INTEGRATION OF NDT INTO LIFE TIME MANAGEMENT

Being a life management tool, non-destructive testing is designed to d etect defects in components before they become critical under load. No n-destructive testing has consequently become a well-established techn ique to ensure the safe and economic operation of pressurised componen ts. However, life assessment and prediction requires knowledge about l oad conditions and history and material degradation along with a quant itative defect state evaluation. Safety and economics could be improve d if non-destructive methods were able to control these problems. Ther e are generally no practical non-destructive techniques for inspecting or monitoring pressurised components quantitatively for defect states , stress states, and possible material degradation as the result of cr eep, fatigue or embrittlement. This paper stresses the need for possib le future non-destructive techniques which have already successfully d emonstrated the potential of these new inspection objectives. The exam ples offered below outline the future use of non-destructive testing t o evaluate defect states and control early material degradation by way of hardness measurements. These techniques can be integrated in life management software systems for the purpose of improving the reliabili ty and economics of their application. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.