THE RELIABILITY OF

RADIOGRAPHY OF THICK
SECTION WELDS
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I. J. Munns and C. R. A. Schneider

Presented at conference on 'Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive

Evaluation', Montreal, Canada, 26-30 July 1999.

Introduction
The UK nuclear licensees have recently completed an extensive study to
determine the intrinsic capability of radiography for the detection of large planar
defects in thick-section welds. This work has concentrated on the experimental
detectability of planar manufacturing defects, >15mm in through-wall extent, in
butt-welded steel specimens (50-114mm thick). One of the main aims of the
study was to quantify the capability of the radiography used during construction
of the Magnox reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) in the 1950s/60s. Alongside the
experimental work, the performance of the established Pollitt model of
radiographic detectability has been assessed and refined to form the basis of a
theoretical 'index of detectability'. The index enables the probability of
detecting a defect to be predicted, from knowledge of its size, orientation and
other relevant parameters. This paper summarizes the work carried out and
highlights how the results might be used to improve the safety of existing plant.

Experimental Approach
The main study concentrated on determining the performance of radiography for
those hypothetical manufacturing defects which would be of greatest structural
concern in Magnox RPV welds: defined as planar defects >15mm in through-
wall extent (TWE). For the investigation, seven butt-welded steel plate
specimens were used, containing a total of 19 large planar welding flaws,
ranging in through-wall size from 14-52mm. One of these specimens was an
existing specimen containing three transverse weld metal hydrogen cracks. The
other six specimens were manufactured specifically for this project, and were
designed to contain those types of flaw judged most plausible for this large
TWE; namely, lack of sidewall fusion, centerline solidification cracking, weld
metal hydrogen cracking and hydrogen cracking in the heat-affected zone
(HAZ). Great care was taken to ensure that the flaws introduced had a realistic
metallurgical morphology. One way of checking this was to compare the flaw-
face separation (or gape) of the defect produced with those of similar types of flaw
recorded in literature. An example of such a comparison is shown inFig.1. Similar
comparisons for the other flaw types showed generally good agreement. A more
detailed description of the welding methods used to introduce the majority of flaws
is given in a previous paper [1].

Fig.1 Comparison of gapes for longitudinal hydrogen cracks manufactured at TWI

with similar data extracted from literature.

On completion of welding, the seven specimens were radiographed under a variety

of different conditions, using procedures simulating those applied during Magnox
RPV construction. The radiography was performed using X-ray (250-400kV) or
Cobalt-60 sources. Angled radiography was used in some cases, to vary the
angle of misorientation between the flaw and the radiation beam, and additional
non-defective plates were used for some exposures to increase the total
thickness of steel radiographed. The exposures covered flaw misorientation
angles over the range 0° to 60° and penetrated thicknesses from 50 to 125mm.
In total, 132 exposures were produced, giving 312 different flaw-radiograph
combinations for evaluation. Each radiograph was examined independently by two
qualified radiographers.

After radiography, the specimens were sectioned to determine each flaw's size,
orientation, gape and roughness. The performance of radiography was then
analysed as a function of the different flaw parameters and of experimental
parameters, such as source type, unsharpness and film type. The results were
also used to assess the accuracy of predictions made using simple Pollitt
theory.
Experimental Results
The experimental results tend to support simple theoretical arguments. For
example, flaw detectability deteriorates as both the thickness of steel
radiographed increases and as the angle of misorientation between the flaw
and the radiographic beam is increased. Conversely, detectability improves
with increasing flaw gape (i.e. higher angles of misorientation can be tolerated
for more 'open' flaws), as shown in Fig.2.

Fig.2 Variation in radiographic detectability with flaw misorientation angle and

gape.

The main study also highlighted the difficulties associated with displaying the
raw data in a form that enables a more quantitative comparison with theory.
Radiographic detectability depends on a large number of interrelated
parameters that vary from one flaw to another and one exposure to another,
making it difficult to isolate the effects of any one parameter alone. Simply put, it is
not sufficient to plot only two parameters, such as flaw gape and TWE, and expect
the radiographic 'detections' and 'non-detections' to fall neatly into two groups.
There may, however, be an appropriate way of combining the various flaw and
experimental parameters which fully explains radiographic detectability. One
simple model of detectability, proposed by Pollitt in 1962 [2], offers a good partial
explanation, as discussed in the following section.

