If a standard product from our comprehensive range does not precisely fit your needs, our technical support services team have the expertise to design and develop fully customised solutions to meet the most challenging NDT inspections.
Our team work with you to fully evaluate your inspection criteria and can propose alternative methods or solutions to fulfil your inspection requirement. Often, a small modification to one of our standard scanners or transducers can deliver a very economical solution based on proven technology or Phoenix can design a totally new concept should the situation demand.
If you have already completed an evaluation process and know your specific requirements, Phoenix can custom-design and manufacture transducers and scanners tailored to your exact specification.
Commissioning a custom solution for a specific inspection often provides an organisation with a fast return on investment through reduced inspection times.
The below solutions illustrate our diverse capabilities in creating custom-built and modified systems to meet our customer’s unique requirements:
Nozzle Inner Radius Erosion
Developed for the inspection of pressuriser spray nozzles within nuclear power plants, the SIRUS scanner is a fully automated inspection solution.
The scanner holds pairs of pitch-catch transducers focused on the inner radius surface of the nozzle, has three motorised axes for complete inspection, and incorporates couplant recirculation to avoid loss of water.
Dissimilar Metal Welds
Phoenix were approached by a manufacturer requiring a scanning system capable of inspecting dissimilar metal welds across a broad range of pipe diameters.
The MAXI-SAGE scanner carried six large ultrasonic transducers on a rigid ring with adaptable mounting to suit Ø700 to Ø1000 OD pipes. The automated scanner provided highly accurate raster inspection in both circumferential and axial directions.
Train Hollow Axles
Originally designed for the rail industry for the inspection of train axle bores, this scanner can be adapted for most bore inspection requirements and is available in manual or automated configurations. The system is compact, portable, and easy to set up so enables the inspection of train axles in-situ by a single operator.
Single Side Access
A manual scanner was developed for an application requiring 360° inspection of a pipe where access was only possible from one side.
The solution utilises a ring segment that holds an array probe on the pipe joint being inspected and allows rotation around the full pipe circumference. The scanner was adaptable to grip onto a range of pipe sizes
EPR Control Rod Drive Mechanism
Developed in conjunction with CGNPC, China, Phoenix has supplied a scanner to inspect the control rod drive mechanism housing welds on the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) power plant.
With difficult access to lower the scanner into location, it holds six conventional ultrasonic probes and can be configured to carry phased array elements.
Narrow Gap Access
Phoenix has frequently developed solutions to provide inspection capability in areas with restricted access and clearance. One extreme example (shown above) required girth weld inspection of a Ø450 pipe within a 10mm gap that was located 2m from the access area.
The scanner solution held four transducers and incorporated numerous features to ensure it was user-friendly and suitable to be operated in a hazardous, radiated environment.
Control Instrumentation
To support a number of our automated solutions, Phoenix has developed dedicated control instrumentation to suit the needs of the applications. Examples include remote interfaces via USB or ethernet links to a PC, as well as embedded touchscreens.
Instrumentation may include multiple axis motor control, couplant delivery and recovery pumps, pneumatics and encoder outputs to provide position information for data acquisition systems. Adopting a modular approach enables Phoenix to produce a system to meet exact needs.
Bore Inspection
The TSIS system combines both ultrasonic and eddy current techniques simultaneously for volumetric and surface inspections of bores. A lightweight inspection head (MDH) operates in conjunction with the Phoenix PRISM drive system, which together offer a reliable, powerful and cost-effective, fully automated solution that is easily deployed.
Internal Vessel Inspection
Phoenix were contracted by James Fisher NDT and SGN to develop a system for inspecting underground pressure regulator valve vessels. The wall thickness of the complete vessel structure was measured from the inside surface, including both flat and dome bottom shaped variants, to quantify in-service corrosion levels.
A modular scanner was developed for the inspection with arms to reach around and beneath obstructions, incorporating high resolution cameras for remote viewing and couplant recirculation.
Steerable magnetic crawler
Developed for BAE Systems, the ‘Falcon’ is a steerable magnetically attached 4×4 wheel drive motorised scanner, designed for weld inspection with ultrasonic transducers by pulse echo, TOFD & phased array methods. Subject to configuration, the scanner is capable of inspecting a wide range of ferrous components.
