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Phased-array Examination of Friction Stir Welds


Background:

The friction stir welding (FSW) technique was developed as a method to join materials that are difficult to fusion weld such as aluminum alloys. The quality of the weld obtained is very high and the material structure is uniform. However, the process may generate small, tight defects that are hard to detect.

Friction stir welding is a welding process unlike most others in that there is no liquid state weld pool. As such, the potential defects in the weld are quite different. The defects present in such welds are typically lack of penetration, worm holes, porosity and kissing bonds. This last defect type is formed by a thin oxide layer which prevents fusion of the material despite being in contact. Furthermore, due to the weld process, defects can be orientated in any direction. The weld “cap” can be quite rough following this inspection technique and it is typically not optimal to use standard Rexolite wedges.

The best method for inspecting friction stir welds is ultrasonic phased array testing using a water-coupled wedge. Because of the weld shape, raster scanning is not practical, but with phased arrays, inspection of the entire weld volume can be done in a single-pass scan. Phased arrays also permit lateral scanning to detect transverse defects. Optimization of the inspection angle maximizes the probability of detection. The increased number of zones covered by phased arrays provides accurate flaw sizing and location. High speed, accuracy, and versatility make phased arrays the choice technique for FSW inspection.

Equipment

The equipment used for the inspection is comprised of:

OmniScan SX, MX2 16:64 or 16:128 Phased Array Unit
FOCUS PX Acquisition Unit
10L64-FSW PA probe
Normal and Lateral water wedges (SFSW-N45S-WHC and SFSW-L45S-WHC)
1 Wing Scanner, VersaMouse or mini-wheel encoder
1 water pump

inspection set up
Inspection setup

irrigated probeirrigated probe

Typical irrigated wedges

Typical Procedure

As defects can be orientated in any direction, a single pass inspection is typically not sufficient to detect all defects with an adequate signal-to-noise ratio. As such, the weld would typically be inspected in the 90° direction with the N45S wedge and in the 0° direction with the L45S wedge.

probe position 90probe position 0

Probe positioning for normal (90°) and lateral (0°) scans

The first pass utilizes a linear 45° scan from the normal (90°) direction. A guide can be used to maintain a constant index offset of the probe with respect to the weld along the entire weld line. A position encoder can be attached to the probe to provide a positional reference to scans. In the case of thinner welds a single pass will cover both the weld root and crown. For thicker parts, two passes at different offsets are necessary to obtain full volumetric coverage of the weld zone.

Wedge delay and material velocity are calibrated to obtain relevant skip overlap indications (B0 and T1 in the figure below). Gate A (red) was used to obtain the C-scan. This gate commenced prior to the end of the first skip (B0) and ended after the second skip (T1).

weld delay

This S-scan image shows notches representing root defects at each extremity of a weld, both appearing in the first leg (reference B0). The probe position allows for entire width of the weld to be inspected simultaneously.

The process is then repeated from the transverse (0°) direction. A similar guide can be used to center the probe along the weld with the probe aligned at 0° to the weld line. A linear scan is acquired by pulling the probe along the weld. C-scans can be generated by placing the gate in between the front wall noise and the significant noise originating from the top surface after one full skip. The corner trap echo from the cracks on the root surface will hit maximum amplitude in the middle of the gate. The corner trap echo from the cracks from the crown will hit a maximum outside the gate in the noisy region. However, these defects can be mapped due to the tip echoes which fall within the gate.

S-Scan

This S-scan shows the corner trap echo and tip crack echo of a transverse notch on the surface of a weld. The red gate (A) begins just after the noise originating from the front wall and ends just before the noise originating from the top surface after one full skip.

Results

A reference block containing numerous axial and transverse notches as shown below was scanned as described above. As seen in the following C-scan images, the two inspection approaches provided clear indications from all notches that were oriented either parallel or perpendicular to the weld line. Reference notches oriented at 45° to the weld line present more of a challenge. The detection capability in this case depends on the depth and length of the notch. In order to increase the detectability of these defects, additional scans can be performed with the phased array probe skewed at plus and minus 45° from the straight line orientation. This would clearly increase the reflection amplitude from the 45° notches.


C-scan stir weld
C-scan image from normal incidence scan, showing reflectors aligned along weld axis.

Transverse c-scan

C-scan image from transverse scan, showing reflectors aligned with perpendicular to weld axis.

After the scan has been captured, each indication can be reviewed by selecting a location on the scan via cursors. The captured A-scan at that location can then be displayed as seen below.

Conclusion

Pulse echo inspections of friction stir welds can detect all volumetric-type defects such as cracking, incomplete penetration, and lack of fusion. Transverse defects can be detected using lateral scans. Phased array testing offers the advantages of optimizing inspections by providing focusing and refraction angle selection, as well as providing faster inspections by providing greater coverage in a single pass than a single element angle beam.

 

Olympus IMS

应用所使用的产品
OmniPC软件是用于分析OmniScan数据的非常经济有效的选配项目。 软件所提供的分析工具与OmniScan的机载软件相同,而且更具灵活性,因为它可以在个人电脑中运行。
VersaMOUSE是一款使用一个相控阵探头完成线性编码扫查的扫查器。扫查器有一个整合性步进按钮,非常适用于2维成像应用,如:CFRP平板检测和腐蚀检测。VersaMOUSE在完成一行编码扫查后,可以在与扫查垂直的方向上步进移动。然后在紧挨着前一次扫查的位置进行另一行扫查。重复完成这个操作过程,可以为检测区域生成一个完整的2维图像。
轻便的单组Omniscan SX探伤仪装有一个方便用户阅读的8.4英寸(21.3厘米)触摸屏,可提供性价比很高的检测解决方案。OmniScan SX有两种型号:SX PA和SX UT。SX PA是一个16:64PR仪器,它与仅使用UT技术的SX UT一样,配备有一个用于脉冲回波、一发一收或TOFD(衍射时差)检测的常规UT通道。
OmniScan MX2现在不仅可以与带有一个UT通道的相控阵模块(PA2)及一个用于TOFD(衍射时差)检测的双通道常规超声模块(UT2)配套使用,还可以使用一些创新型软件程序。这些软件程序更进一步提高了业已相当成功的OmniScan MX2平台的性能。

可扩展的FOCUS PX采集设备和FocusPC软件融合了先进的相控阵(PA)和传统超声(UT)技术,可被方便地整合到自动和半自动检测系统中。FOCUS PX及其软件可生成和保存C扫描和A扫描的原始数据,对于基于检测后数据分析得出判定结果的应用来说,堪称一种理想的选择。FOCUS PX及其软件可用于航空航天(复合层压材料)、电力生产(风力叶片)、运输(火车轮)、金属(锻造部件)等行业的应用中。

可选购的FocusControl、FocusData和OpenView软件开发包(SDK),与FOCUS PX设备相兼容,可使客户自己开发所需的应用软件。

这类专用于相控阵应用的探头的频率范围在0.5 MHz到18 MHz之间,其标准配置为16、32、64或128个晶片。特殊的探头可以最多装配几百个晶片。
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