Modelling Work
The Pollitt Model

Pollitt considers planar flaws as smooth, parallel-sided slots of a particular size,

orientation and gape. This information is then combined with additional
parameters from the radiographic inspection procedure, such as source-size and
source-to-film distance, and the achieved radiographic image quality, to predict
whether or not the flaw is detectable.

Fundamentally, Pollitt theory works by converting both the flaw and the Image
Quality Indicator (IQI) reading to equivalent step-changes in thickness
Δx, which can then be compared directly with one another. This is achieved by
means of the following equation:

where δv is the volume of the flaw/IQI, δA is the projected area of the flaw/IQI on
the radiographic film and F is the so-called form factor. The underlying principle of
this approach is that each calculated Δx value theoretically produces the same
level of blackening on the radiograph as the flaw/IQI respectively.

The form factor in Equation (1) is the reciprocal of the ratio of (i) the peak of the
density distribution over the image to (ii) the density of a rectangular density
distribution curve giving the same amount of total blackening over the given image
width δA (note: a unit flaw length is assumed). A uniform density distribution
across the image gives a form factor of 1. Other density distributions, in general,
give form factors less than 1. An example, showing the calculation of Δx for a
planar flaw, is presented in Fig.3.

Δx
flaw = equivalent step height of flaw

δv = volume of flaw F= form factor

 δA = area of film blackened by flaw U T = total unsharpness

Fig.3 Equivalent step-change in thickness for a planar flaw, as derived by

Pollitt theory.

Having calculated a theoretical step-change in thickness for the flaw (Δxflaw) and
converted the measured IQI value (usually the diameter of the last visible IQI
wire on the radiograph) to an equivalent step-change in thickness (ΔxIQI) these
two theoretical values can be compared to determine flaw detectability. If Δxflaw is
greater than or equal to ΔxIQI, then Pollitt theory predicts that the flaw is detectable.
If, however, Δxflaw is less than ΔxIQI then, according to Pollitt theory, the flaw will be
missed by radiography.

During the development of the model in the 1960s, some experimental work was
carried out to validate the theoretical approach used [3]. This work involved
radiographing a steel test block containing parallel-sided, planar slots of
different depths and orientations. The agreement observed between Pollitt
theory and the practical results was sufficiently close to enable the limits of
detectability of these artificial 'defects' to be predicted with considerable
confidence. This is not surprising since Pollitt theory itself considers flaws to be of
relatively simple shape. For example, a crack or lack of sidewall fusion flaw is
modelled as a smooth parallel-sided slot, identical in character to those flaws
examined experimentally. What is not so clear is whether Pollitt predictions are
valid for the more complex morphologies of real welding flaws, which may be rough
and of variable gape.

A full comparison between Pollitt theory and the experimental detectability of

real welding flaws was performed as part of this current study. The results show a
strong correlation between experiment and theory. In over 89% of the cases
considered, basic Pollitt theory correctly predicted the response of one or both of
the radiographers. In the few cases where predictions made by Pollitt disagreed
with experiment, there was a tendency for Pollitt theory to behave
conservatively - predicting that flaws should not have been detected where in
fact they were. The conservatism inherent in basic Pollitt theory is not entirely
unexpected and, is likely to be due to the roughness, waviness and variation in
gape of real welding flaws - all characteristics which may enhance radiographic
detectability but which are not fully considered by simple Pollitt theory.

As part of the study reported here, TWI made a number of incremental refinements
to basic Pollitt theory, drawing on ideas from Halmshaw [4-6]. The refinements
included the consideration of geometrical image enlargement in the calculation
of δA (due to beam divergence and shot angle), and a more rigorous
treatment of radiographic image unsharpness (also used in the calculation of
δA. Each of these refinements has been shown to improve the correlation between
theory and experiment.
Theoretical Index of Detectability

Recently, TWI has extended the Pollitt model to include the concept of an 'index
of detectability', which quantifies the theoretical detectability of a particular flaw
under specified radiographic conditions. In other words, it is now possible to
estimate the margin of flaw detectability rather than simply stating whether the
flaw is detectable or not. The index ( I) is defined as:

(2)

where, as before:

flaw is the equivalent step-change in thickness for the flaw, calculated using
Δx

improved Pollitt theory, and ΔxIQI is the achieved step-edge thickness sensitivity,
measured directly from the radiograph using an IQI (usually a set of wires of
decreasing diameter) and converted to a step-change in thickness using
improved Pollitt theory.

