CSI Tech Brief

IRIS ID Tube Inspection

2003 Carbon Steel Inspection, Inc

No. 006 Rev. 00

1/6/03

Whats It All About?

We at Carbon Steel Inspection
are often asked to provide a general
description or background information
on the IRIS tube inspection.
Cur rently, th ere a re sever al
manufacturers of commercially
available IRIS testers, probes, and
software. This Tech Brief only
addresses our implementation of the
technology and equipment from our
perspective and bias and does not
imply the capabilities or limitations of
any system, component, manufacturer
or vendors performance.

BACKGROUND
Internal Rotary Inspection System,
commonly known as IRIS, is an
ultrasonic pulse-echo technique with
a B-scan representation (cross
section display) to determine wall
thickness, degradation type, and
identification of defect orientation.
Currently we perform testing within
the ranges between 3/4 to 3 OD
and .065 to .300 in wall thickness.
However, larger diameters are able to
be inspected with special fixtures up
to 9 inches in diameter. The IRIS
technique was originally designed by
Shell to measure the wall thickness of
internally corroded fin fan air cooled
heat exchanger tubes. However,
today the IRIS test is being performed
in many different types of piping and
tubing used in process pipelines,
boilers and heat exchangers
throughout the power generation
industry, off shore installations,
petrochemical plants, ships, and
paper mills. The IRIS technique is
able to test ferrous and non-ferrous
materials that transmit sound energy.

GENERAL THEORY
The operating principle of the system
is based upon the ultrasonic pulseecho technique for measuring wall
thickness, commonly used in hand
held D meters. A transducer

TUBE WALL

converts a pulse of electrical energy

into ultrasonic sound vibration.

Figure 1IRIS Probe

the time between the mirror and the

front wall reflection.

Because the transfer of vibrational

energy from a solid to a gas is
extremely
inefficient,
it
is
necessary to use a couplant, such
as water, to increase the energy
transfer efficiency to a usable level.
The pulse is a longitudinal wave
otherwise known as a straight beam
that travels perpendicular through the
water to the tube wall where most of
the energy of the pulse is reflected
back to the transducer. Fortunately, a
small part, about one tenth, is
transmitted through the tube wall and
is reflected off the outer wall back
towards the inner wall. Once again, a
small part, about one tenth is
transmitted into the water and back to
the transducer.

Another break through in technology

besides the digital circuitry was the
design and implementation of the
probe and software. As shown above
in Figure 1, the ultrasonic transducer
is housed inside a probe which is
placed and centered within the tube
or pipe. The longitudinal pulses are
emitted along a path parallel with the
probe axis. These pulses are
reflected by a revolving 45 degree
mirror so they are directed normal to
the tube wall. Reflections from the
inner and outer walls follow this same
path back to the transducer. The
mirror is powered by a water turbine
that spins about its axis.

Only the two straight beam pulses

that are reflected back to the
tra n s d uc er ar e e l e ctr o ni ca l l y
processed using a series of advanced
digital gates. These received pulses
are produced from the inner and
outer wall and are called the front wall
and back wall ref lections.
Consequently, the tube wall thickness
is then calculated by measuring the
time between the front wall and back
wall reflections. In addition to wall
thickness, the tube diameter (ID or
OD) can be calculated by measuring

While the probe is stationary the

mirror rotation coverage is such that
the longitudinal pulses will be
contiguous and no part of the tube
wall circumference will be missed.
Theoretically, when the probe is
advanced along the tube the
ultrasonic pulses have a bandwidth
that trace out a helical path on the
tube wall at an advance no more than
1.5 inches per second, the separate
turns of the helical path are
contiguous and no area of the tube
will be missed.

ID PROBE

2 IRIS Background
SOFTWARE
Presentation is the last technical
advancement to discuss and it is here
that the various displays make this
tube inspection unique. It can be
displayed in three forms and
presentations by measuring the time
between the inner and outer wall
reflections and the time from the
mirror axis to the tube wall. These
m easur em ents ar e pro cessed
electronically, then all of the
measurements made during one full
revolution of the mirror are displayed
on a screen or monitor where they
produce a stationary, rectilinear
picture (as shown in figure 2) of the
circumferential cross section of the
tube wall. Because the picture must
conform to the tube geometry, false
and missed measurements are easily
recognized as shown in the scope or
circular view (Figure 3). The circular
view is a cross section view displayed
as if you are looking at the end of the
tube from any individual slice. Lastly is
the C-scan presentation which is
made by aligning a series of
continuous A-Scans to map the
thickness in a two dimensional area.

1/6/03
RESOLUTION
The various displays help to quantify
the profile of the degradation by
allowing the depth, width and length to
be measured. The accuracy of the
technique is dependent on the
transducer, tube diameter, wall
thickness, and test conditions.
Typically, the estimated depth of any
detectable degradation can be
accurately sized to within 0.005".
However, the further away the
transducer is from the tube wall, the
wider the transmitted signal fans out
and the area of inspection becomes
larger reducing accuracy. Generally
pits smaller than .060 in diameter can
not be resolved from background
noise. Sizing thinning of the tube wall
down to a few thousandths of an inch
can be resolved depending on
operating settings and technician field
adjustments. External corrosion that
produces a rough surface will cause
back wall scatter and lower resolution.
Overall this technique, under ideal
conditions, offers good resolution for
the majority of degradation
mechanism and does very little to no
averaging. However not all types of
degradation are detectable.

SENSITIVITY
As with all techniques, there are some
limitations to an IRIS inspection.
Centering of the probe is critical
because the technique relies on the
sound travel path to be normal to the
tube wall.
Otherwise, the sound
scatters and is not reflected back to
the transducer which also occurs
when tube geometry changes. For
example, in the swage transition or
the region of a bend the incident angle
is not normal to the inspection
surface.

The variations in wall thickness all

shown in color to indicate the wastage
contours in the inspected area as
shown in Figure 4. As you can see, all
of these types of displays enables the
data interpretation to be the most
straight forward with the least amount
of subjectivity of all the ID tube
inspection techniques.
W hen
conditions are ideal erosion looks like
erosion and a pit looks like a pit.

Tube environment such as the

cleanliness of the tube ID surface is a
critical factor in the field performance
of the exam. If there are loose, rough

hard deposits or scale then the sound

energy may not be transmitted
through the tube/pipe wall without
significant loss.
Sometimes the
reduction in sensitivity and coverage
due to the degree of cleanliness can

only be determined once the test is

underway. Certain degradation such
as tight axial and circumferential
cracking are not discernable nor
through wall holes in many field
conditions.
A lamination may be
detected and quantified by an
experienced technician.
External
attachments may or may not be
recognizable depending on how they
are attached to the parent surface.
Cleanliness of the water is also a
factor if the sound energy bounces off
debris floating in the water prior to it
reaching the tube wall then the energy
is lost. Air bubbles suspended in the
water cause a similar effect.

TRAVERSE SPEEDS
The IRIS systems speed of operation
is usually ranked medium to slow
from a production test. The IRISs
turbine speed is usually able to
provide greater than or equal to 1.5
inches/sec.
By: Gary Kroner