Ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus and ultrasonic flaw detection method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017205380-A1
Application number	US-201515324761-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 1, 2015
Priority date	Jul 10, 2014
Publication date	Jul 20, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

An ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus includes: a seam detection unit that captures a thermal image of a welded seam portion of an electric resistance welded pipe; an ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head that includes an ultrasonic probe that performs ultrasonic flaw detection on the welded seam portion; a seam position calculation unit that calculates a seam position and a bead cutting position of the electric resistance welded pipe; a bead cutting band detection unit that detects a bead cutting band of the electric resistance welded pipe; a bead cutting position calculation unit that calculates a bead cutting position of the electric resistance welded pipe; a tracking movement amount calculation unit that calculates a tracking movement amount of the ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head; and a sensor head driving unit that moves the ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head to track the welded seam portion according to the tracking movement amount.

First claim

1 - 7 . (canceled)

8 . An ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus, comprising:
a seam detection unit that captures a thermal image of a welded seam portion of an electric resistance welded pipe; an ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head installed downstream in a pipe manufacturing direction from the seam detection unit and includes an ultrasonic probe configured to perform ultrasonic flaw detection on the welded seam portion; a seam position calculation unit that calculates a seam position and a bead cutting position of the electric resistance welded pipe by using the thermal image of the welded seam portion captured by the seam detection unit; a bead cutting band detection unit installed immediately before or immediately after an installation position of the ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head and detects a bead cutting band of the electric resistance welded pipe; a bead cutting position calculation unit that calculates, based on the bead cutting band detected by the bead cutting band detection unit, a bead cutting position of the electric resistance welded pipe; a tracking movement amount calculation unit that calculates a tracking movement amount of the ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head by using the seam position and bead cutting position calculated by the seam position calculation unit and the bead cutting position calculated by the bead cutting position calculation unit; and a sensor head driving unit that moves the ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head to track the welded seam portion of the electric resistance welded pipe according to the tracking movement amount calculated by the tracking movement amount calculation unit.

9 . The ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the seam position calculation unit calculates a temperature distribution in a pipe circumference direction of the electric resistance welded pipe from the thermal image captured by the seam detection unit and calculates, as the seam position, a middle point between pipe circumference direction positions where temperature exceeds a predetermined threshold.

10 . The ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein
the bead cutting band detection unit includes: a first light source that emits illumination light to a vicinity of the welded seam portion from an upper left side direction of the electric resistance welded pipe; a second light source that emits illumination light to a vicinity of the welded seam portion from an upper right side direction of the electric resistance welded pipe; and an image detection unit that detects images of the vicinity of the welded seam portion when the illumination light is emitted from the first and second light sources and interposed between the first light source and the second light source, and the bead cutting position calculation unit calculates a minimum luminance image from the image detected when the illumination light is emitted from the first light source and the image detected when the illumination light is emitted from the second light source, calculates a luminance distribution for evaluation, which is a luminance distribution obtained as a result of calculating maximum value of luminance in a predetermined evaluation range in the pipe manufacturing direction with respect to a/the pipe circumference direction of the minimum luminance image, and based on the luminance distribution for evaluation and a predetermined threshold, calculates the bead cutting position.

11 . The ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the bead cutting position calculation unit calculates a chart obtained as a result of calculating maximum luminance value in the pipe circumference direction with respect to the pipe manufacturing direction of the minimum luminance image, and sets a range in the pipe manufacturing direction in which the chart exceeds a predetermined threshold, as the predetermined evaluation range.

12 . The ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the bead cutting position calculation unit calculates a reference luminance distribution, which is a luminance distribution obtained as a result of calculating a maximum value of luminance in the pipe manufacturing direction with respect to the pipe circumference direction in a reference luminance calculation range set in a predetermined range of the minimum luminance image and calculates, based on a luminance distribution obtained as a result of subtracting the reference luminance distribution from the luminance distribution for evaluation, the bead cutting position.

13 . The ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein an ultrasonic flaw detection method being applied to the ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head is an ultrasonic flaw detection method that uses water as a sound coupling material.

14 . An ultrasonic flaw detection method comprising:
a seam detection step of capturing a thermal image of a welded seam portion of an electric resistance welded pipe upstream in a pipe manufacturing direction of an installation position of a ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head having a ultrasonic probe for performing ultrasonic flaw detection on the welded seam portion; a seam position calculation step of calculating a seam position and a bead cutting position of the electric resistance welded pipe by using the thermal image of the welded seam portion captured in the seam detection step; a bead cutting band detection step of detecting a bead cutting band of the electric resistance welded pipe immediately before or immediately after the installation position of the ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head; a bead cutting position calculation step of calculating, based on the bead cutting band detected in the bead cutting band detection step, a bead cutting position of the electric resistance welded pipe; a tracking movement amount calculation step of calculating a tracking movement amount of the ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head by using the seam position and bead cutting position calculated in the seam position calculation step and the bead cutting position calculated in the bead cutting position calculation step; and a sensor head driving step of moving the ultrasonic flaw detection sensor head to track the welded seam portion of the electric resistance welded pipe according to the tracking movement amount calculated in the tracking movement amount calculation step.

15 . The ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein
the bead cutting band detection unit includes: a first light source that emits illumination light to a vicinity of the welded seam portion from an upper left side direction of the electric resistance welded pipe; a second light source that emits illumination light to a vicinity of the welded seam portion from an upper right side direction of the electric resistance welded pipe; and an image detection unit that detects images of the vicinity of the welded seam portion when the illumination light is emitted from the first and second light sources and interposed between the first light source and the second light source, and the bead cutting position calculation unit calculates a minimum luminance image from the image detected when the illumination light is emitted from the first light source and the image detected when the illumination light is emitted from the second light source, calculates a luminance distribution for evaluation, which is a luminance distribution obtained as a result of calculating maximum value of luminance in a predetermined evaluation range in the pipe manufacturing direction with respect to a/the pipe circumference direction of the minimum luminance image, and based on the luminance distribution for evaluati

Assignees

• Jfe Steel Corp

Inventors

• Matsui Yutaka
• Sakashita Shigeto
• Yonemoto Atsushi

Classifications

• B23K31/125

  Weld quality monitoring · CPC title

• G01N29/223

  Supports, positioning or alignment in fixed situation (mounting transducers per se G10K11/004) · CPC title

• G01N2291/2675

  Seam, butt welding · CPC title

• G01N29/265 Primary

  by moving the sensor relative to a stationary material · CPC title

• G01J5/48

  Thermography; Techniques using wholly visual means · CPC title