Conformable Digital Detector Arrays for Nondestructive Evaluation

Abstract

Radiography codes and standards require that the detector be in direct contact with the weld. Until today, only film and computed radiography (CR) could satisfy that requirement for the inspection of oil and gas pipe weld discontinuities. Exposure techniques include but are not limited to double wall single view, single wall single view, or panoramic. An amorphous silicon conformable digital detector array (DDA) that is flexible allows for the detector to be in direct contact with the component. A conformable detector can be bent repeatedly around pipe welds of varying sizes resulting in image quality and workflow time savings productivity benefits for the static capture of welds with curved surfaces. For field radiography applications the detector design must be portable, thin, flexible, easily attached, and able to withstand harsh environments. Size, weight, scintillator type, pixel pitch, bit depth, radiation shielding, load limits, temperature, moisture, atmospheric pressure, vibration mitigation, drop resistance, and ingress protection are all additional considerations. High-quality digital images can be obtained for weld applications utilizing either tethered or wireless image acquisition modes. The improved productivity obtained from bendable detectors relative to film and CR benefit the industry. Discussion of the technology to some real-world radiography applications is presented as part of this paper.