As nuclear power plants age, the likelihood of failures in the small bore piping used in those plants caused by exposure to mechanical vibrations during plant operations increases. While small bore piping failures rarely cause plant shutdown, the management of small piping has been a keen area of interest since their repair or maintenance requires a reactor trip. Steam generator (SG) drain pipe socket welds are small diameter piping connections (nominal pipe schedule 3-4 inches) susceptible to mechanical vibration. SG drain pipe socket weld failures have caused coolant leakage. Therefore, more reliable inspection technologies for small bore piping need to be developed to detect problems at an early stage and prevent pipe failures. This research aims to improve the reliability and accuracy of small bore piping inspections through the design, manufacture and application of a new phased array ultrasonic testing technique and inspection system for SG drain line socket welds.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.