Optimizing Radiographic Sensitivity in the In-Service Testing of Pipes

In the in-service radiographic testing of water-filled pipes, the interaction of radiation with water diminishes the quality of the transmitted radiation to cause severe degradation in the radiographic sensitivity. In this paper, simulation work was carried out to investigate the radiographic testing of a water-filled pipe using X-ray and Ir-192 gamma source. The radiation reaching the film was studied, and accordingly, an approach to improve the radiographic sensitivity by optimizing the radiographic screen to control the scattered radiation was proposed. The approach showed promising indications, so the experimental work was proceeded using X-ray to validate the simulation results. The sensitivity, measured by the visibility of the Image Quality Indicator, was better in the radiographs obtained utilizing the proposed approach than that offered in the test used the standard screens.