Many Owners of process and power plants have come to understand that Nondestructive Examination of In-Service equipment and piping is of limited usefulness by itself. In order to perform remaining life assessments, equipment condition assessments, corrosion wall thinning evaluations, life cycle and fatigue damage calculations, and so forth, the proper NDE data must be collected. This means that the highest stressed and highest risk locations be known and specified to the Inspector, that appropriate methodologies be employed in collecting the data, and that useful analyses be performed with the data. This means, then, that Engineering must be intimately involved in the Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation of the NDE project in order to obtain useful results.

Pressure Sciences Incorporated excels in this role. Pressure Sciences is an strictly an engineering company, and does not itself provide Nondestructive Examination and testing services as part of our business portfolio. We do, however, subcontract for NDE services, and provide planning for the data to acquire, direction of the on-site technicians in the necessary MT, PT, UT, and VT exams, and engineering evaluation of that data. These are key elements for success on virtually every project for which NDE is required. Pressure Sciences' focus is, therefore, on the engineering support required to implement and effectively complete every project.

When NDE services are required on a project for which Pressure Sciences is the primary contractor, we will subcontract the appropriate NDE services, such as ultrasonic (UT) Shear Wave for location and characterization of flaws, Magnetic Particle (MT) examinations of welds, Eddy Current (ET) examinations of heat exchanger tubes, metallographic replication examinations of suspected stress corrosion cracking locations, to specialized and highly respected inspection organizations. These Inspectors will provide the ASNT SNT-TC-1A certified Level II and Level III personnel to perform the NDT and provide data reports.

It is important to recognize that as engineers, we know the most likely failure mechanisms, and we can determine the best NDE methodology to apply in order to focus on finding the incipient failures and defects. It is also important to recognize that NDE of inservice process equipment has a very different goal than does NDE of new equipment - we are looking for service induced damage, not original workmanship deficiencies. We have seen many cases where, left to their own judgment, an NDE company will apply the acceptance criteria of ASME Section V and report on workmanship. As engineers, however, we want to know if a defect (indication) has resulted from service loadings, and if the defect is propagating, and when failure is likely to occur.

If preferred by our client, Pressure Sciences can also work as a partner with an NDE firm, or as an independent engineer to evaluate NDE data obtained under a separate contract by the client's Inspector. In this manner, we are able to provide a comprehensive array of project services for our clients in a cost effective manner, and assume overall responsibility for certification of the results.

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