Evaluation on defect in the weld of stainless steel materials using nondestructive technique

The objective of this study is to evaluate the elastic waveʹs characteristic on the crack in the weld of stainless steel materials using guided wave and acoustic emission, nondestructive tests. The stainless steel is expected as candidate of structural piping material under high temperature condition in nuclear fusion instrument, and a tungsten inert gas (TIG) weld technique was applied for making its jointing. The defect size of 20 mm was induced in the weld material. The guided wave, one of elastic waves, can propagate through very long pipe, and easily change to lots of modes by the defects in the structure. By analyzing the relationship between the mode conversion and the defects we can evaluate existing of the defects in weld material. In present study Nd-YAG laser was used to excite the guided wave by non-contact method, and AE technique was also used to clarify the mode conversion of guided wave by defect because lots of AE parameters of energy, count and amplitude can give more chances for analysis of mode conversion. The optimal AE parameters for the evaluation of the defects in weld zone using laser guided wave were derived.