Side Drilled Hole Inspection

In this tutorial, you will learn how to simulate a Side Drilled Hole (SDH) Inspection using BeamTool and the OnScale plugin. Let's get started by opening up BeamTool 9!

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Overview

Often in NDT methods for weld inspection, side drilled holes are used to help callibrate the angle of the probe. 

Section 1 - Piece

We are going to use the default plate piece for this tutorial, but it is easy to change these parameters by simply clicking on the Piece icon in the toolbar. 

 

Section 2 - Probe

The only probes currently supported by the OnScale plugin is Phased Array. Add a phased array probe by selecting the Probe icon in the toolbar.

To set the frequency of the probe, select the Probe Configuration button in the PA Probe window.

In the PA Probe Configuration window, set Frequency to 1 MHz.

Section 3 - Drilled Hole

To add the drilled hole in the test piece, select the Draw Piece Circle icon.

To place the hole on the piece, click on the piece, drag your mouse to increase the radius and click to place the hole.

Double click the hole to change its properties to be at location XY (-31,13) mm and have 2 mm radius.

Section 4 - Beamset

We are going to use a sectorial beamset for this inspection. Add this by selecting the Sectorial Beamset Configuration button.

When simulating a beamset a simulation time must be chosen. The longer the simulation time the more core hours the simulation will take. The simulation time can be optimised using the Time From Elements crop value for the beamset. The simulation time needs to be twice what is in the crop value (to account for the sound returning to the transducer).

In the Sectorial Beamset Configuration window, set the Crop Mode to Time from Elements and then set Crop Time to 20 us.

The final inspection set up should like this.

Section 5 - Run

To run the simulation on the cloud, select Tools > onscale. 

The first thing you must do is login.

Don't have an OnScale Account? Find out how to get one here.

Once you are logged in, you must set up the final simulation parameters in the General tab.

To submit a job, go to the Submit tab, select the beamset to use and select Run Simulation.

Section 6 - Download 

Once the simulation is finished, it will appear in the Download tab. To download the results simple select the Download button.

Section 7 - Import Results

The downloaded ONSCALE file can be imported into BeamTool to view the inspection B-scan. Do this by selecting the beamset in the PA probe window and selecting the cog > Import Data.

To increase the Gain of the B-scan, select the eye icon and change the value of the gain until the hole location is clear.