Low-friction coating on NDE probes

WesDyne TRC AB is located in Täby, north of Stockholm, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Westinghouse Sweden and a leading company within mechanized non-destructive testing. WesDyne TRC has approximately 45 employees and 75 years in the business. The company specializes in development of new techniques and equipment for Non-Destructive Examination (NDE), first-of-a-kind development of advanced manipulator systems as well as performing inspections at nuclear power plants in Sweden, Europe, the USA and Asia.

Project Title
Low-friction coating on NDE probes

Area of Technology
Tribology, mechanics, non-destructive testing

Background
Probes for mechanized NDE purposes are typically placed on the surface to be inspected using a manipulator system. The manipulator is remotely controlled and usually operates in hazardous conditions (reactor vessels etc.). The probe is manipulated in a pattern over the surface and data (ultrasonic or eddy-current) is collected and analyzed.

Obstacles in the area where the manipulator operates place high demands on the mechanical design of the holder(s) for the probes. Varying and sometimes rough surface conditions makes movement of the probes in the desired manner sometimes difficult.

By utilizing low-friction coating(s) on the probes the intention is to reduce the friction between the probe and the inspection surface to such a degree so that the probe holder design can be made more flexible and the influence from high-friction areas (on the scan surface) on the probe movement is minimized.

Any coating utilized must not influence either the ultrasonic or eddy-current signals in a detrimental fashion. A concern is also the chemical compatibility between the utilized coating and the reactor vessel chemistry – typically a select few materials/material combinations are allowed in the vessel environment.


Project Goals
Determine and document the desired technical specifications for low-friction treatment

Perform market research in order to identify suitable low-friction treatments

Perform a risk-analysis for the identified treatments

Compare and select a limited number of treatments based on several factors such as applicability, chemical compatibility with typical reactor environment, wear ability etc.

Apply a limited number of different coatings on both ultrasonic and eddy-current probes and evaluate, by practical testing, the influence on mechanical, ultrasonic and eddy-current properties for each treatment

Master Thesis Report
The WesDyne report(s) shall be written in English

The Master Thesis report can be written in either Swedish or English

Contact Information
Johan Danielsson, 08-630 8218, [email protected]

Martin Sandberg, 08-630 8167, [email protected]