282

Proceedings of the National Seminar & Exhibition

on Non-Destructive Evaluation
NDE 2009, December 10-12, 2009

Manual Phased Array Ultrasonic Technique

for Weld Application
S. Anandamurugan
GE Inspection Technologies, JFWTC, Bangalore, India

Abstract
Conventional ultrasonic technique has been used as a technique for weld inspection since 1960’s. In the early 1990’s the concept of phased
array ultrasonic inspection started being applied for industrial applications. This paper deals with the manual phased array inspection of welds
and how it helps in improving productivity and probability of detection in weld applications. Manual phased array technique can interpret
phủ
the weld specimen with the imaging of B-Scan, S-scan and C-scan. The impact of weld overlay, origin line and leg line on the phased array
image will help the inspector in ease of interpretation of defects and in the analysis of the nature of weld defects like toe crack, root crack,
side wall lack of fusion, incomplete root penetration etc., It also helps in identifying the location of weld defects with great precision. This
paper discusses in detail, the use of manual phased array technique for weld applications, procedure for sector scanning of welds and the results
obtained.

Keywords: Phased Array, Ultrasound, Ultrasonic, Inspection, Weld, Testing, Sector Scan

1. Introduction 2. Manual Phased Array Technique

In the field of ultrasonic testing A-scan signal acquisition
is the basis for flaw detection and interpretation. The A-scan
signal is used as the raw data for the imaging of volumetric
inspection called B-scan and C-Scan. But it needs mechanical
scanning systems to acquire the A-scan data at multiple
locations. The B-Scan and C-scan in industrial applications
are mostly implemented in the automated ultrasonic
inspections. With the recent improvement in the technology
and software the portable instruments are upgraded with
imaging facility which can be used for the manual inspection.
Phased Array ultrasound is used in medical systems for
the imaging of human tissues. This technology has been
transferred to industrial application but the technique
followed in medical systems cannot be transferred as it is,
because of the wide range of materials used in industrial
application. Hence the complexity of implementing the phased
ultrasonic testing is higher for the industrial applications. In
the earlier days phased array ultrasonic testing was
implemented in automated ultrasonic inspection system. After
successful outcome of automated phased array ultrasonic
inspection the technology has been migrated to manual
phased array inspection.
Usage of phased array probes lead to drastic change by
reducing the number of probes and inspection time rapidly.
The multiple focusing and beam steering capability of phased
array probes increases:
l Overall sensitivity
l Probability of detection
l Coverage of bigger volume at single position of probe
The usage of manual phased array inspection will be
more helpful for the inspectors who does manual weld
inspection with conventional A-scan ultrasonic testing.
Because manual phased array inspection would be more user
friendly than automated UT. The mode of scanning is as
same as conventional A-scan, hence this would help the field
inspectors to transit from conventional A-scan to phased
array imaging in the conventional manner. Manual phased
array inspection has relatively lesser mechanical investment
cost than automated ultrasonic testing and avoids the
mechanical complexity of automated ultrasonic testing.
2.1 Phased Array Imaging
For generating phased array ultrasound, composite
piezo-electric elements are wired with the electronic circuit.
Each and every element is configured by the software
algorithm called delay law or focal laws. The delay law will
define the time delay for each element according to the beam
steering and beam focusing. The set of A-scan data is
processed as a image to form the S-scan and angle corrected
B-scan.
Phased array ultrasound can steer the beam from -89° to
89° and focus the beams at different depths. The phased
array ultrasound is categorized into two types: i) Linear Scan
and ii) Sector Scan. Linear scan is the movement of beam
according to the element step with the fixed beam angle.
Sector scan is the steering of angle with multiple beams with
the fixed virtual probe (i.e., set of elements grouped together
to form the virtual probe aperture). So without moving the
probe, we can configure the scan plan such that the distance
 NDE 2009, December 10-12,2009 283

