BeamTool

Fast, Easy, Open Technique Development For NDT

 

The industry's leading UT technique development software BeamTool continues to be developed and improved with the release of BeamTool 9. Successful inspections start with a plan and BeamTool makes it easy to model, validate and document your Phased Array, TOFD and Conventional Ultrasonic inspection plans with confidence.

 

Easy to use and powerful, BeamTool has continued to evolve and provide tools to improve proficiency and accuracy of ultrasonic inspections. From technicians in the field, to researchers and authors, BeamTool provides the indispensable toolset for the NDT industry.

 

Also Added and Enhanced:

·PAUT Beamset Quality Assessment

·Simulation Add-On Improvements including S-Scan rendering

·Conventional Probes now have a “Both” sound mode like the Phased Array Beamsets

·Conventional now has a “Skip off Weld” Mode

·Hot Keys to suspend snapping and other (save, open…)

·Indication positioning handles in Top View

·Highlighted Beam is displayed in 3D

 

Curved Calibration Blocks & Vertical Holes

Piping or Curved Calibration Blocks are now supported in the standard calibration block designer included with BeamTool 9. Add notches in the circumferential plane and the curvature will be respected. Generate drawings that can be supplied to a machine shop. Vertical FBH’s and Through Holes are now supported for both flat and curved calibration blocks

 FMC Beamset Validation

BeamTool can help you choose an appropriate rendering region for an FMC inspections (currently only available for contact FMC inspections) by plotting a Quality Map, which roughly quantifies the resolution and image intensity of reflectors positioned with respect to the probe aperture. This map roughly quantifies the quality of focus for each pixel point in the chosen rendering region by computing the effective "Numerical Aperture", defined as sine of half of the angle between the first and last beams covering the pixel.

 

The concept of numerical aperture comes from microscopy and represents the angular coverage of a focal point. A low numerical aperture value implies that energy is not effectively focused at a particular point leading to poor resolution and low image intensity, whereas a high numerical aperture value means that energy is highly focused leading to high resolution and high image intensity.

 NDT Data Import & Data Folding

New to BeamTool 9 is the ability to import supported NDT data directly into the workspace! View and scroll through the data either as is, or folded along the soundpath. Apply an Alpha Threshold to the data to remove noise and low amplitude signals. The Olympus NDT data Access Library is required to do this and can be download from their site:  NDT Data Access Library 32bit

Sectorial Beamset Beam Energy Display

BeamTool now helps you to select the correct range of angles for Phased Array inspections by displaying the energy associated with each beam defined within a beamset. Low energy beams will be difficult to calibrate and require a large amount of gain to be properly normalized. Beams above 50% of the maximum possible transmitted energy are shown as green, between 10% - 50% shown as orange and below 10% are shown as red. The calculated energies take into account the directivity of the probe elements, the transmission coefficient between the wedge and the piece, as well as the reflection coefficients for each skip within the piece.

Clad Layer Inset

The Clad Layer in BeamTool is now Inset so that it is drawn in line with the weld bevel.

Spline CAD Support

BeamTool can now import CAD drawings with Splines.

AOD & COD Wedge Curvature

AOD and COD profiled wedges can now be configured and pinned to your Circumferential and Axial Pieces.

DLA & DMA Probes with Focal Law Export

For multi-beam beamsets, you can highlight a single beam and also view its focal law delays.

Beam Highlighting & Focal Law Delay Visualization

For multi-beam beamsets, you can highlight a single beam and also view its focal law delays.

Asymmetrical Welds

Weld region parameters can be separately configured for the left and right side of the weld bevel.

Clad Material Support

A clad layer can now be added to a plate, T, axial or circumferential piece configuration.

Transverse Probes

BeamTool now supports the rotation of probes around the vertical axis.

Improved CAD Tools

Indications/defects can be moved and resized by dragging them on the canvas.

Sound Mode Colorization

When both compression and shear paths are displayed, you can now color each sound mode independently.

Compound S-Scan

The Linear Spread beamset now supports Compound-S mode which allows specifying the angle step between each successive beam.

Dissimilar Weld Material

The weld can now be a different material than the rest of the piece. For the sound paths to be affected by the alternate material, "Reflect off Weld" must be chosen in the Beamset configuration.

