Electromagnetic tensor imaging for in-process welding inspection

Completed

Nuclear Fission and Fusion(Nuclear Fission, Nuclear supporting technologies)

Basic and strategic applied research

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Metallurgy and Materials)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Dr W Yin
Electrical & Electronic Engineering
University of Manchester

Standard

EPSRC

01 August 2015

31 January 2019

42 months

£341,090

Manufacturing

North West

Manufacturing : Manufacturing

Dr W Yin, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester

Professor AJ Peyton, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester

Project Contact, Rolls-Royce PLC
Project Contact, Nuclear AMRC

Welding is one of the most commonly practiced fabrication techniques within manufacturing today. In particular, the manufacture of heavy 5 vessels such as in the nuclear industry from ferritic and austenitic steels is dependent on high quality welding of seams and joints to ensure component integrity and safety.The development of in-process welding Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT/E) technologies is vital to underpin the safety of such components, but also provide a significant improvement in nuclear manufacturing productivity. Currently, in order to minimise the need for rework of the welded seams and joints, costly, time-consuming, and potentially hazardous mid-manufacture radiography in a dedicated NDT/E bay is used for NDT/E. Mid-manufacture inspection suffers from the need to allow the welded components to cool down, typically up to 4 hours, before transferring to a dedicated NDT/E bay.In-process weld inspection would be able to provide real time indication of defects or abnormalities with the weld permitting immediate further investigation and if necessary corrective actions to be taken. This would have positive impact on facility operation efficiency, avoid costly remedy actions at a later stage, and consequently deliver a reduction in overall testing & rework costs and increased productivity. Currently, there are no such commercial techniques available. The instrument proposed in this project if successful would make a step change in this area andwould have significant impact on the UK manufacturers' productivity for heavy nuclear vessels and their competiveness in the global market

13/03/15