Inspection of nuclear reactor welding by acoustic emission. Final report, November 1974-November 1977

Technical Report · Wed Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:6208885

Prine, D W; Mathieson, T A

The report presents results for the first three years of a program aimed at proving feasibility and applying the in-process acoustic emission (AE) monitoring of welds to the NDE of nuclear power component welds. The method has been tested under both controlled laboratory conditions and in nuclear fabrication shops. Prototype single and two channel monitors have been built and production tested. Over 13,000 feet of weld passes have been monitored with excellent correlation of AE to conventional NDE and metallography. AE has been proven to be a reliable and practical NDE tool for detection and location of weld flaws. Current efforts are aimed at improving the method to provide flaw characterization as to type and size. This report presents in detail the analysis of a large bank of laboratory controlled weld data. This work is providing flaw detection probabilities for various flaw types, AE flaw detection mechanisms, and candidate AE signals parameters for flaw size and type discrimination.

• Research Organization: GARD, Inc., Niles, IL (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6208885
• Report Number(s): PB-289336
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220200* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Components & Accessories
ACOUSTIC EMISSION TESTING
ACOUSTIC TESTING
JOINTS
MATERIALS TESTING
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
PERFORMANCE TESTING
REACTOR COMPONENTS
RELIABILITY
TESTING
WELDED JOINTS