An der Grotte 2

49716 Meppen-Versen
BR Deutschland/Germany
Tel. 49 (0)5931 - 17312
Fax 49 (0)5931 14731
http://www.verkadendt.de

Corrosion in pipelines
underneath supports and pipe clamps

Bankconnection:
Sparkasse Emsland
Bankleitzahl: 266 50001
Konto nr.: 11004652
IBAN
DE54 2665 0001 0011 0046 52
BIC: NOLADE21EMS

1 Introduction
The demand to detect corrosion damage in pipes at supports and clamps is growing with aging plants. In
this case the most important question is: What is the remaining wall thickness.
Can we continue the production with these corroded supports? Do we have to put a clamp around the
corroded area or do we have to stop production in worst case.
Case1: Appearance. Corrosion at supports, clamps and so on can appear in a great variety of shapes and
forms.
In many cases it looks very
serious. But after removing the
loose material it can be an area
where still a lot of the wall
thickness remains.
It is then important to be able to
detect the minimum wall
thickness in the damaged area.
Case 2: Cleaned area
The photographs below show a
cleaned area with corrosion
attack.

In these cases visual inspection can identify the thickness loss easily. It gets a lot more difficult if there exists
also deep corrosion damage with limited size. For this pipe the minimum wall thickness at 6 oclock
position was 1.8mm.

Case 3: 6 inch pipe with medium corrosion

damage at the 6 oclock position.
The photograph shows a medium corroded
spot with a size of 30mm x 60 mm with
smallest remaining wall thickness 0 mm at
one isolated spot.

Case 4: 10 inch pipe with heavy corrosion attack at the 6 oclock

position. In this case there is a strongly corroded area of 25 mm x
50mm. The remaining wall thickness is 0 mm.

Case 5: Strongly corroded area on a 20 inch pipe at the 6 oclock

position.The area measures 25 mm x 80 mm with a remaining
minimum wall thickness of 1.6mm
To detect with UT testing if this type of corrosion attack is present is not extremely difficult. However it
requires a lot more skills and years of experience and procedure development to be able to give the client a
result that is of use to him.
2 History of the Verkade Procedure for measuring damage at pipe supports and clamps
In 1965 Hans Verkade started in UT. At that time UT operators still had to find their own way in acceptance
limits, procedures and repair advice. The good side of that is that you really develop great skills and
knowledge in ultrasonic techniques.
When starting Verkade NDT Services in 1991, customers came with several new and demanding
applications like detection of Hydrogen Induced Cracking, Stress Corrosion Cracking and corrosion damage
on pipes at supports. The skills and knowledge from the past made it possible to develop sound procedures
for these new applications.

In 1996 customers asked: is it possible to detect

thickness reduction due to corrosion on pipes at supporting
points. In January 1997 the first demonstration was performed
for several German Refineries.

From 1999 onwards further progress was made in

cooperation with customers in developing the
method and by 2002 the first procedure approved by
a 3rd party was ready.
From that date on Verkade worked in the field at all major refineries and petrochemical plants gathering
experience and improving the procedure even more by finding solutions for problems that were faced
during field work. One of the big improvements was the accurate sizing in the last stage of damage where
the remaining wall is thin.
In March 2012 revision 7 of the procedure will be complete, extending the nominal wall thickness up to
30mm.
After 15 years of experience customers asked Verkade to participate in a HOIS trial for tests on thin wall
pipes on supports in October 2012.
The proud result was that Verkade
Testing came out as the best
method after angular computed
radiography. That
makes it the most practical
method in the field in most cases.
December 2011 participation in a second trial on thick wall (up to 22 mm) piping took place; Verkade is
confidently waiting for the results.
3 Method of investigation
The investigation is based on ultrasonic testing. The principle is as follows: one probe sends sound through
the pipe material and a second probe receives it after it has passed the touch point with the support.
A first step in testing is to set the received signal to a certain height on the screen on a part of the pipe
without loss
No corrosion / thickness loss

Support touch point

If there is loss of thickness at the touch point the direction of the sound beam is changed and less sound
will be received. The signal on the screen will be smaller.

Corrosion / thickness loss

Dispersion/attenuation of
the sound beam
Support touch point

Testing of thickness loss under clamps is very similar. When

investigating supports the sound beam is send in circumferential
direction. When testing clamps the beam is sent in the longitudinal
direction of the pipe.

The principle of detecting corrosion losses is very simple.

The execution of the investigation however is much more difficult.
The result can be influenced by factors like inside corrosion, inclusions etc..
4 Tools and range of investigation
Investigation is possible for surface temperatures up to 60 C and for diameters from 2 to 64.
Coating removal is normally not needed.
Several tools have been developed to handle nearly all situations that are seen in practice. There are tools
for pipe with different diameters and on different types of supports, pipes hanging in clamps, trunnions
etc.; some examples are in the pictures below.

VKK-01: suitable for pipes with a diameter

between 1 and 14 resting on supports

VKK-03: suitable for pipes with a diameter

between 12 and 48 resting on supports

VKK-07: suitable for measuring on trunnions

VKK-04: suitable for pipes with a diameter

from 3upwards hanging in clamps

The procedure covers many pipe positions.

Pipe supports in various forms

Clamps and hangers in various forms

Passing through walls, floors, decks

Trunnions and other shapes

Welded plates, full or partly welded

Shoes 1 or 2 plates welded in 6 oclock position

Since early 2011 the method has been used with rope access as well with different types of tools/positions.
5 Conclusion
Verkade pipe support testing is an ultrasonic technique that has been developed to measure the remaining
wall thickness in pipes at the point where the pipe rests on a support or clamp.
A procedure and tools are developed over several years. These are available for all practical shapes and
positions.
The method has been independently verified in a HOIS trial with good results. Testing is performed at all
major petrochemical plants and refineries.

Pipe support
Inspection
November 2011

Steve Burch, Neil Collett, John Paul Hood, Richard Lee

Project champions:
Andrew Menmuir, COP
Patricia Opurum,Chevron
ESR Technology Ltd

APPENDIX 7
Additional forms of testing
A

Since 1991 we carry out examinations for

Hydrogen Induced Cracking (HIC) for 50
clients.

Since 2001 we carry out examinations for

corrosion in insulation couplings in pipe
lines.

Since 2002 we carry out examinations on

bolts for corrosion.

Since 2002 we perform UT-testing for HTHA in low carbon steel and 1/2 Molly steel. We
also have experience in testing austenitic welds (also as pre-testing for X-ray pictures).
In 2011 we extended this method with a procedure for detecting SCC in stainless steel 316,
including determination of the size of the defects.

-1-

Since 2003 we do testing for:

cracks in flanges. The image shows the type of cracks, the picture the calibration block
we prepared for this testing.

Crack

cracks in ring-joint flanges. The image shows the type of cracks, the picture the
calibration block we prepared for this testing.
A

Crack

Since 2010 we test the welds in foundations of wind turbines.

Position of possible cracks

-2-