Fig. 2.1 : Linear Scan on SDH & Image Fig. 2.2 : Sector scan image on SDH & Image

between the element start and element stop is covering the
volumetric distance with beam steering. The representation
of linear scan and sector scan image on side drilled hole
(SDH) is shown in the Figs. 2.1 and 2.2.
The phased array ultrasonic images are captured using
the GEIT portable phased array ultrasonic instrument called
Phasor XS and the Phasor XS post analysis software called
Rhythm UT viewer. This paper describes about the weld
inspection using sector scan. Section 2.2 and 2.3 describes
the significance and advantages of sector scan.
2.2 Beam Coverage
Phased array sector scan will cover the wide range of
volume from single point. By placing the probe at a single
point , wider volume of part will be covered. Hence the
productivity of phased array ultrasonic inspection is relatively
higher than manual conventional ultrasonic testing. The side
drilled holes located at different depth and at different
horizontal offset is capture from a single probe position is
shown in the Fig. 2.4.
2.3 Beam Focusing
By focusing a sound beam we can achieve a higher
sensitivity and resolution. The term “focus” is a
concentration of the beam to a size of focal point diameter.
In phased array we can define the focal depth according to
the area of interest. Hence the sensitivity and resolution of
the inspection will be increased. Figures 2.6 and 2.7 depicts

Fig. 2.3 : AL block for angle beam calibration Fig. 2.4 : Sector scan image on SDH

Fig. 2.5 : Sensitivity Cal Block Fig. 2.6 : Unfocused sector Fig. 2.7 : Focused sector
284 Anandamurugan : Proceedings of the National Seminar & Exhibition on Non-Destructive Evaluation
the sensitivity and resolution of SDH at various focal depth.
The sensitivity and the resolution of the side drilled hole at
30 mm is highest at the focal depth = 60 mm.
3. Scan Setup for Weld Inspection
In conventional ultrasonic testing generally we use the
probe with the angle of 30°, 45°, 60° and 70° as a standard
UT probes. Based on the weld geometry the ½ skip and full
skip distance will be marked on part. Inspector move the
probe between ½ skip to full skip distance in the raster scan
format.
In manual phased array ultrasonic testing the probe has
to be mounted on the prefixed angular wedge, hence it
transmits shear wave inside the material for weld inspection.
The ultrasonic beam can be steered from 35° to 80° for the
entire weld coverage. Based on the weld geometry the scan
plan has to be configured in the phased array instrument.
The coverage of weld can be assured with the software tool
called ray tracing.
The scan plan has to be defined in such a manner that
the optimum distance has to be calculated from the weld
centre line (WCL) to the wedge front. With the fixed optimum
distance the scan plan has to be designed on the ray tracing
tool such that the lower angle hits at the top edge of heat
affected zone (HAZ) with the full skip. Each beam will be
steered at different angle and hit at the different depth of the
weld specimen.
By keeping the probe with reference to optimum distance
moving the probe with line scanning will cover the entire
weld. Hence it improves the scanning speed when compare
to conventional A-scan inspection by line scanning instead
of doing raster scanning. Based on the scan plan, the
parameters of part, probe and scanning pattern has to be
configured in the instrument. The weld dimensions has to be
configured as weld overlay. The weld overlay will draw the
profile of the weld on the sector image. This will be useful
for the inspector to spot the weld location immediately, when
Fig. 3.1 : Raster Scanning Fig. 3.2 : Sector scan setup
Fig. 3.4 : PL 11414 Fig. 3.5 : PL 11415
there is a defect indication. Origin line will be used to locate
the weld centre line. The leg lines and measurements will
make the user to easily the interpret the depth of defect from
the scanning surface and horizontal location of the defect
from weld centre line. The advantage of sector scan
inspection of weld is the scanning speed and easier
differentiation of weld defects from the root and the weld
cap. Whenever the defect occurs the user has to spot the
location and evaluate the defect.
3.1 Procedure for Manual Phased Array Inspection of Welds
l Choose the probe frequency based on the thickness of
the weld
l The probe should be positioned such that the angle
start should hit the overcap heat affected zone at full
skip and the angle stop should hit at the root of the
weld. If the angle hitting at root of the weld is greater
than 60° then weld has to inspected with additional line
scanning at new probe position. Probe should be
positioned such that the angle hitting at root is lesser
than 60.
l Fix the optimum distance between the weld centre line
and wedge front by using ray tracing tool or
mathematical calculation.
l Set up the scan plan by fixing the angle start and angle
stop to cover the entire weld
l Plot time corrected gain (TCG) by using reference block
of same material and same thickness with the artificially
induced defects (SDH) at ¼th, ½th and ¾ th of depth
from scan surface.
l Draw the optimum line from weld centre line on the weld
to be scanned
l Place the probe on the weld specimen and move the
probe on straight line to scan
l The weld should be scanned on both left and right side
from weld centre line
ig 3.3 : Line Scanning
Fig. 3.6 : PL 11416
 NDE 2009, December 10-12, 2009 285

