Getting engineers trained to identify flaws pipe welds within a nuclear power plant has historically been costly, inefficient, and subject to scheduling bottlenecks. To obtain the required training hours and certifications, they would need to schedule time in one of very few training facilities with the necessary trainers, ultrasonic equipment, and sample specimens (sections of steel pipes extracted from decommissioned power plants). They would then need to travel to this facility and undergo training on these specimens, which remain mildly radioactive.
Getting engineers trained to identify flaws pipe welds within a nuclear power plant has historically been costly, inefficient, and subject to scheduling bottlenecks. To obtain the required training hours and certifications, they would need to schedule time in one of very few training facilities with the necessary trainers, ultrasonic equipment, and sample specimens (sections of steel pipes extracted from decommissioned power plants). They would then need to travel to this facility and undergo training on these specimens, which remain mildly radioactive.
Developing the Virtual NDE product required overcoming many technical challenges, including demanding graphics, high-speed random access to multi-gigabyte datasets, and precise tracking of the location and orientation of multiple custom-developed objects in 3D space (six degrees of freedom). YoJonesy was able to design and build a tightly integrated solution that not only met these challenges, but also resulted in new innovations, including a new standard for real-time, random-access, multi-dimensional ultrasonic data and a new approach to tracking multiple objects that required no user calibration (a high burden imposed by competing systems).
The Virtual NDE (non-destructive evaluation) software application simulates the conditions and functions of manual ultrasonic scans and allows users to gain experience performing inspections using techniques similar to those used with the instruments on actual specimens.
The resulting Virtual NDE system has received a warm reception by industry insiders. Trained engineers walk up to a system and can immediately begin using it (and seeing what they expect to see on the simulated instrumentation panel) – with virtually no instruction. The product can be used in software-only mode for maximum portability or in simulated hardware mode using 3D objects to simulate the tactile experience of a real transducer (using the Simulated Probe) on a real pipe (using the Simulated Specimen).
