PROCEDURE No: HED-HZW-NDT-P-000 REV No.

R0 Page 1 of 11

LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED

HED HAZIRA WORKS
Non - Destructive Testing

Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using

TOFD (Time Of Flight Diffraction) technique

R0 First issue 21- 08 -04 NRS PR

REV. NO. REVISION DETAILS DATE PREP. BY APPR. BY

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PROCEDURE No: HED-HZW-NDT-P-000 REV. No. R0 Page 2 of 11
Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

1. Principle of TOFD technique and comparison with conventional NDT:

Conventional UT techniques are mainly based on reflection from

discontinuities the selection of angle of sound beam for testing becomes
critical & important as the orientation of discontinuity strongly influences the
results. Discontinuities can be detected best when the sound beam hits them
in right angles. Detection of discontinuities oriented at an angle other than 90
degrees with sound beam becomes difficult & it is nearly impossible to detect
linear & planar discontinuities that are parallel to the sound beam.

Radiography best detects the discontinuities lying parallel to the radiation

beam but likely to miss linear & planar discontinuities that are perpendicular
to the radiation beam.

TOFD technique is based on diffraction of sound waves on the tips of

discontinuities. It is almost independent of the orientation of discontinuities.
Hence it can be used effectively for detection of discontinuities oriented at
any angle in the weld. Including discontinuities oriented along vertical axis of
weld (which ultrasonic may miss) or planar discontinuities (which radiography
may miss)

Two transducers one acting as transmitter & other as receiver are placed on
either sides of weld for scanning. Interaction of sound beam with top &
bottom tips of discontinuity results in emission of diffracted spherical waves
over a large angular range. For depth measurement from scanning
surface(s), time of flight of the recorded diffracted signal is calculated
irrespective of signal amplitude.

Full section of examined weld along with discontinuity indications is real time
displayed on monitor. It can be stored & copied on hard drive for post
processing , image enhancement , locating & sizing discontinuities ( height,
length etc.)

2. Scope:

This procedure covers the Ultrasonic examination of butt welds having

thickness from 25 mm to 300mm & HAZ
( 25 mm or thickness of weld whichever is less on either side of weld)
using TOFD (Time Of Flight Diffraction) technique employing automatic
computer enhanced data acquisition, recording images of scanning and
producing hard copies of them.

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Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

3. Applicable Codes, Standards And Specifications:

Latest edition and addenda of

ASME Section V article 4
ASME Section VIII Division 1 and Division 2
ASME Code case 2235-6
BS 7706
Customer specification (if any).
L&T written practice WP-NDT-01 R21

4. Personnel Qualification Requirement:

Qualified and certified personnel as Level II or Level III in accordance with L&T
written practice for qualification and administration of NDT personnel shall only
be eligible for performing ultrasonic activities using TOFD technique.

Refer customer specification. It may be necessary to get approval of the

customer for the procedure, calibration block(s) & personnel performing test
prior to start of job.

5. Test Surface Preparation:

5.1 Base Metal:

The base metal on each side of weld shall be free of weld spatters, surface
irregularities or foreign matters that might interfere with the examination.

5.2 Weld Metal:

Where the weld surface interferes with the examination, the weld shall be
prepared as needed to permit the examination.

6. Apparatus

6.1 Equipment:
A pulse echo ultrasonic flaw detector with a digital data recording system is
used as additional benefits can be obtained from image enhancement & post
processing. e.g.ISONIC 2001 workstation (a portable flaw detector with
miniature PC on board.)
Model Make Key Features

Sr.no.
1 ISONIC Sonotron Recording and printing of B &
UDS 3.3 C scan, end view, TOFD and
probe characteristic
determination

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Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

6.2 Host computer & Printer:

Minimum Pentium 233,32,2.4,1.44 with operating system Windows-98 or

higher shall be used for post processing & image enhancement.
Suitable printer shall be used for printing of recorded TOFD images & test
parameters.

