Detection of Sulfide Stress Cracks (SSC) with the Use of Modeling of Phased Array Technique

The importance energy from the oil and gas that has caused the behavior of the steelsused in oil and gas pipelines, especially high-strength steels, has been considered by oil-rich and industrial countries. The deployment pipelines in sour environments are more prone to corrosion, particularly destruction caused by hydrogen brittleness. The phenomenon of sulfide stress cracking (SSC) can occur when sulfide is present in the service pipe. Small dimensions and the destructive effects of this type of crack have made that detection of the hydrogen corrosion cracks is especially important. A new method for Detection of these type cracks is use of phased array ultrasonic technique. The finite element method is used for modeling the phased array technique in a two-dimensional geometry. Ultrasonic waves are generated in samples with slit and the interactions of waves with this discontinuity are monitored. Phase array tests were carried out on carbon steel blocks with slits and and a sample of the weld that have sulfide stress crack. To investigate reliability and efficacy of the proposed approach phased array numerical results are compared with the experimental results.