Capability of Advanced Ultrasonic Inspection Technologies for Hydraulic Turbine Runners
Source abstract
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a project aimed at evaluating the performance of ultrasonic techniques for detecting flaws in Francis turbine runners. This work is the first phase of a more ambitious program aimed at improving the reliability of inspection of critical areas in turbine runners. Francis runners may be utilized to supply power during peak periods, which means that they experience additional load stress associated with start and stop sequences. Inspection during manufacturing is then of paramount importance to remove as much as feasible all flaw initiation sites before the heat treatment. This phase one objective is to collect initial data on a simplified mock-up and then to compare the experimental ultrasonic data with the results of simulations performed by CIVA, a computer simulation package. The area of interest is the region with the highest stress between the blade and the web. A welded T-joint coupon made of UNS S41500 was manufactured to represent this high-stress area. During the FCAW welding process, ceramic beads were embedded in the weld to create discontinuities whose size is in the critical range to initiate a crack. Inspection of the material was carried out by various nondestructive testing (NDT) methods namely conventional pulse-echo, phased array, total focusing method (TFM). With these results, detection rates were obtained in order to compare the effectiveness of each method.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Ultrasonics and Acoustic Wave Propagation · Non-Destructive Testing Techniques · Geophysical Methods and Applications
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
École de Technologie Superieure, Montreal, QC H3C 1K3, Canada
Institut de Recherche d’Hydro-Québec (IREQ), Varennes, QC J3X 1S1, Canada
Funding
Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Québec (IREQ)
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