Approaching code-compliant Non-Destructive Testing of carbon steel weld using Total Focusing Method technique

Abstract

The Total Focusing Method (TFM) technique is an advanced Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Ultrasonic Testing (UT) technique. It is usually used together with special acquisition configurations such as Full Matrix Capture (FMC) or Plane Wave Imaging (PWI) and can supply synthetic post-processing results based on a quantity of ultrasonic signals. It is believed that it will accelerate the UT technique revolution toward the artificial intelligence era. Compared to the conventional UT technique, or even advanced UT techniques, such like Time of Flight Diffraction (TOFD) and Phased Array (PA) techniques, this advanced UT technique is well known for its easy-to-interpret and high-resolution representative images. For these reasons, it is used more and more in the flaw sizing and characterization assessment. Following the publication of the standard ISO 23864, TFM technique become a member among all standardized weld inspection techniques. This article presents some related study results toward a code-compliant weld inspection regarding the related standards, dealing especially with the sensitivity calibration which is a key point for the applicability of amplitude-based acceptance criteria.