-specific characteristics
cannot be handled with those models. Therefore specialized tools have been developed to
simulate, analyze, visualize and optimize time dynamic queueing line behavior.

For example; the mathematical models often assume infinite numbers of customers, infinite
queue capacity, or no bounds on inter-arrival or service times, when it is quite apparent that these
bounds must exist in reality. Often, although the bounds do exist, they can be safely ignored
because the differences between the real-world and theory is not statistically significant, as the
probability that such boundary situations might occur is remote compared to the expected normal
situation. Furthermore, several studies show the robustness of queueing models outside their
assumptions. In other cases the theoretical solution may either prove intractable or insufficiently
informative to be useful.

Alternative means of analysis have thus been devised in order to provide some insight into
problems that do not fall under the scope of queueing theory, although they are often scenario-
specific because they generally consist of computer simulations or analysis of experimental data.
See network traffic simulation.

Monte Carlo methods (or Monte Carlo experiments) are a class of computational algorithms
that rely on repeated random sampling to compute their results. Monte Carlo methods are often
used in simulating physical and mathematical systems. Because of their reliance on repeated
computation of random or pseudo-random numbers, these methods are most suited to calculation
by a computer and tend to be used when it is unfeasible or impossible to compute an exact result
with a deterministic algorithm.[1]

Monte Carlo simulation methods are especially useful in studying systems with a large number
of coupled degrees of freedom, such as fluids, disordered materials, strongly coupled solids, and
cellular structures (see cellular Potts model). More broadly, Monte Carlo methods are useful for
modeling phenomena with significant uncertainty in inputs, such as the calculation of risk in
business. These methods are also widely used in mathematics: a classic use is for the evaluation
of definite integrals, particularly multidimensional integrals with complicated boundary
conditions. It is a widely successful method in risk analysis when compared with alternative
methods or human intuition. When Monte Carlo simulations have been applied in space
exploration and oil exploration, actual observations of failures, cost overruns and schedule
overruns are routinely better predicted by the simulations than by human intuition or alternative
"soft" methods.[2]

In statistics, signal processing, econometrics and mathematical finance, a time series is a

sequence of data points, measured typically at successive times spaced at uniform time intervals.
Examples of time series are the daily closing value of the Dow Jones index or the annual flow
volume of the Nile River at Aswan. Time series analysis comprises methods for analyzing time
series data in order to extract meaningful statistics and other characteristics of the data. Time
series forecasting is the use of a model to forecast future events based on known past events: to
predict data points before they are measured. An example of time series forecasting in
econometrics is predicting the opening price of a stock based on its past performance. Time
series are very frequently plotted via line charts.

Time series data have a natural temporal ordering. This makes time series analysis distinct from
other common data analysis problems, in which there is no natural ordering of the observations
(e.g. explaining people's wages by reference to their education level, where the individuals' data
could be entered in any order). Time series analysis is also distinct from spatial data analysis
where the observations typically relate to geographical locations (e.g. accounting for house
prices by the location as well as the intrinsic characteristics of the houses). A time series model
will generally reflect the fact that observations close together in time will be more closely related
than observations further apart. In addition, time series models will often make use of the natural
one-way ordering of time so that values for a given period will be expressed as deriving in some
way from past values, rather than from future values (see time reversibility.)

Methods for time series analyses may be divided into two classes: frequency-domain methods
and time-domain methods. The former include spectral analysis and recently wavelet analysis;
the latter include auto-correlation and cross-correlation analysis

Abrasion Resistance
The ability of a material to withstand mechanical action such as rubbing,
scraping, or erosion, that tends progressively to remove material from its
surface. Such an ability helps to maintain the material's original appearance
and structure.

Forge welding is a solid-state welding process[1] that joins two pieces of metal by heating them
to a high temperature and then hammering them together.[2] The process is one of the simplest
methods of joining metals and has been used since ancient times. Forge welding is versatile,
being able to join a host of similar and dissimilar metals. With the invention of electrical and gas
welding methods during the Industrial Revolution, forge welding has been largely replaced.

Forge welding between similar materials is caused by solid-state diffusion. This results in a weld
that consists of only the welded materials without any fillers or bridging materials.

Forge welding between dissimilar materials is caused by the formation of a lower melting
temperature eutectic between the materials. Due to this the weld is often stronger than the
individual metals.

The temperature required to forge weld is typically 50 to 90 percent of the melting temperature.
Steel welds at a lower temperature than iron. The metal may take on a glossy or wet appearance
at the welding temperature. Care must be taken to avoid overheating the metal to the point that it
gives off sparks from rapid oxidation (burning).

Acoustic emission

Acoustic Emission (AE) is a naturally occurring phenomenon whereby external stimuli, such as
mechanical loading, generate sources of elastic waves. AE occurs when a small surface
displacement of a material is produced. This occurs due to stress waves generated when there is a
rapid release of energy in a material, or on its surface. The wave generated by the AE source, or,
of practical interest, in methods used to stimulate and capture AE in a controlled fashion for
study and/or use in inspection, quality control, system feedback, process monitoring and others.
Acoustic Emission phenomena

AEs are commonly defined as transient elastic waves within a material caused by the release of
localized stress energy. Hence, an event source is the phenomenon which releases elastic energy
into the material, which then propagates as an elastic wave. Acoustic emissions can be detected
in frequency ranges under 1 kHz, and have been reported at frequencies up to 100 MHz. Rapid
stress-releasing events generate a spectrum of stress waves starting at 0 Hz and typically falling
off at several MHz.

AE is related to an irreversible release of energy, and can be generated from sources not
involving material failure including friction, cavitation and impact. Additionally, events can also
come quite rapidly when materials begin to fail, in which case AE activity rates are studied as
opposed to individual events. AE events that are commonly studied among material failure
processes include the extension of a fatigue crack, or fiber breakage in a composite material.

Use in Non-destructive testing

The application of AE to non-destructive testing of materials in the ultrasonic regime, typically

takes place between 100 kHz and 1 MHz. Unlike conventional ultrasonic testing, AE tools are
designed for monitoring acoustic emissions produced within the material during failure, rather
than actively transmitting waves then collecting them after they have traveled through the
material.[1] Part failure can be documented during unattended monitoring. The monitoring of the
level of AE activity during multiple load cycles forms the basis for many AE safety inspection
methods that allow the parts undergoing inspection to remain in service.

The technique is used, for example, to study the formation of cracks during the welding process,
as opposed to locating them after the weld has been formed with the more familiar ultrasonic
testing technique.[1] In a material under active stress, such as some components of an airplane
during flight, transducers mounted in an area can detect the formation of a crack at the moment it
begins propagating. . </ref>[1] A group of transducers can be used to record signals then locate
the precise area of their origin by measuring the time for the sound to reach different transducers.
[1]
The technique is also valuable for detecting cracks forming in pipelines transporting liquids
under high pressures.[1] Also this technique is used for estimation of corrosion in reinforced
concrete structures.[2]