Table 1 : Weld Specimen

Weld Serial Manufacturer Weld Type Weld Material Weld Thickness Length
Number
PL 11414 Sonaspection Single V Carbon Steel 6 mm 300 mm
PL 11415 Sonaspection Single V Carbon Steel 12 mm 300 mm
PL 11416 Sonaspection Single V Carbon Steel 25 mm 300 mm

Table 2 : Scan Setup for Weld Specimen

PL 11414 PL 11415 PL 11416
Scan Type Sector Sector Sector
Angle Start 50° 40° 35°
Angle Step 1° 1° 1°
Angle Stop 75° 75° 70°
Distance: WCL to Wedge Front 9 mm 20 mm 40 mm

l Mark the region where the indication comes on sector

scan image and analyze the region with conventional A-
scan by 6 dB or 20 dB drop method to find the length
of the defect

3.2 Equipments Used

l 16x64 Phasor XS with top view enabled
l GEIT 16 element linear flat 4 MHz probe – 115-500-015
l GEIT shear wave wedge – 115-350-024
l Aluminum test block for depicting defects in sector
scan
l Carbon steel reference block with SDH
Fig. 4.2 : Scan setup of weld 11414
l PPA = -0.59 mm shows that the defect is located at 0.59
mm from weld centre line towards the scan side.
l PDA = 4.31mm shows that the defect is located at the
depth of 4.31 mm from scan surface.
4.2 Weld PL 11414 – Incomplete Root Penetration

4. Interpretation of Defects
This section depicts the representation of different type
of weld defects on sector scan. The material depth and
surface projection measurement will ease the user to spot the
location of the scan.
l PPA – Minimum surface projection distance of all beams
that are currently captured by Gate A
l PDA – Minimum material depth of all beams in scan that
currently captured by Gate A
Fig. 4.3 : Incomplete Root Penetration Indication [Phasor XS
4.1 Weld PL 11414 – Centre Line Crack Screenshot]