Having defined the index in this way, it follows that flaws which produce positive
indices are detectable according to improved Pollitt theory, and flaws with negative
indices are undetectable according to improved Pollitt theory. The introduction of
an index of detectability enables the conservatism inherent in Pollitt theory to
be displayed visually. Thus, Fig.4 shows a scatter plot of the experimental data
against the index of detectability for both radiographers. During the original
interpretation, each radiographer was asked to classify any flaw they detected as
being either 'easily visible' (EV) or 'barely visible' (BV). This distinction is shown
in Fig.4 (those flaws not detected are denoted by 'ND'). As anticipated, the
majority of 'easily visible' flaws have a relatively high positive index and,
conversely, all non-detections have a negative detection index. The conservatism
inherent in Pollitt theory is best demonstrated by the considerable number of
'barely visible' flaws (and a lesser number of 'easily visible' flaws) which have
negative detection indices, yet were still seen by one or both radiographers.
 Fig.4 Experimental results versus theoretical index of detectability I. (To avoid
overplotting, coincident data points are shown 'stacked' above one another).

The trends evident in Fig.4 lead naturally to the derivation of Probability of

Detection (POD) curves. For the data considered in this study, there is an
approximate relationship between the probability of flaw detection p and the
theoretical index of detectability I, given by:

(3)

where the constants A and B of this relationship are estimated from the
experimental data, using a type of regression theory known as 'logistic'
regression [7].

Figure 5 shows the experimental results, together with the relationship fitted
using Equation 3. In this figure, the experimental probability of detection is
estimated by grouping the data displayed in Fig.4 according to bands of
detection indices, and plotting the proportion of detections within each group.
The results in Fig.5 clearly demonstrate the high reliability of detection
( p >96%) for all cases where the improved Pollitt model predicts detection
(i.e. I >0). Thus, the index is shown to be a valuable derived parameter that
can be used to give a far more accurate prediction of detectability than any of
the other parameters (such as flaw gape, misorientation angle, TWE, etc) studied
in isolation.
 Fig.5 Probability of detection versus theoretical index, calculated using improved
Pollitt theory.

Additional Factors Influencing Detectability

A detailed statistical analysis has shown that the conservatism inherent in the
Pollitt model is largely attributable to the effects of flaw roughness.
Experimental evidence indicates that rougher flaws are easier to detect than
improved Pollitt theory suggests. As already mentioned, roughness is not
explicitly considered by the Pollitt model - planar flaws are modeled as smooth
slots of uniform gape. A useful parameter in quantifying the effect of roughness
(and hence the conservatism of Pollitt theory) is the root mean square (RMS)
angle of tilt of the flaw in the through-wall direction. This RMS angle was
determined from adjacent pairs of sectioning measurements, and is a
measure of the variation in defect tilt from one region of the defect to another.
Extrapolation of the experimental data to a RMS tilt angle of zero suggests that
the Pollitt model would cease to be conservative for perfectly smooth flaws, as
initially suspected.

Another factor that appears to have an important effect on detectability, over

and above that already built into the theoretical index, is flaw TWE. However,
further work is needed to be confident of the functional relationship between flaw
POD and TWE.

After the index, RMS angle and flaw TWE, the next most important factor
influencing radiographic detectability appears to be human performance (the
interpreter), but its statistical significance is marginal. A separate study of
human performance confirmed that there was little variability between different
interpreters in the detectability of large planar flaws.

Application
A greater understanding of the factors affecting radiographic detectability
and the ability to derive POD data for specific flaws examined under specific
radiographic conditions, provides the engineer with a powerful tool which can be
used to improve plant safety in a number of different ways. For example:

1. If an Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) is used to define the critical

size of flaw which can be tolerated by plant operating under known
loading conditions, then the index can be used to determine how reliably
flaws of this size can be detected by a standard radiographic procedure.
2. Alternatively, prior knowledge of the likely types, sizes and orientations of
flaw which might occur in a particular structure can be used, in conjunction
with the index, to define the minimum performance which must be
achieved by radiography if a radiographic inspection regime is to be
effective.