3D Sound Paths Ray-tracer

BeamTool now supports tracing sound paths in 3 dimensions.

Inset Backing Bar

The backing bar can be inset, and is now available for Axial pieces.

Custom Velocity Modes with Path Cropping

It is now possible to customize which sound modes are displayed at each interface reflection/refraction. This can help when the various sound modes become too cluttered.

Double J Welds

A J bevel can be created in root to create a double J weld bevel.

Additional High Temp Wedges

The catalog for the High Temp Add-on has been populated with several new Eclipse Scientific High Temp wedges.

Phased Array

BeamTool was designed to meet the modern operator's need for speed. Phased array technique development is more complex than that for conventional ultrasonic inspection and as such requires effective tools to help define the inspection approach.

 

BeamTool's innovative approach to phased array enables linear, sectorial and an informative reference cursor option to be represented, helping to clearly convey weld coverage, HAZ coverage and probe position, in addition to critical dimensions. The beamset parameters dialog displays a visual representation of the transducer elements that are used to form the beamset.

 

Beam spread visualization allows you to more accurately see your beamset coverage for a specific dB drop, and near field visualization ensures that any focusing being performed is within the near field. True Depth, Projection and Half Path focus types can be visualized in your workspace and documented in your technique report.

Conventional UT

Conventional probes can also be modeled in BeamTool with advanced support for beam spread and near field rendering.

TOFD

Time-Of-Flight Diffraction support provides tools to visualize and confirm zonal coverage. TOFD techniques can be automatically annotated with cross-over dimensions and dead-zone depiction. Effortlessly define Probe Center Separation (PCS) by selecting the cross-over depth you want and BeamTool automatically positions the probes to target your requirements.

Export Focal Laws

The Export Focal Laws feature added in BeamTool 7 helps users directly import their optimized scan plan into a phased array instrument. Before an inspection, BeamTool helps design phased array inspection plans by laying out the inspection methodology. Potential scanning configurations are modeled and beam directions are identified to ensure full coverage of the desired location is achieved. Once the scanning parameters have been finalized through the scan plan, BeamTool’s focal law calculator calculates the appropriate time delay for excitation of each active array element (focal law) for generation of beams with the specified refraction angles. The calculated focal laws as well as wedge delays are listed in law a file. The law file can be exported from BeamTool 7 and directly imported into a phased array instrument. This allows for immediate inspection with no need for further adjustment in the instrument.

 

High temperature law files generated with the BeamTool HighTemp Add-on can be used along with high temperature wedges to facilitate phased array inspections at elevated temperatures. This ensures technicians will perform accurate inspection with compensations of temperatures effects on the scan results, leading to accurate indication detection and positioning at elevated temperatures.

Focal Delay Visualization

The Show Elements option for Single Beam Beamsets will now live reflect the focal delays as beam parameters are modified.

T Piece Configuration

Improved and simplified way to configure L and T shape welded components from an easy to use, configurable menu.

Sound Propagation Animation

Sound Propagation Animation shows how elements firing in a phased array probe constructively form a wave front and how that wave front propagates into the piece.

Sound Pressure Visualization

A powerful educational tool for rendering sound pressure at any point in the field represented by a geometric or bitmap wavefront. Using real field physics the wavefront can be focused, and even steered, by adding a time

Indication Drawing Set

Indication drawing sets can now be added to the workspace

Interactive Scale

Allows users to easily scale images and geometries to precise measurements.

Wavelet Visualization

Displays the wavelets for each individual element at a selected time in micro seconds (Single Beamset only).

3D Rendering of Circumferential Piece

Circumferential pieces are now properly represented in 3D View

Add Indication from Geometry

Indications can now be added to the indication table from any selected geometry in the workspace.

Beam Crop Modes

Identify any type of point on a beam path based on Distance from Elements, Time from Elements, Distance from Interface, Time from Interface or Skips.

Multi-Discipline Technique Development

Techniques can be created using multiple probes and multiple disciplines within a single workspace. Combine Phased Array with Conventional UT and TOFD probe configurations to ensure complete coverage. Pitch-catch is a useful technique for viewing unfavourable weld bevels or targeting geometry. Simply select P/C in the phased array configuration and the BeamTool will solve and present the elements required; this feature can be set to reflect off the weld bevel face accounting for return refraction.

