A weld in a ship hull is a possible structural weak point mainly due to potential flaws that may be present. At the moment, only visual inspections are carried out for in service ships. There is currently no system or procedure to inspect flaws below the surface and this could potentially result in flaws being missed until it is too late.
Contracted by the Marine Materials Joining Innovation Centre (MAJIC) in Malaysia, TWI developed the first automated underwater phased array inspection system to fill this gap. The system has been successfully tested in a simulated environment within TWI laboratories and has now been shipped to our client site for commissioning.
The core and most innovative part of the product is its ability to provide full volumetric inspection for underwater welds in the hull of a ship. An advanced multi-probe phased array technique is used to achieve this. At the same time, the product has global and local guidance systems to assist the operator navigate the vehicle underwater. The body of the vehicle is made of marinised aluminium material to minimise corrosion.