Quality Assurance for Non-Destructive Testing

Liu Jinhong , Du Jianying , Zhou Zaiqi

( Suzhou Nuclear Power Research Institute, State Power Corporation, P.R.China)
Contact

Abstract

Non-destructive testing is one of the most important means to detect and

verify the quality of items. As an organization providing NDT services, it
is essential to assure the correctness and accuracy of the test results. To
assure the quality of the NDT inspections, it is necessary to have not only
the advanced equipments and material, but also well trained and qualified
inspectors and good inspection procedures, as well as adequate attentions
paid to the environmental impacts on the inspection results. The article
describes the practices of the quality assurance for the non-destructive
testing service organization by carrying out ISO 9000 quality performance
in its service activities.

Keywords: Quality Assurance, Non-destructive Testing

1.0 General

It seems to be the trend that the non-destructive testing of material, semi-

and final products or installed components are designated to the special
servicing companies providing NDT services other than the manufacturer
or the owner himself to do the work. Therefore special NDT servicing
companies are becoming popular. It is the responsibility for the service
company to provide reliable testing and provide confidence to the
customer of its good quality of test results. The practices of SNPI, Suzhou
Nuclear Power Research Institute, which provides NDT services, shows
that quality assurance provide us an effective tool to reach this goal.

2.0 Customer's and regulatory requirements for NDT

The main objective of a NDT service organization is to meet the

requirements of customers and regulatory bodies for the safety of industry
applications, for example, pressure vessels, electrical components. The
customer's requirements are normally related to the high quality of the
NDT service, i.e. accurate and reliable test results, good service, as well as
low cost. The regulatory requirements are normally related to the test
 method, personnel qualification and classification of test results. The
practices of SNPI is to set up and maintain a quality system with reference
to ISO 9000 family standards, so that a good quality culture are created
and maintained by the whole staff within the institute.

The quality system is maintained so that all the customer demands and
regulatory requirements are satisfied during all our site applications of
non-destructive testing activities.

3.0 Quality assurance measures for NDT activities

All aspects required by ISO 9001 standard are controlled by the quality
system, which includes the organizational structure, procedures, processes
and resources for implementing quality management. The main idea of
setting up ISO 9001 quality system is to prevent occurrence of any non-
conformance through various of preventive measures. Despite of different
kinds of such systematic measures, the main QA measures for controlling
site NDT activities are: controlling NDT inspector qualifications,
validness of test equipment and test material, effectiveness of test
procedures, impact of environmental conditions to test results, and
monitoring actual NDT performance by quality surveillance inspectors.

3.1 Personnel qualifications

Inspector qualification is essential to a reliable inspection, and it is also
mandatory required by regulatory bodies. China has such a NDT personnel
qualification system that each industrial sector has its specific
requirements in addition to the basic NDT society requirements.
Therefore, in order to fulfill different requirements for different industrial
applications, our NDT personnel hold different qualification certificates,
including foreign certificates, to satisfy different customers for different
requirements. Although much expenses are spent for the training and
qualifications, our NDT personnel are well qualified in such a way.

3.2 Test equipment and material

Test equipment and material are very important for NDT inspections. As
an inspection service organization, we developed and purchased all
necessary equipment and materials for our services, including ultrasonic
testing, radiographic testing, eddy current testing, magnetic particle
testing, liquid penetrate testing, and visual testing as well as acoustic
emission testing. These equipment and materials are mainly used in power
generating industry and chemical industry for pressure vessel and related
component inspections.
 Periodic calibration of test equipments are carried out and documented so
that their accuracy and tolerance are identified and controlled.

Test materials are controlled so that they are valid for the tests, and have
no harmful to the component tested, which is extremely important to
stainless steel component testing. For example, when stainless steel
components for nuclear power plants are tested by ultrasonic testing
method, the coupling material should contain very little amount of
chlorinate, sulphate, phosphate materials, and should be qualified.

3.3 Test procedure

Test procedures define the responsibilities, techniques, operational steps
and control means for specific method of testing and test objects. SNPI
establishes a series of test procedures for different tasks, which we
consider is necessary for carrying out quality services of testings.

3.4 Environmental conditions

Environmental conditions affect the test results seriously on some
occasions. Attention should be taken for the temperature, humidity,
radioactive, and/or surrounding materials to the test objects. For example,
the ultrasonic transmission speed in the steel changes about 8 m/s when
the temperature varies 1°; radioactive background of test objects affect the
radiographic testing results.

3.5 Monitoring of NDT processes

As an important quality assurance measure, quality surveillance inspectors
are assigned to verify the effectiveness of actual performance of NDT
activities. The surveillance inspectors have very good background
knowledge of NDT, they check the prerequisite of testing for a specific
task, including NDT examiner's personnel qualification, status of test
equipment and materials to be used, test procedures adapted, and the
environmental conditions presented. They make sample checks to major
test performance to verify if the test procedures are followed by the NDT
examiners. They check also the test results to verify if the results are
correct and the regulatory requirements are met.

Of course, the responsibility of testing is still on NDT examiner shoulders;

the quality surveillance inspector is responsible for the verifications. Such
verifications are normally carried out by means of implementation of
witness and hold points inspections of quality plans for NDT testing.

4.0 Feedback from customers

 SNPI has provided variety of NDT services to nuclear and fossil fuel fired
power plants, chemical plants, machine and mechanical component
manufacturers. The services cover NDT examinations of UT, RT, ET, MT,
PT, VT, and AET, as well as quality surveillance inspection services.

The customers such as Guangdong and LingAo nuclear power joint

venture companies, Suzhou chemical works, Jiangsu Changshu and
Guangxi Liuzhou power plants give us high praise of the quality provided
and reached as well as the quality management system implemented.

All feedback information are analyzed and used for continuous

improvement of our quality of NDT services and our quality management
system.

5.0 Conclusion

Quality management system should be set up and improved continuously

to assure the quality of NDT services. Effective quality assurance
measures should be taken to prevent any non-conformance occurring
during NDT activities.

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