 

BeamTool makes it easy to develop pitch-catch techniques for direct and indirect inspection using a single probe or a pair of probes.

3D Workspace View

The 3D view will display your piece, annotations, probes and beams in an interactive viewing environment. Rotation, Panning and Zooming tools; Mesh, Solid and Surface modeling modes; and Perspective and Orthographic projection modes all provide a powerful, intuitive, highly interactive modeling tool for visualizing your techniques like never before. And along with the new "Construct Top View" tool, simple custom-drawn pieces can quickly be given depth and viewed in 3D as well.

CAD Functionality

BeamTool integrates a powerful set of CAD tools that makes it easy to draw custom pieces to develop a scan plan for your inspection. Users can draw geometries of any shape and size and use the advanced ray tracing to accurately ensure and document proper coverage. The drawing tools have been greatly enhanced to make it even easier to draw and edit. Precision coordinate and size readout, along with the ability to snap and a Command Prompt for making complex specimen drawing precise, fast and easy. Multiple layers can be created to organize and filter your geometries.

Piece Configuration

BeamTool provides native support for ID/OD type pieces common in pipeline and boilers. The piece editor allows the piece to be easily defined using the OD and ID or thickness of a part. Once the part is configured, phased array and conventional probes can be pinned to the outside or inside of the part. As the user adjusts the probe location, the probe stays pinned to the part and revolves around it.

Weld Configuration

Pick from a list of standard weld configurations or use the advanced weld configuration editor to accurately create any weld profile you require. Weld cap geometries allow you to clearly illustrate how close you can get your probe to a weld while ensuring proper coverage.

Bitmap Backdrops

Use the bitmap drawing tool to add images to your drawings. Bitmaps can be imported and scaled to be used as a backdrop or to use as a reference to trace over when drawing complex specimens.

Defect/Indication Plotting

Defects/Indications can be entered into a table defining their spatial coordinates, then visualized on the workspace in 3D space. The amplitude of defects is visualized through a colored palettizer.

 

Configurable Reporting

HTML standards-based reporting allows reports to be generated and shared across the web or email. Report content can be copied into other programs, such as Microsoft Word, and edited for final presentation. Users can easily customize or create new reports containing the information they need. The built-in HTML editor allows reports to be constructed in an environment similar to a common word processor. Workspace fields can be dragged from a field picker into the template for inclusion in the report.

 

This versatile tool simplifies the technique design, validation and reporting process and is adaptable for use by engineers, technicians, and auditors. If you are dealing with ultrasonic inspections and require the ability to visualize and document the applications, BeamTool will guide you through the process and produce the professional results industry demands.

 

Zonal Discrimination

BeamTool ZONAL Add-on provides the ability to define Weld Zones, which are used in conjunction with a Zonal Beamset to provide automated targeting of individual phased array beams into specific locations along the face of a weld bevel. The powerful new Beam Solver will then optimize the Focal Laws.

 

 

ZONAL • Weld Zones • Zonal Beamset • Weld Regions • Beam Solver

ZONAL CalBlock • Weld Bevel Zones • Calibration Block • Targets • Reports

Simulation • A Scan • Sound Field Animation • Initial Pulse • Materials Attenuation

High Temp • High Temperature • Beam De-ection • Temperature Gradient • Corrected Sound Path

 

 

BeamTool ZONAL is an Add-on module that extends the capabilities of the already powerful BeamTool ray tracing and technique simulation application.

 

The BeamTool ZONAL Add-on provides the ability to define Weld Zones, which are used in conjunction with a Zonal Beamset to provide automated targeting of individual phased array beams into specific locations along the face of a weld bevel.

 

With the ZONAL Add-on activated, the Weld Configuration dialog allows access to the Weld Zones functionality.

 

Weld Zones are constructed from the Weld Regions defined during the new weld configuration process introduced in BeamTool 4.1. As a weld bevel is configured, Weld Regions are automatically divided into Weld Zones using the related zone configuration parameters.

