Generally speaking, an agreement is reached between pipe manufacturer and customer as to where and how weld inspection during pipe production has to be performed. Contrary to other technologies, X-ray technology permits the process-assured weld inspection of even such difficult areas as the ends of pipeline segments. Besides this, in the case of certain regions along the welding seam of a pipe – e.g. at the joints of spirally welded segments – standards or contracts in the pipe industry frequently stipulate weld inspection using various technologies due to safety reasons. Conventional film-based X-ray technology or even new digital alternatives to film are being utilized for weld inspection in such cases.
Yet the 100% X-ray based weld inspection of pipes can be agreed between manufacturer and customer, too. In that case the throughput, i.e. the inspected meters of welding seam per minute, is of great importance. A corresponding contrast resolution of the X-ray image of the inspected welding seam in accordance with API5L is a basic requirement for the successful deployment of so-called real-time systems for pipe inspection.
Cracks and other welding-seam defects can also be detected with certainty by rotating smaller pipes and fittings within the X-ray beam. For this application in the field of weld inspection YXLON offers a wide range of cabinets with a variety of different manipulation concepts and image-generation equipment.
