Creaform

 ASME B31G compliant

Technological innovations featured in Creaform’s comprehensive and powerful NDT solutions enable pipeline engineers to combine the power of the HandySCAN 3D portable scanner with ultrasonic testing (UT) technologies. By including both the inner and the outer wall deterioration in the calculation of a pipe’s bust pressure, Pipecheck sets a new standard of reliability and efficiency. NDT inspectors using magnetic detectors, UT devices or in-line inspection tools can also benefit from the software’s rigorous analysis power even if they do not use 3D laser scanners, thanks to Pipecheck’s ability to import external data sets. This comprehensive solution provides the best alternative to traditional pit gauges—whether you need to perform true wall thickness assessments, ILI correlations or corrosion assessments on mechanical damage surfaces.

Key Functionalities

• Interaction rules between two features are automatically applied
• Burst pressure calculations (ASME B31G, B31G Modified and Effective Area methods)
• Worst-case-profile and customizable grid resolution for all features
• Feature dimensions (length and width) and maximum depth extracted for all features
• Easy Snipping Tool for additional reporting information
• Depths extracted from Creaform's virtual pit gauge tool
• UT and PAUT Data Import: Assessment performed on internal and external surface of the pipeline or on thetrue wall thickness

• 3D and 2D color mapping with river-bottom path overlay
• 2D profile section in both axial and circumferential direction
• Quick, on-the-fly depth analysis: simply hover the mouse over each point to obtain local material loss 
• Multi-Pipe Analysis - Analysis of multiple pipes in the same session

ASME B31.8 compliant

To help non-destructive testing service companies and operators make the safest decisions, Creaform has integrated a mechanical damage assessment software module into Pipecheck. Combined with the HandySCAN 3D portable scanners, Pipecheck is the only NDT software on the market to offer a one-click buttonsolution for strain-based assessments. Dents with stress risers can also be analyzed to separate the impact on pipeline integrity caused the dent from the ones caused by material loss. Some of the advanced functionalities featured in Pipecheck’s mechanical damage software module include corrosion in mechanical damage and ILI correlations. 

Key Functionalities

Depth-based assessment type

• Automatic maximum depth measurement using straight edge technique in both directions
• 3D and 2D depth color maps
• Automatic creation of 3D cross-sections
• Depths over diameter ratio
• Maximum diameter found at 90 degrees of the dent

Strain-based assessment type

• Automatic maximum strain detection
• 3D and 2D strain color map (all strain components)
• Results for decomposed values: circumferential bending, longitudinal bending, longitudinal extensional, effective strain on inside and outside surface of the pipe as well as maximum effective strain value

Wrinkle Analysis

• Crest-to-trough depth of deformations
• Wavelength
• Circumferential extent
• Diameter restriction

Benefit from Creaform’s expertise in structural analysis for your pipeline integrity management needs. Industry sectors, such as aerospace, oil and gas and power generation can benefit from structural analyses to reduce cost and ensure proper functioning of specialized equipment—when validation through physical testing is impossible or too costly to be carried out. Numerical simulations are used for Level 3 assessments to provide detailed evaluations that take into account corrosion, dents, buckles and localized surface deformations on pipes with complex geometry. Combined with 3D data acquisition, finite element analysis (FEA) or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) enable accurate and reliable estimation of the bust pressure, fatigue life and safe pipeline operation. NDT service companies and pipeline operators can count on Creaform’s expertise in non-destructive engineering to help them support maintenance decisions, understand and diagnose physical problems. Fitness for service (FFS) evaluation based on standards, such as API 579, can benefit the use of 3D data acquisition and numerical simulation to prevent pipeline failures, disruption of service or environmental contamination.

Creaform Engineering Services offer a wide range of numerical simulations. Our experienced engineers and material specialists can help you find the most efficient solution—from linear and non-linear stress analyses to fluid dynamics—using the most advanced software on the market, such as NASTRAN, NX, FEMAP, ANSYS, LS-DYNA and StarCCM+.

Type of Analysis

Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

• Linear and non-linear static
• Buckling
• Normal modes, frequency response and response spectrum
• Random response
• Transient, dynamic, vibration and seismic response
• Impact (implicit and explicit solvers)
• Steady state and transient heat transfer
• Thermal stress
• Fatigue analyses (multi axial and vibration fatigue)

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

• Steady state and transient CFD simulations of internal/external liquid and gas flows
• Analysis, design and optimization of immersed or surrounding components
• Optimal turbulence modeling approach: RANS, URANS, RSM, LES, DES
• Incompressible, transonic and compressible flows
• Rotating equipment and moving bodies
• Multiple reference frames, rotating and sliding interfaces, deformable meshes
• Fluid-structure interaction
• Heat transfer and thermal modeling
• Multiphase and free surface flows
• Flow mixing

To ensure the safety of passengers and proper maintenance of equipment, inspections of surface impact damage on aircraft parts and structure must be performed. Aircraft manufacturers and air carriers are continuously faced with the challenge of inspecting complex aerospace components, such as aircraft turbines, engine bays, nacelles and cockpits, which are all part of a very intricate assembly that cannot be taken out for inspection purposes.

Phased array inspection and imaging (PA) is an advanced method of ultrasonic testing (UT) used in NDT inspections. Phased-array focal law simulation is used to predict the inspection results and optimize the probe and wedge configurations. Inspection of complex shape components using a 2D matrix can be challenging. In the absence of a better solution, the 3D model usually comes from a CAD file or a theoretical model construction. However, the real component’s shape often varies considerably from theoretical models and, therefore, affects the ultrasound scan quality and probability of detection.

For aerospace parts that often feature complex geometries, 3D modeling of a part combined with phased array inspection can be used to get a highly accurate representation of the damage. The 3D scan data acquired with Creaform’sNDT equipment provides aerospace maintenance teams the positioning and sizing information required by phased array ultrasonic testing. This data is essential in determining proper maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) plans.

The impact ofhail damage on the aerodynamics of an airplane is a complex factor to assess; however, it is vital—literally! to be able to perform the assessment very accurately. The shape and the size of the defects vary with the intensity of every hailstorm. Therefore, the most common way of analyzing the level of damage is through the geometric measurement (length, width and depth) of each dent found on a given service plane. There is also a need on the production line for geometry control. With their passengers’ safety as their main concern, air carriers need to find solutions that are accurate, efficient and auditable.

With the integrity assessment power offered by 3D scanning, aerospace engineering teams can acquire large amounts of high accuracy data to conduct in-depth assessment of hail damage. 3D scanning offers key benefits, such as high accuracy, repeatability, traceability, portability and ease of use. What's more, it enables users to detect and measure defects according to configurable criteria as well as export the data in Excel, PDF and other common formats. Creaform’s NDT solutions can contribute to reducing aircraft damage assessment times by 80% and decrease the risk of human errors.