 

The BeamTool ZONAL Add-on also provides access to the new Zonal Beamset. With Weld Zones configured, a Phased Array Zonal Beamset can use the powerful new Beam Solver to automatically create individual beams that specifically target each zone. The Zonal Solver will determine the appropriate beam parameters (refracted angle, gating, focusing, etc.) to maximize signal response for each zone, all with the click of single button.

 

BeamTool ZONAL is released as part of the standard BeamTool HardLock and SoftLock installs. If you already have BeamTool version 4.1 or greater installed and licensed, you are ready to activate the ZONAL add-on.

 

The ZonalCalBlock is an Add-on module that extends the capabilities of the already powerful BeamTool ray tracing and technique simulation application.

·Auto generation of a comprehensive set of drawings documenting all aspects of a calibration block to support machining and support the use of other software packages like CIVA

·Provide a set of new geometries to allow users to draw common calibration block targets, including notches, side drilled holes and flat bottom holes.

·Provide automated generation of a Z calibration block with calblock targets automatically generated for each Zonal target.

 

This module will provide users with an expanded toolset for generating calibration block design drawings and documents.

Produce a set of drawings automatically from your zonal configuration.  The ZonalCalBlock add-on is a tool that is intended to automatically generate precise calibration block drawings. The generated drawings can be delivered to a machine shop for production.

The ZonalCalBlock utilizes the ESBeamTool Advanced Weld Editor, which provides the ability for users to define “regions” and “zones” within a weld bevel.

Weld regions and zones are constructed via customized algorithms, and are designed to provide optimized “full coverage” of a weld bevels’ fusion face and volume. The Advanced Weld Editor is a powerful tool which is discussed and documented elsewhere in other papers.

Taking advantage of optimized weld bevel zones, the ZonalCalBlock provides the ability for users to customize a calibration block that will include the necessary targets and notches to validate scanning procedures and techniques.

Specific target types can be turned on or off and customized as necessary to fulfill requirements:

·Cap notches

·Root notches

·Fusion face flat-bottom holes

·Volumetric flat-bottom holes

·TOFD notches

·Through holes

·Transverse notches

 

The results of defining the targets are:

·Live renderings of side and top views of the block

·Printable reports describing each target in detail

·Exportable CAD files for further customization in external applications

 

The A-Scan Add-on Module has been renamed to Simulation Add-on Module and now also includes the Sound Field Animation features. This add-on is a great teaching tool that combines the two powerful features.

BeamTool A-Scan is an Add-on module that is a useful tool for visualizing an A-scan signal for a conventional probe or phased array single beamset.

·Interactive and configurable display of simulated A-Scan data

·Conventional UT probe and phased-array single beamsets supported

·Visualize and configure initial transducer pulse

·Visualization of material attenuation curve

·Quick and easy zooming/scrolling through the A-scan timeline

A-scan data is refreshed live as changes are made to the workspace and probe configuration. This performance is possible because an invisible array of beams is used to approximate wave fronts and detect reflections. The simulation does not have the accuracy that beam profiling would provide but requires far less processing and is therefore more performant, allowing the visualization of A-scan data while moving the probes on the piece geometry. Accurate reflection/transmission coefficients are applied to the signal at events. Simplified material attenuation is also applied to the signal.

The A-scan display can be configured using a set of parameters including gain and zero offset.

·Visualize initial pulse and the materials attenuation curve

·Pulse width is set to a default value based on the frequency of the probe

·Control and limit the display of A-scan data based on wave mode

 

BeamTool HighTemp is an Add-on module that provides tools for simulation of inspecting high temperature subjects including calculation of beam deflection due to temperature gradations effect on material velocity within the wedge.

·Interactive and configurable display of simulated A-Scan data

·Conventional UT probe and phased-array single beamsets supported

·Visualize and configure initial transducer pulse

·Visualization of material attenuation curve

·Quick and easy zooming/scrolling through the A-scan timeline

BeamTool helps users to change the refracted angle inside the test piece along with other parameters to obtain the best scan plan.

These changes can be applied in BeamTool and new refracted angles and ray paths can be shown to the user as the actual ray path and refracted angles which will result as the effect of temperature gradient.

·Support advanced wedge design parameters

·Visualize temperature gradation within wedge using temperature cells

·Calculate a corrected exit point and exit angle to illustrate a corrected sound path in the piece material