Applus+ establishes successful radiography program for swedish materials technology firm

Radiography has two main aspects that a company must confront in order to establish a successful program. One aspect is the regulatory component, and for a company not to have experience in such component, this can very be a challenging obstacle to face. The second aspect is to make products that meet codes and standards with material dimensions not found in typical standards. This was most certainly a challenge. Our decades of certification and testing services has provided us the resources necessary to confront this obstacle, therefore, we were prepared to provide Sandvik the solutions to establish a successful radiography program.

Tackling this objective at once was not possible. Therefore, a three-phase approach was used to divide each key aspect into manageable parts. 

• First, the regulatory element was approached with the creation of an emergency and operating procedure, associated forms, the purchase of all related radiation detection equipment, and application for X-ray registration license. 
• Once the license was issued, the qualification and certification personnel were addressed with creating a written practice model built under standard ASNT SNT-TC-1A and CP-189 to address the requirement the radiographs have to meet.
• The third aspect was to address the requirements the radiographs must meet. A special wire type IQI was made in accordance with the standard ASTM E747 to meet the needs for contrast sensitivity, Duplex wire IQI for spatial resolution, and a specially made Duplex plate phantom was ordered to measure the performance of the digital radiography system for use with ultra-thin material with a micro-focus x-ray tube. 

The outcomes from this venture yielded positive results and demonstrated a level of assurance. The procedures written show promise for continued reliability and high probability of detection of asset irregularities. Techniques established such as Micro-focus x-ray opens the possibility for greater sensitivity and shorter exposure times than previously achievable with conventional x-ray tubes. No standard is “one-size fits all.” Careful consideration must be taken to systems limitations and operator error. Also, more stringent procedures were put in place with regards to the viewing of radiographs due to the size of indicators that could possibly be in the welds. 

Radiography now is different than radiography 10 years ago, with more regulations that must be adopted and new developments in code requirements. This fact was the basis for executing a successful radiography program for our client. 

Our efforts were made to streamline daily operations to where the client’s operators can concentrate more on inspection and worry less about regulatory compliance issues, securing efficiency and output.