6.7 Inspection Codes
As is the case in many established industries, the ultrasonic NDT community has developed a large number of codes, standards, and recommended practices that are intended to help standardize test and inspection procedures as well as the interpretation and reporting of results. Many of these are issued by professional organizations such as the American Welding Society (AWS) or American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), or national/regional standards bodies like the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). Others come from private industry, like the aircraft service bulletins that are prepared and distributed by aerospace manufacturers. These documents provide both guidance for inspectors and a common frame of reference for communication between the parties involved in a process, such as a manufacturer and customer or inspection contractor and employer.
While codes vary in their scope and level of detail, many cover the following general topics:
- Qualification of inspection personnel
- Type of equipment and probes to be used
- Method of setup and calibration
- Inspection procedure
- Interpretation of results
- Documentation and reporting
There are hundreds of established ultrasonic test and inspection codes in use worldwide. Copies of these documents may be obtained from the issuing organizations.