6.3 Accessories for data acquisition, storage & representation:

a. Set of acoustic sensors for mechanics free monitoring location (X, Y &
Z)
1.Double emitter of airbourne ultrasound 1 No.
2.Single emitter of airbourne ultrasound 1 NO
3.Airbourne sound receiver 2 Nos.
4.Emitter of acoustic coupling monitor signal with magnetic attachment
b. Holder for airbourne ultrasound receivers with magnetic attachment
c. Holder for standard ultrasonic probes with receiver of acoustic
coupling monitor inside.
d. Long single cable system

6.4 Probes / Transducers:

Unrectified pulses from short-pulsed transducers shall be used as they have
very good time resolution. Following are the considerations for selecting
probes for particular TOFD application.
a. Wave mode: Generally longitudinal wave modes are used as they have
highest velocity
b. Resolution: Good timing resolution is desired hence high frequency or short
Pulsed, broad brand probes are used.
c. Effects of attenuation: Use optimum frequency as higher the frequency higher
will be grain scatter & attenuation
d. Need of detection in near field: Use optimum size and frequency as higher
The size & frequency, higher will be the
length of near field.
e. Beam width requirements: Beam shall be chosen such that it covers entire
section of interest .Probes with less size &
frequency will increase beam divergence.

Generally 2 probes one as transmitter & other as receiver are required.

Wave mode: longitudinal

Crystal dimensions: 6 to 30 mm
Broad band
Frequency: 2 to 10 MHz
Angle: 35 to 70 depending on thickness of the material to be tested.

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Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

6.5 Probe selection:

Frequency and size of the probe shall be selected depending upon thickness;
acoustic properties of the material to be tested weld configuration & minimum
detection criteria.
Generally following combinations are used:

For thin materials & near surface flaw detection, higher frequency probes
(5 to 10 MHz) having small crystal size (6 to 12 mm) and higher angle
(52 to 70)

For thick materials & deep region flaw detection, lower frequency probes
(2 to 5 MHz) having large crystal size (12 to 30 mm) and lower angle
(35 to 52)

6.6 Couplant:
Couplant shall be grease, oil, water or any other similar material, which
permits satisfactory transmission of ultrasonic waves. Same couplant shall
be used for calibration as well as for testing.

6.7 Calibration Block:

Following are the minimum requirements of the calibration block:
1. Shall be made of acoustically similar material to the weld to be tested
2. Surface condition shall be representative of the material surfaces to be
examined.
3. Thickness shall be equal to or up to 25 mm more than the thickness of weld
to be tested.
4. Width & length of the block shall be adequate to allow probe movement over
the reference reflectors.
5. Shall have cylindrical reflectors located at various relevant depths according
to ASME V
6. Additionally an EDM slit or V notch shall be provided for gain setting using
diffracted signals from it.

7. Scan plan:
It is a documented examination strategy, which includes:

Thickness of the weld

Details of calibration block like material & thickness & locations, sizes
& types of reflectors
Details of transducers like size, type, angle & frequency
Transducer placement & movement
Depth zones (DZ): It is the through thickness area covered during particular scan
Probe center spacing (PCS) It is the distance between index points of the probes
Beam centerline (BC): It is the distance between point of intersection of
Centerline of beams from scanning surface.

Refer annex. A for sample scan plan.

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Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

8. Instrument Set up:

1. Place the rail supporting the receivers of airbourne across the weld/region to
be tested.
2. Distance between two receivers on rail (Base1) is calculated depending on
following operator inputs:
Skip no., weld/ region thickness, and weld/region width
Base1=200+Pos1+Pos2 (Pos1 is the coordinate of the left receiver on the left
scale of the rail & pos2 is for right side)
3. Clamp the probes in Probe holders.
4. Mount the probe holders on TOFD rail at distance equal to PCS (Base2)
5. Enter test parameters like probe details, base1 & base2 values, weld
thickness, region length & width etc.
6. Place the TOFD rail at starting point of the region & set scanning start point
(Zero point) i.e. X & L coordinates zero.

