Christina Müller

Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung | BAM

The principles of Open Space Technology (OST) were again applied to discuss burning issues in the field of NDE reliability. The results of the discussions among NDE professionals concerning new reliability methods, human factors and integrated solutions will be presented.

To evaluate the capability of a non destructive testing system the “truth” of the used defects is essential. But what exactly is the truth of a real defect? And how much information is usable for the study? This presentation gives an overview about an advanced use of multiple metallographic cuts for the POD evaluation. In the presentation an approa...

The radiographic testing (RT) is a non-destructive testing (NDT) method capable of finding volumetric and open planar defects depending on their orientation. The radiographic contrast is higher for larger penetrated length of the defect in a component. Even though, the detectability of defects does not only depend on the contrast, but also on the n...

Real defects are essential for the evaluation of the reliability of non destructive testing (NDT) methods, especially in relation to the integrity of components. But in most of the cases the amount of available real defects is not sufficient to evaluate the system. Model-assisted and transfer functions are one way to handle that challenge. This stu...

The evaluation of non-destructive testing (NDT) methods in terms of reliability is an increasing demand in various industries and applications. The probability of detection (POD) is the most frequently used method for this task. In the testing of holes with low-frequency eddy current testing, the frequently-used one-parametric POD approach cannot b...

The inspection of the sealing weld is an important phase for the evaluation of the acceptability of final disposal canister, but the weld is only a part of the 3D shielding of copper shell. The main tasks for reliable NDT evaluation requires an extensive evaluation of the parameters - which contains typical inspection related items like repeatabili...

Since the beginnings of the European American Workshops (EAW) in 1997, the aim was to gather the experts in NDE reliability and discuss burning topics with the aim of identifying crucial problems and suggesting ways to move forward. This was usually achieved during the so-called break-out sessions, in which predetermined topics were discussed. Duri...

The tradition of discussing the newest achievements in the consideration of NDE reliability was continued with the 5th European American Workshop on Reliability of NDE (5th EAW) in Berlin in 2013. The focus of this workshop was to determine the “delta” between the laboratory- like conditions, in which reliability assessments are usually carried out...

The focus of NDT reliability research in the past was in the field of two high risk industries: (atomic) power plants and aircrafts. The responsible organizations have been well aware of the risks and founded projects to understand and optimize critical steps during production, operation and maintenance. But the use of NDT is not limited to these t...

The difficulty to deal with human factors in non-destructive testing (NDT) stems from their diversity and complexity – no single human or organizational factor is responsible for the entire fluctuations in the NDT performance. The typical approach to decrease the variability in the inspection results had been found in replacing manual NDT with mech...

A series of research studies have been conducted over the course of five years venturing into the fields of in-service inspections (ISI) in nuclear power plants (NPPs) and inspection of manufactured components to be used for permanent nuclear waste disposal. This paper will provide an overview of four research studies, present selected experimental...

The assessment of the Probability of Detection (POD) is used to evaluate the reliability of the non-destructive testing (NDT) system. The POD is required in industries, where a missed flaw might cause grave consequences. If only the artificial defects are evaluated, the POD could lead to wrong conclusion or even be invalid. The POD based on real fl...

In line with the damage tolerance design principles, an adequate nondestructive inspection system is needed to ensure structural integrity. Yet, when pushed to the limits of their detection capability, non-destructive evaluation systems do not produce consistent hit/miss indications. Their capability of detecting flaws is therefore expressed as a p...

The aim of this publication is to provide an overview of new methodologies for evaluating the reliability of NDE systems in accordance with the specific requirements of industrial applications. After a review of the substantive issues of the previous decades, the go forward guidance is concluded. For high safety demands a quantitative POD (Probabil...

The assessment of the Probability of Detection (POD) is used to evaluate the reliability of the non-destructive testing (NDT) system. The POD is required in industries, where a missed flaw might cause grave consequences. If only the artificial defects are evaluated, the POD could lead to wrong conclusion or even be invalid. The POD based on real fl...

It is not always only the size of the flaw that determines the severity of the flaw for the structure. In such cases, it is important to express the capability of the non-destructive testing (NDT) system to detect a flaw with respect to exactly those parameters that determine flaw severity. The multi-parameter reliability model presented in this ar...

The total detection reliability of a mine searching system is analogous to NDE-systems governed by three elements; � intrinsic capability- which describes the basic physical-technical capability of the method � application factors- including those due to environment � human factor- the effect of human operators on the detection reliability. Some of...

The human factors approach relies on understanding the properties of human capability and limitations under various conditions and the application of that knowledge in designing and developing safe systems. Following the principles of the MTO (Man Technology Organisation) approach, emphasis should be given to the way people interact with technical...

Kurzfassung. Die übergeordnete Zielsetzung unserer Untersuchung bestand darin, am Beispiel von Prüfungen mit Ultraschall eine belastbare Aussage zum Einfluss der Arbeitsbedingungen des Prüfers auf die Qualität der Ergebnisse von zerstörungsfreien Prüfungen zu ermitteln und Möglichkeiten zur Minimierung ungünstiger Einflussfaktoren aufzuzeigen. Der...

