• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.254-259
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• 2014

A pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) core has 380 fuel channels contained and supported by a horizontal cylindrical vessel known as the calandria, whereas a pressurized water reactor (PWR) has only a single reactor vessel. The pressure tube, which is a pressure-retaining component, has a 103.4 mm inside diameter ${\times}$ 4.19 mm wall thickness, and is 6.36 m long, made of a zirconium alloy (Zr-2.5 wt% Nb). This provides support for the fuel while transporting the $D_2O$ heat-transfer fluid. The simple tubular geometry invites highly automated inspection, and good approach for all inspection. Similar to all nuclear heat-transfer pressure boundaries, the PHWR pressure tube requires a rigorous, periodic inspection to assess the reactor integrity in accordance with the Korea Nuclear Safety Committee law. Volumetric-based nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques utilizing ultrasonic and eddy current testing have been adopted for use in the periodic inspection of the fuel channel. The eddy current testing, as a supplemental NDE method to ultrasonic testing, is used to confirm the flaws primarily detected through ultrasonic testing, however, eddy current testing offers a significant advantage in that its ability to detect surface flaws is superior to that of ultrasonic testing. In this paper, effectiveness of flaw detection and the depth sizing capability by eddy current testing for the inside surface of a pressure tube, will be introduced. As a result of this examination, the ET technique is found to be useful only as a detection technique for defects because it can detect fine defects on the surface with high resolution. However, the ET technique is not recommended for use as a depth sizing method because it has a large degree of error for depth sizing.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.206-214
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• 2015

In this study, low-velocity impact damage (LVID) in glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) was investigated using pulse thermography (PT) and lock-in thermography (LIT) techniques. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the detection performance of each technique for LVID in GFRP. Unidirectional and cross-ply GFRPs were prepared with four energy levels using a drop weight impact machine and they were inspected from the impact side, which may be common in actual service conditions. When the impacted side was used for both inspection and thermal loading, results showed that the suggested techniques were able to identify the LVID which is barely visible to the naked eye. However, they also include limitations that depend on the GFRP thickness at the location of the delamination produced by the lowest impact energy of five joule.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.75-81
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• 2014

A simulation of eddy current testing has been utilized for predicting the signal characteristics to the various defects and developing the probes. Especially, CIVA which is a simulation tool dedicated to nondestructive testing has a good accuracy and speed, and provides a three-dimensional graphical user interface for improved visualization and familiar data displays consistent with NDE technique. Although internal validations have been performed by the CIVA software development specialists, an independent validation study is necessary for the accuracy assessment of the software prior to practical use. For this purpose, in this study, eddy current testing signals of ASME FBH calibration standard tube for bobbin probe were simulated using CIVA and the results were compared to the experimental inspected signals based on the relationship between each flaw signal in terms of amplitude and phase, and the shape of the Lissajous curve. And then we verified the accuracy of the simulated signals and the possible range for simulation. Overall, there is a good qualitative agreement between the CIVA simulated and experimental results in the absolute and differential modes at the two inspection frequencies.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.349-362
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• 2010

Ultrasonic Guided Waves (UGWs) are a useful tool in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications that can benefit from built-in transduction, moderately large inspection ranges and high sensitivity to small flaws. This paper describes a SHM method based on UGWs, discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and principal component analysis (PCA) able to detect and quantify the onset and propagation of fatigue cracks in structural waveguides. The method combines the advantages of guided wave signals processed through the DWT with the outcomes of selecting defect-sensitive features to perform a multivariate diagnosis of damage. This diagnosis is based on the PCA. The framework presented in this paper is applied to the detection of fatigue cracks in a steel beam. The probing hardware consists of a PXI platform that controls the generation and measurement of the ultrasonic signals by means of piezoelectric transducers made of Lead Zirconate Titanate. Although the approach is demonstrated in a beam test, it is argued that the proposed method is general and applicable to any structure that can sustain the propagation of UGWs.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.239-247
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• 2018

A magnetic flux leakage (MFL) method was applied to detect and quantify defects in a steel bar. A multi-channel MFL sensor head was fabricated using Hall sensors and magnetization yokes with permanent magnets. The MFL sensor head scanned a damaged specimen with five levels of defects to measure the magnetic flux density. A series of signal processing procedures, including an enveloping process based on the Hilbert transform, was performed to clarify the flux leakage signal. The objective damage detection of the enveloped signals was then analyzed by comparing them to a threshold value. To quantitatively analyze the MFL signal according to the damage level, five kinds of damage indices based on the relationship between the enveloped MFL signal and the threshold value were applied. Using the proposed damage indices and the general damage index for the MFL method, the detected MFL signals were quantified and analyzed relative to the magnitude of the damage increase.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.294-301
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• 2015