9. Calibration:

Depth zone:
This is the through thickness area covered by sound beam in a particular
scan. Total weld thickness to be divided in different depth zones.
Each depth zone requires independent probe selection, set up, calibration
& scanning. Deeper zones can cover more weld volume than shallow
zone.
Generally welds having thickness between 50 mm to 100 mm are divided
in two depth zones. Welds having thickness above 100 mm can be
divided in three or more depth zones.

Probe center spacing:

This is the distance between index points of the probes and is directly
related to the probe angle and depth It should be set such that to cover
entire weld thickness or entire depth zone.

Time base calibration:

Time base calibration shall be made with transducer spacing (PCS ) set
for the examinations of weld & not for calibration blocks.
Place the probes facing each other on both sides of the weld and get
lateral wave & back wall signals.
Delay & range shall be set using sub menus Pulser & receiver.

9.1.4 Sensitivity calibration:

Sensitivity calibration shall be done by getting reflection from reference
reflectors with PCS & DZ set as per scan plan as follows:

a. Position probe pair for maximum response from the 1/4 T hole.
b. Adjust the gain control to provide a 60% (+ 5%) FSH echo from the
hole.

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Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

c. Without changing the settings move the probe pair to the job to be
tested.
d. Adjust the gain control to produce noise level between lateral and
back wall signals approximately 20% (+ 5%) FSH
10. Verification of calibration:

Calibration shall be verified on at least one of the basic reflectors in the

basic calibration block at the finish of each examination, every 4 hrs
during the examination, and when examination personnel are changed,
whichever occurs earlier.

11. Inspection/Scanning:
11.1Scanning directions:

Longitudinal scanning shall be done moving TOFD rail along the weld axis.
This is done to recognize & initially size the discontinuities observed.

Transverse scanning shall be done moving TOFD rail across the weld axis.
This is done to collect additional data for accurate sizing & through thickness
dimensions (like depth, height)

11.2Scanning Speed:
Maximum scanning speed is basically decided by PRF & capability of computer
to acquire & process the waveforms.
Maximum scanning speed shall be verified on the calibration block.
Generally it should be less than 75 mm per second.
Timed TOFD (t-TOFD) in Isonic workstation provides 3 (three) different possible
timings for 3(Three) different region lengths as follows:
a. For section length 50 mm scan times can be 4,8 or 12 sec.
b. For section length 100 mm scan times can be 8,16 or 24 sec.
c. For section length 200 mm scan times can be 16,32 or 48 sec.

To achieve continuous capturing of good images probe pair should be moved

approximately with constant speed after selected time wait period is over.

12. Data acquisition & analysis:

Data shall be recorded in unprocessed form without gating, filtering or threshold

for responses from examination of area of interest.
Analysis requires assessing image-dimensioning (length/depth ratio) using
Post processing software. Wherever required by rebuilding RF A scan for
particular locations.

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PROCEDURE No: HED-HZW-NDT-P-000 REV. No. R0 Page 8 of 11
Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

Following features shall be studied for characterization of discontinuities:

Echo Dynamics, linearity along the scan axis, response amplitude& depth
uniformity at linear indications.

13. Recording & evaluation:

13.1 Recording criteria:

Reflectors that produce a response greater than 20% of the reference level shall
be investigated further. Any reflector considered to be flaw shall be recorded
regardless of amplitude. The maximum amplitude, location & extent of these
reflectors shall be recorded. Operator shall determine whether the indication
originates from a flaw or is a geometric indication in accordance with para.
When reflector is determined to be a flaw the acceptance criteria is according to
para.

