<p>Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) is one of the major structural defects during the operation of storage tanks, piping, and pipelines in many industries such as chemical and nuclear facilities to name a few. SCC is the continuous growth of a crack or fault due to the tensile stresses in a corrosive environment over the life period of components. SCC flaws can progress to sudden and catastrophic failures in materials which are continuously exposed to tensile stress and a corrosive environment during the operation. Cost and damage caused by SCC is a considerable portion of costs of repair and/or maintenance in many industries. This is even more critical considering that SCC happens at much lower stress levels than those required to produce a spontaneous failure due to overload. The study of stress corrosion cracking has changed the trajectory of production of better-quality products and engineering design in manufacturing, aerospace, medical, construction and other disciplines. Several different nondestructive testing (NDT)techniques have been used for detection and inspection of SCC in different application. Ultrasonic and Magnetic Particle Inspection (MPI) are the main NDT techniques for inspection of SCC. Leading in, a nondestructive testing (NDT) method called Phased Array Eddy Current (PAEC) Testing can be used to efficiently detect these small cracks in conductive metal alloys. Eddy current (EC) is a prominent electromagnetic nondestructive testing technique that is commonly used in manufacturing, petrochemical, aerospace and structural industries for the detection of surface-level, subsurface cracks and damage in products made of metallic materials. The advancement in EC-NDT provides the capability to electronically drive and read several eddy current sensors positioned side by side in the same probe assembly which generates a higher signal-to-noise (SNR) value and a more accurate inspection results in a reconstructed image and time-domain signal. This study discusses the approach of using Phased Array Eddy Current (PAEC) technology for inspection of stress corrosion cracking at different initial conditions of the cracks, level of applied stresses, and corrosive environment on steel and aluminum samples. EDM notches have been made into the samples for producing control specimens for calibration and comparison purposes. Samples are exposed to the different corrosive environment including saltwater and simultaneous loads to generate stress along the length of the cracks. Flaws conditions have been evaluated using PAEC before and after the stress and corrosion induction and the results have been evaluated for accuracy of detection. This technique will decrease the cost in materials and time in designing structures or devices by accurately detecting and identifying the stress corrosion cracking conditions in metallic parts and components.</p>

Nondestructive Eddy Current Array (ECA) Technique for Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) Detection and Assessment

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2021/volume/85543

ASME 2021 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2021)

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