Oil filters for vehicular parts are used under high and low temperatures as the engine is cooled, and defects can be generated with repeated changes in the operating environment and with changes in the shape, such as very high internal losses for the bolts. Visually checking for defects inside a bolt is impossible. Nondestructive evaluation methods such as eddy current testing (ECT) are recommended as a more effective way to examine inside a bolt and detect surface defects in a short amount of time. In this study, the fit bobbin coil eddy current probe was applied to checking the bolts. The bolt parameters were calculated by using a COMSOL analysis program to obtain parameters for professional interior design and fault diagnosis.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.475-486
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• 2023

Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) is an important task of civil engineering structure monitoring and inspection, but minor damage such as small cracks in local structure is difficult to observe. If cracks continued expansion may cause partial or even overall damage to the structure. Therefore, monitoring and detecting the structure in the early stage of crack propagation is important. The crack detection technology based on machine vision has been widely studied, but there are still some problems such as bad recognition effect for small cracks. In this paper, we proposed a deep learning method based on sweep signals to evaluate concrete surface crack with a width less than 1 mm. Two convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are used to analyze the one-dimensional (1D) frequency sweep signal and the two-dimensional (2D) time-frequency image, respectively, and the probability value of average damage (ADPV) is proposed to evaluate the minor damage of structural. Finally, we use the standard deviation of energy ratio change (ERVSD) and infrared thermography (IRT) to compare with ADPV to verify the effectiveness of the method proposed in this paper. The experiment results show that the method proposed in this paper can effectively predict whether the concrete surface is damaged and the severity of damage.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.436-442
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• 2008

Graphite material has been recognized as a very competitive candidate for reflector, moderator, and structural material for very high temperature reactor (VHTR). Since VHTR is operated up to $900-950^{\circ}C$, small amount of impurity may accelerate the oxidation and degradation of carbon graphite, which results in increased porosity and lowered fracture toughness. In this study, ultrasonic wave propagation properties were investigated for both as-received and degradated material, and the feasibility of ultrasonic testing (UT) was estimated based on the result of ultrasonic property measurements. The ultrasonic properties of carbon graphite were half, more than 5 times, and 1/3 for velocity, attenuation, and signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio respectively. Degradation reduces the ultrasonic velocity slightly by 100 m/s, however the attenuation is about 2 times of as-receive state. The results of probability of detection (POD) estimation based on S/N ratio for side-drilled-hole (SDHs) of which depths were less than 100 mm were merely affected by oxidation and degradation. This result suggests that UT would be reliable method for nondestructive testing of carbon graphite material of which thickness is not over 100 mm. In accordance with the result produced by commercial automated ultrasonic testing (AUT) system, human error of ultrasonic testing is barely expected for the material of which thickness is not over 80 mm.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2005

Ultrasonic inspection methods are widely used for detecting flaws in materials. The signal analysis step plays a crucial part in the data interpretation process. A number of signal processing methods have been proposed to classify ultrasonic flaw signals. One of the more popular methods involves the extraction of an appropriate set of features followed by the use of a neural network for the classification of the signals in the feature spare. This paper describes an alternative approach which uses the least mean square (LMS) method and exportation maximization (EM) algorithm with the model based deconvolution which is employed for classifying nondestructive evaluation (NDE) signals from steam generator tubes in a nuclear power plant. The signals due to cracks and deposits are not significantly different. These signals must be discriminated to prevent from happening a huge disaster such as contamination of water or explosion. A model based deconvolution has been described to facilitate comparison of classification results. The method uses the space alternating generalized expectation maximiBation (SAGE) algorithm ill conjunction with the Newton-Raphson method which uses the Hessian parameter resulting in fast convergence to estimate the time of flight and the distance between the tube wall and the ultrasonic sensor. Results using these schemes for the classification of ultrasonic signals from cracks and deposits within steam generator tubes are presented and showed a reasonable performances.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.273-280
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• 2016

The simulation of nondestructive testing has been used in the prediction of the signal characteristics of various defects and in the development of the procedures. CIVA, a simulation tool dedicated to nondestructive testing, has good accuracy and speed, and provides a three-dimensional graphical user interface for improved visualization and familiar data displays consistent with an NDE technique. Even though internal validations have been performed by the CIVA software development specialists, an independent validation study is necessary for the assessment of the accuracy of the software prior to practical use. In this study, time of flight diffraction signals of ultrasonic inspection of a calibration block for reactor vessel head penetrations were simulated using CIVA. The results were compared to the experimentally inspected signals. The accuracy of the simulated signals and the possible range for simulation were verified. It was found that, there is a good agreement between the CIVA simulated and experimental results in the A-scan signal, B-scan image, and measurement of depth.