Free floating nozzle inspection manipulator
Developed on behalf of Tecnatom, Spain, this solution is designed for the inspection of pressure vessel nozzles within a nuclear power Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR).
Small enough to enter the containment building via a personnel air lock this free floating manipulator is positioned using a mini submarine or poles and provides ultrasonic and visual inspection of all areas from inside the vessel, without the need for repositioning.
Due to the small size and fast deployment, using this manipulator resulted in reduced inspection time and decontamination.
Flexible Track Scanner
The Flexible Track Scanner (FTS) was developed for the inspection of linear and circumferential welds on large diameter cylinders.
A single inspector can securely fix the light-weight, FTS guide track to the component surface using pneumatic suction cups and a foot operated vacuum valve switchbox. Two interlocking sections of track enable continuous inspection, by successively alternating them along the full weld extent and the track-mounted carriage assembly easily rotates to relocate the probe on the other side of the weld, with the track remaining fixed in position.
An automated version of the FTS scanner has also been developed.
Turbine Rotor Disc Inspection Manipulator
The Turbine Rotor Inspection Manipulator (TRIM) is designed for ultrasonic turbine disc testing. Twin carbon fibre telescopic arms carry a series of interchangeable probe pans to scan components. TRIM can also perform TOFD inspections using the appropriate probe head.
Generator End Ring Inspection Manipulator
Generator rotor end rings are amongst the most highly stressed and safety critical components in power stations.
This Phoenix ISL solution, also known as the PERM Scanner, enables 100% scan coverage of the external surface of generator end rings without removing the rotor from the stator. PERM can be fixed in to position by two operators in less than one hour and is capable of inspecting a large range of modern generator end rings.
Surge Line Inspection Manipulator
The Phoenix surge line inspection manipulator, APSIS, was originally commissioned for Intercontrole (Areva) and Babcocks (Doosan) in 1995 to inspect the safe end and surge line to primary circuit welds for the EDF fleet in France. The system has been in operation ever since and has been continuously refined.
The latest generation of the system includes couplant recovery at the probes and recirculation to reduce the quantity of wastewater and hence reduce potential low active waste disposal.
Inspection around obstructions
Inspection of the steam generator channel head-to-tube sheet weld is particularly difficult behind each of the vessel’s support legs. The CHIM scanner allows scanning of this section using a low profile modular scanner which is supported off the vessel leg. Holding a single probe, the scanner is designed to allow probe changes without its complete removal and therefore loss of the scanning datum.
Penetration weld inspection
The Economiser Penetration Scanning Mechanism or EPSOM was developed for ultrasonic inspection of a number of circumferential welds on economiser penetrations on the Advanced Gas cooled Reactor (AGR) power station – a design used in the UK. This weld was located approximately 5.2m from the edge of a shutter tube.
The manipulator fits between the inner and outer pipes of the economiser which limits the radial thickness of the manipulator to 40mm. The inspection is carried out by scanning up to eight probes over the external surface of the inner pipe.
Nozzle saddle weld inspection
The Phoenix SWIS scanner provides the operator with accurate scanning of set in nozzle saddle geometries with three driven axes, including probe skew.
Branch nozzles on the primary circuit include those for the pressurizer and emergency coolant systems. These geometrically complex components require rigorous inspections. The Phoenix SWIS scanner provides the operator with accurate scanning of set in nozzle saddle geometries with three driven axes, including probe skew. The same manipulator can also be applied to the nozzle to shell welds for the reactor pressure vessel and steam generators.
Pipe Elbow Thickness Measurement
The PET scanner offers a versatile solution for mapping wall thickness reduction, in both straight pipes and around pipe elbows. It can be configured to operate on all standard pipe sizes from 4” to 24” OD using conventional or phased array probes.
Corrosion Under Pipe Supports (CUPS)
The Multi-Skip or M-Skip scanner offers an ultrasonic solution for corrosion detection of typically difficult-to-access areas of pipelines; around obstructions such as pipe supports, clamps, and saddles. M-Skip is an ultrasonic ‘transmit-receive’ method that locates probes on either side of an obstruction. Comprising of interlocking belt sections that can be adjusted according to pipe diameter (6” up to 48” OD).