In Kernkraftwerken finden wiederkehrende zerstörungsfreie Prüfungen an Behältern und Rohrleitungen sowie auch Fertigungsprüfungen an reparierten Bauteilen in Bereichen mit radioaktiver Strahlung statt. Weitere wesentliche Arbeitsbedingungen für das Prüfpersonal sind Arbeiten unter Atemschutz, hohe Umgebungstemperaturen, Zeitdruck und Lärm. Die über...

Ultrasonic phased array NDE has been applied to ensure the integrity of canisters for encapsulation of spent nuclear fuel. The performance of the NDE system is evaluated by the POD analysis. The POD analysis using a common method, â versus a, has been modified for the phased array ultrasonic inspections by two approaches: to take more influencing p...

In spite of many efforts directed to new technologies, the metal detector is still the main detection tool used in humanitarian landmine clearance. The most de- tailed proposal for a standard for testing metal detectors is the CEN Workshop Agreement 14747:2003. Since 2003 a series of tests has been executed with the pur- pose of optimisation and mo...

friction stir welding and electron beam welding. The quality of the welding process and the reliability of the NDT system In order to handle the long living radioactive waste (spent nuclear fuel) SKB is planning to build a deep repository that requires no monitoring by future generations. The spent nuclear fuel will be encapsulated in copper canist...

It is an important question regarding to the contemporary NDT systems how reliable is the result of the test. This question is rising connected to all diagnosis system in human medicine mechanical engineering or civil constructions. The reliability of an NDE system means the consistency of capability the system to detect, to classify and to evaluat...

The performance of mine detecting instruments is embedded in the behavior of a complex system. The total reliability is always composed of the intrinsic physical detection capability of the sensor, application/environmental influences and human factors. The intrinsic capability and some application factors can be investigated in laboratory measurem...

Mine detection is to date mainly performed with metal detectors, although new methods for UXO detection are explored worldwide. The main problem for the mine detection to date is, that there exist some ideas of which sensor combinations could yield a high score, but until now there is no systematic analysis of mine detection methods together with r...

The detection of defects in aircraft components or parts of a power plant or mines in the ground is connected with the task to distinguish between signals caused be the item searched for and noisy signals from other sources. The reliability of the system is the better the better the system is in detecting the wanted signal and avoiding false alarms...

The total reliability of a mine searching system is driven by the triple of intrinsic capability, which describes the physical-technical basis capability, the application and environmental factors and the human factors. Some of them can be determined in laboratory measurements but the human factor and a part of environment conditions and their inte...

For safe and reliable demining it is necessary to determine the actual true performance of mine searching equipment in detecting mines. The subject to detect a hidden subject by penetrating physical interaction with the target is similar to that of non-destructive testing where it is looked for hidden cracks etc. in material via waves and rays. The...

Because the demining process is always connected with a danger for human beings, it is necessary to make sure the proper functioning of mine searching equipment in detecting mines. Detecting a hidden target by penetrating physical interaction of rays or waves is similar to non-destructive testing. The non-destructive testing profession developed pr...

The problem of image reconstruction from incomplete X-ray data, applied to in-situ pipes wall thickness assessment, is considered, its main critical points being the following: a)limited number of x-ray projections; b) limited angle for object observation by x-ray setup; c) presence of an isolation; d) presence of a process liquid; e) x-ray scatter...

The objective of the modular approach for measuring the reliability of nondestructive testing (NDT) is to provide a validated testing system that fulfills the requirements of the client in the most efficient and cost effective manner. This capability is especially important where expensive statistical tests are not possible. In developing this conc...

The Swedish KBS-3 design for the disposal of spent fuel is based on encapsulation of the fuel in canisters consisting of cast iron inserts and an outer 5 cm thick shield of copper. The canisters are embedded in bentonite clay and will be disposed in crystalline bedrock at a depth of about 500 m. To verify that the canisters fulfil the requirements,...

The Probability of Detection (POD) is used to evaluate the detectability of non-destructive testing (NDT) systems. The POD is highly dependent on the amount of available data. The Bayesian approach provides a solution to compute POD-curves in case of a small amount of real defects without losing the necessary information. The result contains the ne...

The nuclear fuel disposal in Finland is based on a 3 barrier concept: bentonite; copper overpack and cast iron insert for which modern tools of risk minimisation are employed. The inner barrier cast iron insert is covered by a copper canister composed of copper lid, copper tube and EB-weld. The copper canister is providing first of all a corrosion...

Threats may be originated from more than just explosives. Therefore, threat detection cannot be confined to tracing such substances only. The terrorist attack in the Tokyo's underground system with the nerve gas sarin in 1995 has already demonstrated that there are other means of threat. Hidden noxious agents like this need to be detected with the...