X-SCAN

Laser-guided inspection robot for the Non-Destructive Testing of thin steel gauge welds in the shipping industry

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Ocean going ships are the most cost effective form of transporting bulk goods around the world. To date, Europe owns nearly 40% of the world’s fleet of ships, which account for 90% of its external trade and 40% of its internal trade. Moreover, in the supply of ship building components and services, the EU is a world leader. As a result, the maritime industry, which includes ship building and ship operation, are vital to Europe’s economy.

In this industry sector, structural failure is a major cause of the loss of ships, vessels and tankers resulting in loss of life and pollution of the world’s oceans, seas and coastal waters of Europe. Indeed, it has been reported in 2006, that each year over 400 ocean going ships sink, many as a result of weakened structures due to corrosion and inadequate/poor welding quality.

Most of the inspection techniques used to date proved to be disruptive to the manufacturing process and far from being cost effective. Additionally, as the current generation of ships are being built from thinner section steels (10mm or less) to lower the cost of build and ship operation, typical assessment methods are not as effective as for thicker sections. Therefore, there is a real need for more reliable, faster, cost effective and safer inspection techniques.

The X-Scan project aims to respond to this need by developing novel automated NDT techniques (ultrasonic and electromagnetic) for ship structures. The objective of the project is twofold: First the project will concentrate on solving the problem of inspecting thin steel welds using Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) and Alternating Current Field Measurement (ACFM) techniques; and then it will tackle the automated inspection of inaccessible welds by means of a laser guided manipulator.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU team developed robots that automatically inspect welds in ship hulls. The various fault-detection methods, plus robotics and control systems, were successfully tested on hull plating at the Chalkis shipyards in Greece.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Ships are extremely important to national economies and trade, yet each year approximately 400 sink as a result of corrosion and/or poor welding during construction. Welds are not inspected thoroughly, and now that ships are built with thinner hull sections, what little inspection does take place is inappropriate for the new thicknesses.

Working on a solution was the http://www.x-scan.eu (X-SCAN) project. The seven-member consortium aimed to develop a reliable, fast, cheap and safe technique for checking ship structures. The technique involved novel, automated, non-destructive ultrasonic and electromagnetic methods. A further aim was to develop a laser-guided manipulator for automatically checking inaccessible welds. After two years, the undertaking closed in November 2013.

Activity during the first reporting period saw development of three non-destructive techniques, systems and sensors, as well as a robotic manipulator. The work yielded designs for an ultrasonic phased array and alternating current field measurement (ACFM) device for the prototype. Additional development included a laser tracking technique and sensor, which guide the robot.

Subsequent work developed the robotic systems, plus operations for deployment of the non-destructive testing systems. Optimal solutions were chosen after defining initial design options and testing. The design was completed and the manufacturing of components commenced. Control software was also developed, and all components were assembled. The team tested the prototype on a demo plate, which was coated and retested. The system was demonstrated at Chalkis shipyards in Greece.

Project work included developing training materials and providing a dedicated hands-on session for participating small and medium-sized enterprises.

X-SCAN's legacy was reliable and non-destructive automatic robot systems for inspection of welds in ship hulls. The systems improve speed, cost and safety compared to current methods, making shipping more reliable and economic.