In both of the above cases, the quality of the POD data generated depends
critically on how accurately flaw parameters, such as TWE, orientation and
gape, can be defined. In many instances it is possible to define a 'worst-case' flaw
orientation angle based on knowledge of the weld prep, and an upper limit to
flaw through-wall size based on ECA data or knowledge of the weld bead size.
This leaves flaw gape, which is usually the most difficult parameter to define.

Extensive gape measurements on sectioned flaws have shown that it is virtually

impossible to describe a single flaw using a single gape value. In Fig.6, for
example, the two flaws presented are each characterised by a range of measured
gapes. If these results are supplemented with data from other similar sized
flaws, then it is possible to assign flaws of a particular type and size a
characteristic gape distribution. These gape distributions can then be used to
calculate a range of detection indices associated with that particular type and
size of flaw.
 Fig.6 Gape variation for different flaw types.

Figure 7 is an illustrative example, showing how this knowledge might be used to

define the minimum performance which must be achieved by radiography for it
to be an effective inspection tool. This figure shows a series of POD curves
associated with different quality radiographic procedures. The quality of the
procedure is indicated by the number of IQI wires visible on the radiograph. As
already mentioned, a wire IQI comprises a series of seven wires of decreasing
diameter. Image quality is measured by recording the number of wires that can be
seen on the radiograph. The more wires visible, the higher the sensitivity of the
technique and, theoretically, the better the radiographic detection
performance. In practice, it is envisaged that design engineers and
metallurgists will be able to define the likely types, sizes and orientations of
flaw which might occur in a particular structure, in order to enable a range of
equivalent thickness sensitivities Δxflaw to be calculated and located on the
POD curves. This is illustrated by the shaded region in Fig.7. Knowing this, it is
now possible to estimate the performance of any new radiographic technique,
directly from the IQI sensitivity achieved. For example, if a particular technique
produces radiographs where only 3 wires are visible, then the majority of flaws
defined by the shaded area in Fig.7 will be missed. However, if the technique is
improved (by using a better quality film, a smaller source size, etc.), so that 5 wires
are now visible, then detectability also improves and the vast majority of the
same flaws will be detected.
 Fig.7 Illustrative example, showing how the effectiveness of radiographic
inspection might be predicted using the index of detectability concept.

Conclusions
Overall, this extensive program of work has shown that radiography is capable
of detecting a wide range of planar flaws, particularly if they are extensive in
both length and height. However, in some cases flaws can exhibit unfavorable
combinations of gape and orientation, which may make even sizeable flaws
undetectable. Nevertheless this work has shown that the capability of radiography
to detect large planar flaws is surprisingly high and better than simple predictive
modeling would suggest. The introduction of an 'index' of detectability enables,
for the first time, POD to be predicted for different radiographic techniques.

Acknowledgements
This paper is published by permission of the Industry Management Committee
(IMC) of the UK nuclear licensees, who also funded the work. The IMC comprises
members of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd and British Energy plc. The authors are
grateful to acknowledge the contributions of Dr R K Chapman, Mr A B Wooldridge,
Mr G S Woodcock and Dr G A Georgiou throughout this program of work.

References
1 A. B. Wooldridge, R. K. Chapman, G. S. 'Reliability of radiography for detection of
Woodcock, I. Munns and G. Georgiou, planar manufacturing defects in thick-
section welds', INSIGHT, Vol. 39, No. 3,
pp139-147, March 1997.
2 C. G. Pollitt, 'Radiographic sensitivity', Brit. J. NDT,
Vol. 4, No. 3, pp 71-80, September 1962.
3 Anon, 'Limitations of radiography in detecting
crack-like defects in thick sections', Brit.
 J. NDT, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp 103-119, 1962.
4 R. Halmshaw, 'Industrial radiography - theory and
practice', Applied Science, London and
New Jersey, 1982.
5 R. Halmshaw, 'Industrial radiology', 1966 (earlier edition
of reference 4).
6 R. Halmshaw, 'The factors involved in an assessment of
radiographic definition', J. Photographic
Science, Vol. 3, pp 161-168, 1955.
7 D.W. Hosmer and S. Lemeshow, 'Applied logistic regression', John Wiley
& Sons, New York, 1989.

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