• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.349-355
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• 2014

Wall thinning defects can occur in the pressure vessels used in a variety of industries. Such defects are related to the flow velocity. Considering the fact that such vessels constitute up to 70 or 80% of the plant structures in a power plant, it is important to measure internal defects as part of a safety evaluation. In this study, optical measurement were applied in a non-destructive evaluation using shearography to ensure the safety and improve the reliability of a power plant through the non-contact, non-destructive evaluation of pressure vessels. In order to verify whether the pressure vessels contained faults, experimental and analytical investigation were conducted to measure any internal defects and out-of-plane deformation from inner temperature changes and pressure changes in the piping of the circulation system. The most important factors in this research were the thickness, width, and length of a defect. An increase in these could confirm an increase in the deformation. Thus, internal defects in a pressure vessel were measured using shearography, which made it possible to ensure the reliability and integrity of the pipe.