Advanced Inspection of Complex Structures / Advise

Project code: NFRP-2016-2017-755500
ES programme: H2020

Project flyer.

The objective of the project

The main aim of ADVISE H2020 is to enable the ultrasonic inspection of complex structured materials so as to improve confidence in inspection of Generation II and III European reactors.

ADVISE will enable:

• The optimisation of the performance of existing ultrasonic inspections, where better signal-to-noise ratio, deeper penetration depth and more reliable diagnostics are required, and
• The application of ultrasound to cases where it cannot be applied today and where the industry currently must resort to radiography, which is highly disruptive and has certain imminent dangers due to the radiation used.

ADVISE has four main technical objectives:

• Increase the comprehension and modelling of complex structures for accurate prediction
• Develop new tools for material characterisation and input data
• Provide advanced inspection methods
• Provide defect evaluation methods and assisted diagnostics.

Expected results

ADVISE H2020 proposes a coordinated and novel approach which will enable the delivery of a set of techniques and methods answering the industrial and European endeavour to keep on improving and maintaining power plants safety and reliability across its territories. ADVISE will address the current inspection challenges by delivering documented capabilities for the identified classes of inspection problems, demonstrators on industrially relevant example cases and dedicated software tools.

The main output of the project is a step change improvement in performance in terms of inspectable depth, defect detection and characterisation accuracy. For austeno-ferritic cast components, an increase of the inspectable depth of 70 to 85 mm is aimed for. Equally importantly, the in-situ characterisation for specific inspections will provide the confidence needed to make safe decisions from measured indications without the significant conservatism that is needed in many cases currently.

Concretely, the following results will be delivered by ADVISE:

1. Methods to:
   • Measure the properties of NPP materials that cause difficulties for their inspection by ultrasound, including grain size, wave speed and attenuation and their spatial variations
   • Simulate ultrasound propagation, attenuation, scattering and interactions with defects in the materials under concern; these methods will be vital tools for the evaluation and optimisation of any target inspections
2. Simulation tools, imaging tools and diagnostic tools (software and hardware) dedicated to complex materials
3. Physical demonstration examples using real materials and representative target defects, showcasing the new methods and optimised NDE capabilities
4. Public workshops, training sessions and publications for broad dissemination.

Project partners

EDF (France), ICL (United Kingdom), University of Bristol (United Kingdom), Framatome (France), UJV (Czech Republic), Extende (France), M2M (France), MPA Stuttgart (Germany), Fraunhofer IZFP (Germany), CEA (France), Arrtic (France), Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), BZN (Hungary).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]