Fig. 4.4 : Scan setup of weld 11414

l PPA = -0.34 mm shows that defect is located at 0.34 mm

from weld centre line
l PDA = 5.11 mm shows that defect is located at depth of
Fig. 4.1 : Centre line crack indication [Phasor XS screenshot] 5.11 mm from scan surface
286 Anandamurugan : Proceedings of the National Seminar & Exhibition on Non-Destructive Evaluation
4.3 Weld PL 11414 – Lack of Root Fusion
Fig. 4.5 : Lack of root fusion indication [Phasor XS screenshot]
Fig. 4.6 : Scan setup of weld 11414
l PPA = 1.20 mm shows that defect is located at 1.20 mm
from weld centre line
l PDA = 5.63 mm shows that the defect is located at the
depth of 5.63 mm from scan surface (i.e., Root of the
weld)
4.4 Weld PL 11415 –Toe Crack
Fig. 4.7 : Toe crack indication [Phasor XS screenshot]
Fig. 4.8 : Scan setup of weld 11415
l PPA = -7.44 mm shows that defect is located at 7.44 mm
from weld centre line
l PDA = 0.18 mm shows that the defect is located at the
depth of 0.18 mm from scan surface (which is the cap
of the weld)
4.5 Weld PL 11415 – Side Wall Lack of Fusion
Fig. 4.9 : Side wall lack of fusion indication [Phasor XS
screenshot]
Fig. 4.10 : Scan setup of weld 11415
l PPA = -7.53 mm shows that the defect is horizontally
located at 7.53 mm from weld centre line
l PDA = 2.15 mm shows that the defect is located at the
depth of 2.15 mm from scan surface
4.6 Weld PL 11416 – Root Crack
Fig. 4.11 : Root crack indication [Phasor XS screenshot]
Fig. 4.12 : Scan setup of weld 11416
l PPA = 2.31 mm shows that defect is located at 2.31 mm
from weld centre line
l PDA = 22.06 mm shows that the defect is located at the
depth of 22.06 mm from scan surface (i.e., Root of the
weld)
 NDE 2009, December 10-12, 2009
4.7. Weld PL 11416 – Side Wall Lack of Fusion
Fig. 4.13 : Side wall lack of fusion indication [Phasor XS
screenshot]
Fig. 4.14 : Scan setup of weld 11416
l PPA = -10.23 mm shows that defect is located at 10.23
mm from weld centre line
l PDA = 10.43 mm shows that the defect is located at
10.43 mm from scan surface
4.8. Representation of weld 11416 and its C-scan
The given below Fig. 4.15 shows the schematic
representation of weld plate specimen 11416. The plate has
3 defects as shown in the Fig. 4.15
l Defect 1 – Root Crack
l Defect 2 – Side Wall Lack of Fusion
l Defect 3 – Porosity
Fig. 4.15 : Representation of weld 11416
287
With the sector scan of 35 degree to 70 degrees:
l Defect 1 has been capture with the scanning on left side
of weld centre line
l Defect 2 has been captured with the scanning on right
side of weld centre line
l Defect 3 has to be captured by normal beam inspection
on weld overcap using 0 degree linear scan
For the volumetric inspection data encoded top view
can be done. The uncorrected top view is plotted as beam
index versus scan index. The encoder movement is plotted
as abscissa and the beam index is plotted as ordinate. Phasor
XS captures the gate A and gate B data and it will be plotted
as beam index versus scan index based on the Amplitude or
Time of Flight for color mapping. Figure 4.23 shows the top
view of weld scan on left side of the weld centre line. Side
wall lack of fusion starts from 140 mm in the top view. Figure
4.24 shows the top view of weld scan on right side of the
weld centre line. Root crack starts from 22 mm to 40 mm in
the top view.
5. Codes and Standards for Phased Array
Inspection
Codes and standards are evolving for the industrial
phased array ultrasonic inspection. the existing codes and
standards for phased array ultrasonic inspection
l ASTM E2491-06 – “Standard guide for evaluating
characteristics of phased array ultrasonic examination
instruments and Systems”
l ASTM E2700-09 – “Standard Practice for Contact
Ultrasonic Testing of Welds Using Phased Arrays”
l ASME Code Case 2235-9 - “Use of Ultrasonic
Examination in Lieu of Radiography”
288 Anandamurugan : Proceedings of the National Seminar & Exhibition on Non-Destructive Evaluation
Fig. 4.16 : Top view of weld 11416 Rhythm UT screenshot
Fig. 4.17 : Top view of weld 11416 Rhythm UT screenshot
l ASME Code Case 2558 – “Case of ASME Boiler
Pressure Vessel Code. Use of Manual Phased Array E-
scan Ultrasonic Examination per Article 4 Section V”
6. Conclusion
With the manual phased array inspection on weld we
can save more time with line scanning than raster scanning,
henceforth the productivity can be increased. The defect
oriented at any angle can be easily detected and represented
in the image with the electronic steering capability, henceforth
the probability of detection is increased. With the
advancement in software to draw the weld overlay on the
image; the depth measurements with respect to scanning
surface and the surface measurement with respect to weld
center line will make the inspector to easily mark the defect
location from post analysis, which assists for decision
making. The GEIT software suite called Rhythm UT can be
used for the post analysis of Phasor XS data and defect
sizing, dimensioning of defects and advance reporting of the
weld scanning. With the advancement in software
technologies and imaging capabilities the entire inspection is
upgraded with the ease of use and increase in productivity
and probability of detection.
7. Acknowledgement
l Ted Ballenger, Phased Array Product Manager (Retired),
GE Inspection Technologies, Lewistown, United States
l Jerome POIRIER, Senior Application Leader / Engineering
Team, GE Inspection Technologies, Limonest, France
l MT Shyamsunder, Principal Scientist, WTC Material
Systems Technologies, GE Global Research Centre,
Bangalore, India
l Smita Taneja, CoE Manager, GE Inspection Technologies,
Bangalore, India
References
1. Michael BERKE and Johannes BUECHLER, Practical
Experiences in Manual Phased Array Inspections, 17th World
conference on Non Destructive Testing, (25-28 oct 2008),
Shanghai, China
2. Jerome POIRIER and Robert WARD, Qualification of Manual
Phased Array Ultrasonic Technique for Pipe Weld Inspections in
Nuclear Power Plant, 17th World conference on Non Destructive
Testing, (25-28 oct 2008), Shanghai, China
3. ASTM E2491-06 – Standard guide for evaluating characteristics
of phased array ultrasonic examination instruments and Systems
4. ASME Code Case 2235-9 – Use of ultrasonic examination in lieu
of radiography.
5. Krautkramer J and Krautkramer Hf, Ultrasonic Testing of
Materials, 4th fully revised edition, (2003)
6. Phasor XS user manual, Revision 7, (2008)