FlexoFORM Scanner

Kodas FlexoFORM Scanner

FlexoFORM Scanner

The Power of Flexibility

Pipe elbows are susceptible to damage, such as from flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC), but inspecting them is challenging since their shape changes from convex to concave, and there are many possible pipe diameters. The FlexoFORM™ solution integrates flexible phased array probe technology in a scanner to solve these challenges. This solution can be used to collect easy-to-interpret data on elbows with diameters ranging from 4.5 in. OD up to flat and offers many benefits, including:

100% elbow coverage
Intuitive 2D C-scan imaging
High-resolution data (1 mm × 1 mm)
Fast elbow wall thickness measurement
Constant coupling maintained by water-column system

High-Resolution Data

The scanner is used with an OmniScan^™ X3 or SX instrument to detect and measure different types of damages or anomalies such as remaining wall thickness, corrosion pitting, and mid-wall lamination or inclusions. High-density data combined with the multiple views available on the flaw detector or OmniPC^™ software provide clear images of the elbow’s condition and make data interpretation faster and easier.

The scan direction is encoded, and there’s an indexing button positioned directly on the scanner to perform index increments in the second axis.

Magnetic wheels keep the scanner firmly attached to the pipe, while a foam gasket is permanently in contact with the surface to keep the water column filled.

The scanner uses a water wedge that minimizes water consumption and provides easy air bubble management while enabling the scanner to conform to the elbow’s convex and concave shapes, couple to surfaces with moderate roughness, and synchronize data to the front wall.

Each wedge is contoured to fit a specific pipe diameter. Simply mount the probe and wedge assembly on the scanner, and the system is ready to use.

Scanning Options

Longitudinal scanning

This scanning configuration is useful for smaller pipes or when the region of interest is concentrated within a specific sector around the pipe. The FlexoFORM solution's longitudinal scanning ability also makes it a powerful tool for inspecting water walls in power generation boilers.

Small-diameter elbow manual scanning

A small-diameter wedge series is available to inspect pipes smaller than 4.5 in. Users can manually scan the extrados (outer curve) of elbows or pipes from 1.3 in. OD up to 4 in. OD. For encoded C-scans, the SFA1-SMALL wedge series can be fitted with a Mini-Wheel^™ encoder.

Automated scanning

In some applications, scanning in the longitudinal direction is preferred over scanning circumferentially. The SFA1-AUTO wedge series works on pipes with diameters from 8.625 in. OD and up, including flat surfaces.