Materials Science Forum, Vol.475-479, 4141-4144, 2005
Inspection of creep defects and degraded zone using ultrasound
The initiation and growth of internal defects usually cause the failure of long term operated structural components at high temperature. Therefore, by investigating the internal defects of material, the integrity of the system can be maintained and the unexpected failure can be prevented. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of the application of ultrasound to the measurement and estimation of the creep damage. In this study, the phased array ultrasound and backward ultrasound were employed to detect the internal defects caused by creep. Using the newly developed P92 steel, both creep and NDE ultrasound tests were performed. The results of defect inspection were checked by microstructure examination. Reliable information on the size and position of crack were obtained and successful estimation of the amount of micro-voids and their distribution proved to be obtainable by the ultrasound inspection technique. The width of the creep degraded zone was confirmed by the width of ultrasonic signal, and the severity of degradation was confirmed by ultrasonic amplitude.