Magnetic Analysis Corp.’s Full Body UT Test for Spinning Tube Applications
Magnetic Analysis Corp.’s Full Body UT Test for Spinning Tube Applications

 

MAC’s Dusseldorf Stand will Feature Full Range of Test Technologies for Tube and Pipe

Using a full range of Eddy Current, Ultrasonic and Flux leakage technologies, the latest developments in MAC’s Multimac®, Echomac®, and Rotoflux® test systems will be introduced at Magnetic Analysis Corp.’s stand J-14 in Hall 11 at the Dusseldorf Wire/Tube 2016 show.  

Information will be available on a variety of applications ranging from a new Full Body UT system for testing Spinning Tube and the 500mm Ultrasonic/Flux Leakage system for large diameter pipe, to the compact, affordable Minimac® 55 Eddy Current tester for detecting short ID or OD defects.

MAC’s  Automated Pitch Control (APC) Ultrasonic system for full body tube testing in spinning tube applications is a significant new option that can handle a larger range of dimensions and material that is not as straight as that usually required by other test systems.  A recent MAC APC system for full body seamless tube testing uses a test head that incorporates 30 ultrasonic transducer elements within a water box carrier, with follower rolls which ride on the under surface of the tube being tested. The transducer holder within the test head can move to either end of the water box, minimizing untested ends. The spinning tube moves longitudinally past the transducers and the APC design automatically adapts the angle of the rolls to the helical pitch produced by the tube’s rotational speed and forward motion, ensuring minimal wear. For changes in dimension, a minimal adjustment of the roll separation is all that is needed. MAC also supplied the large  inlet/exit conveyor system with PLC controls and conductor, including a mechanism for transferring rejected tubes. The test system is designed to detect longitudinal and transverse O.D. and I.D. defects 5% of the tube wall, and a circumferential wall thickness reduction of 5%.

MAC’s 500mm test systems utilize rotary Ultrasonic and Flux Leakage technology. The UT test technique spins large numbers of transducers around the pipe as it passes through an enclosed rotary test chamber continuously supplied with pressurized water couplant.  Advantages include higher throughput speeds, quicker reconfiguration of transducers for different diameter material, repeatable test results, and 100% coverage.  The 500mm UT tester can detect longitudinal and transverse crack type defects on OD and ID pipe surfaces, and throughout the product’s cross section, meeting standards that require finding artificial notches at a 5% or 10% level of the wall in pipe with any wall thickness.  The 500mm Transverse and Longitudinal Rotoflux® flux leakage testers, together with the Ultrasonic system provide a far more comprehensive test. The result of the combined test technologies is a system that is compliant with API 5CT and 5L, ASTM E570 and other standards, including those that require Ultrasonic testing as the first method and a second method at the discretion of the pipe producer.

Complementing the Full Body APC and Rotary Ultrasonic test systems, MAC has recently supplied a new Phased Array Ultrasonic Tester for applications where this option can sometimes provide advantages.

MAC’s experienced Engineers will be present at the booth to discuss these systems and the newly introduced eddy current Rotomac® for small diameter hi speed testing, and the compact Minimac® 55 which features all the capabilities of MAC’s Multimac® eddy current software, in a single channel instrument. 


MAC’s 85+ years developing and supplying nondestructive test equipment and systems to tube, bar, and wire manufacturers ensures a thorough understanding of customer inspection needs.