13.2 Evaluation of indications:

Indications recorded along examinations may be classified as geometrical or
real flaw indications discontinuities.
Geometrical indications
Ultrasonic indications of geometric and metallurgical origin, shall be classified as
follows:
a) Indications that are determined to originate from the surface configurations (such
as weld reinforcement or root) or carnations in metallurgical structure of materials
(such as cladding to base metal interface) may be classified as geometric
indications and:
1) Need not be characterized or sized in accordance with 15.3
2) Need not be compared to allowable flaw acceptance criteria par. 16.
3) The maximum indication amplitude and location shall be recorded, for example
internal attachments, one (1) inch above the weld center line, on the inside
surface, from 90 degrees to 95 degrees.
b) The following steps shall be taken to classify an indication as geometric:
1) Interpret the area containing the reflector in accordance with the applicable
examination procedure
2) Plot and verify the reflector coordinates, provide a cross-sectional display
showing the reflector position and surface discontinuity such as root.
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Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

3) Review fabrication or weld preparation drawings.

4) Alternatively, other NDE methods or techniques may be applied to classify an
indication as geometric (e.g. alternative UT beam angles, radiography, I/D and/or
OD profiling).
5) Flaw indications
Flaw indications are those representing a discontinuity in base material or weld.
As help in interpretation of TOFD indications reference images edited by BSI Code
7706 may be used .

13.3 Flaw sizing

Flaws shall be sized in accordance with a procedure qualified by demonstration
on similar reflectors at similar material depth. The dimensions of the flaw shall be
determined by the rectangle that fully contains the area of the flaw.
a) The length (l) of the flaw shall be drawn parallel to the inside pressure
retaining surface of the component.
b) The depth of the flaw shall be drawn normal to the inside pressure
retaining surface and shall be denoted as a for a surface flaw or 2a
for a subsurface flaw.
13.4 Flaw Evaluation:
Flaws shall be evaluated for acceptance using the applicable criteria of table 1,
2, or 3 with the following causational requirements:
a) Surface flaws :
A supplemental surface examination (MT or PT) shall be
performed and shall meet the requirements of Appendix 6 or 8 for division 1
and article 9-1 or 9-2 for division 2. Any flaws characterized as cracks, lack
of fusion, or incomplete penetration are unacceptable regardless of length.
b) Multiple flaws:
1. Discontinuous flaws shall be considered a singular planar flaw if the distance
between adjacent flaws is equal to or less than S as shown if fig. 8
2. Discontinues flaws that are oriented primarily in parallel planes shall be
considered a singular planar flaw if the distance between the adjacent planes
is equal to or less than in .

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Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

3.Discontinuous flaws that are coplanar and nonaligned in the through-wall

thickness direction of the component shall be considered a singular planar
flaw if the distance between adjacent flaws is equal to or less than S as
shown in fig.10
4. Discontinues flaw that are coplanar in the through-wall direction within
two parallel planes in apart (i.e., normal to the pressure to the
pressure-retaining surface of the component ) are unacceptable if the
additive flaw depth dimension of the flaws exceeds those in fig.11

C) Subsurface flaws: Flaw length (l) shall not exceed 4t.

The final data package shall be reviewed by a UT level II individual.
The review shall include:
a. The ultrasonic data record
b. Date of interpretation
c. Flaw evaluations / characterizations preformed by another qualified Level
II or III individual. The data review may be performed by another
individual from the same organization.
Alternatively, the review may be achieved by arranging for a data acquisition
and initial interpretation by a Level II individual qualified in accordance with
employers written practice, and a final interpretation and evaluation shall be
performed by a Level II/III individual qualified similarly. The Level II/III
individual shall have been qualified in accordance with their employers
written practice. ASNT SNT-TC-1A shall be used as a guideline above,
including a practical examination/demonstration on flawed specimens using
same or equivalent equipment.
14. Final report:
The result of the examination shall be reported for each weld on L&Ts format.
The report shall contain at least the information required in ASME V Sect.5 art. 4
These reports shall contain all record able indications the evaluation with the
information requested.

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Procedure for Ultrasonic Testing of welds using TOFD

Each weld shall have a zero point and the reference direction to which all the
indication have to be referred. The report shall contain the main features of the
examination, like type of computerized system used, probes, frequency, scan
plan, etc.,

Print out of TOFD-B scan images for all recordable indications shall be made for
the report document.

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And must not be copied or lent without their permission in writing.