FILM REPLACEMENT BY DIGITAL TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO WELD INSPECTION

Nowadays, industrial segments, related to equipment inspection, make an intense effort to replace the radiographic technique using conventional films with the so-called digital techniques, in which the use of phosphor plates or Digital Detector Arrays (DDAs) provide all the advantages of working with digitized images shown in a computer screen. However, due to the insufficient resolution of these new detectors and to the unfilled knowledge and practical experience gaps, this replacement is carried out in a cautious way and always after validation in comparison to conventional films. This work discusses the commitment between image quality, detectability and fulfillment of regulative requirements based on the practical experience of Petrobras in its research and field works, within the Double Wall Double Image (DWDI) technique application range, evidencing that the substitution by digital techniques is possible, but the fulfillment of the specific requirements of detectability and quality for these techniques must be taken into account. In present days, conventional radiography still presents higher quality than that of Computed Radiography, although it is surpassed by Direct Radiography.