Field Inspections
Ultrasonic Testing (UT)

A staple of non-destructive testing (NDT), MISTRAS provides traditional ultrasonic testing (UT) inspection services for the detection and location of discontinuities, material composition analysis, and wall thickness measurements.

In ultrasonic testing (UT), a transducer introduces ultrasonic waves into a material, which travel in a straight line and at a constant speed until they encounter a surface. This causes some of the wave energy to be reflected, while the rest is transmitted. Analyzing the amount of reflected energy vs. transmitted energy provides information on the size and location of the discontinuity encountered.

Information from ultrasonic inspection can be presented in a number of formats:

• A-Scan displays the amount of received ultrasonic energy as a function of time
• B-Scan displays a profile view (cross-sectional)
• C-Scan displays a plan-type view of the asset & discontinuities
• Hybrid/Stitched displays a C-Scan plan view with A- and/or B-Scan views that have been woven together to illustrate a clearer picture of the damaged areas of a specimen. These stitched views are used for larger specimens & surface areas.

Ultrasonic Testing (UT) Inspection Applications

MISTRAS offers UT inspections in the field, and in our in-house testing laboratories.

MISTRAS provides a wide range of UT inspection services to clients in multiple industries, including aerospace, refining, manufacturing, infrastructure, and power generation.

Some of the most common applications that MISTRAS performs UT inspections services for include:

• Flaw detection (cracks, inclusions, porosity, delamination etc.)
• Corrosion/erosion wall thickness gauging
• Bond integrity assessment
• Estimation of grain size in metals
• Estimation of void content in composites and plastics

Ultrasonic Thickness Testing (UTT) Inspection Services

Ultrasonic Thickness Testing (UTT) is a method for determining the extent of corrosion and erosion on the walls of piping, vessel, storage tank, and other assets. MISTRAS offers UTT spot inspections, and long-term, remote wall thickness monitoring for pipes and vessels in high-temperature and hard-to-access locations.

Ultrasonic Thickness Testing (UTT) is one of the most common applications of the ultrasonic inspection technique. These evaluations are critical for plant equipment maintenance management personnel to make informed run-repair-replace decisions. As corrosion and erosion often occur on the inside of pipe and vessel walls, degradation can potentially lead to more damaging effects if allowed to worsen.

MISTRAS recommends routine UTT measurements to our clients to ensure asset integrity. MISTRAS also provides ultrasonic thickness tracking solutions for pipes and vessels in hard-to-reach locations.

Ultrasonic Testing (UT) Inspection Benefits

Some of the major advantages of ultrasonic testing are:

• Detection of surface and subsurface defects
• Superior depth of penetration compared to other test methods
• Only single-sided access is required with a pulse-echo technique
• High accuracy regarding estimating discontinuity size and shape
• Minimal specimen preparation is required
• Instantaneous results produced by using electronic equipment
• Detailed images can be produced with automated systems