ULTRASONIC TESTING
How the Krautkramer USM 100 Digital Flaw Detector Makes Pipe Inspection Easier
Pipe inspection is one of the most common UT applications across oil and gas, power generation, chemical processing and utilities. The job sounds straightforward. In practice, it rarely is.
THE CHALLENGE
Consistency is harder than it looks
A pipe inspected today needs to be inspected again in six months, twelve months, two years. For those readings to mean anything over time, every inspection needs to be carried out under exactly the same conditions. Same probe, same frequency, same calibration.
When that information lives on a notepad or a spreadsheet that may or may not travel with the instrument, corrosion trending becomes unreliable and remaining life calculations become difficult to defend.
SETUP
Load and go
The USM 100 saves material settings, probe details, frequency and calibration directly on the device. When the inspector returns to the same asset six months later, they load the saved setup and start. The conditions are identical to last time regardless of who is carrying the instrument.
Calibration is prompted step by step, walking the operator through the sequence and reducing errors at the start of the job.
DURING INSPECTION
Traffic light alarm system
The inspector sets a threshold before starting. When a wall thickness reading or flaw amplitude crosses it, the screen changes colour and an alarm fires. Nothing gets missed on a long run without watching every single reading.
Screen captures save the A-scan or grid view at any point, attaching visual evidence directly to the data record automatically.
REPORTING
One step to a complete report
Everything captured during the inspection, readings, probe details, frequencies, calibration data and screen captures, exports in one step to PDF, Excel or CSV. The PDF produces a complete inspection record ready to send. The Excel export allows readings to be trended against previous inspections without retyping a single value.
BUILT FOR SITE
IP67, glove-friendly, one-hand operation
The USM 100 is drop and vibration tested, IP67 rated and light enough to operate with one hand. The 7 inch touchscreen works with gloves on in any lighting and rotates for left or right-handed use. The battery swaps on site without powering down or losing data.
When that information lives on a notepad or a spreadsheet that may or may not travel with the instrument, corrosion trending becomes unreliable and remaining life calculations become difficult to defend.
