Phased Array Detection Parameters for Electron Beam Welds in CFETR Vacuum Vessel Port Stubs

The China Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR) vacuum vessel (VV) port stub was formed by electron beam welding (EBW). In this article, the phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) method was introduced for testing the quality of the weld. First, the acoustic field simulation and analysis of the EBW of 316L austenitic stainless steel were carried out with different frequency probes, then the microstructure of electron beam welds were observed by microscopic metallographic to analyze the influence of the type and influence of probe, finally fabricating the reference test blocks according to the NB/T47013-2015 standard to conducting the PAUT experiment. The test results show that the type of probe has less influence on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and localization of the detection of large-thickness austenitic stainless steel electron beam welds under low-frequency conditions. The SNR of EBW detection was gradually decreased as the frequency of the probe increases under the same type of probe. In the direction of depth of the EBW, with the increase in the depth, the weld microstructure size becomes finer, so the sector scan image of φ 1-mm side drilled hole (SDH) near the upper weld was severely distorted, while the sector scan image of φ 1-mm SDH near the lower EBW was relatively good.