Another spin for the 3D printing revolution – making heat exchanger tube non-destructive inspections more efficient.

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“Is the clean tube clean enough?” is a common question while getting ready to inspect heat exchanger tubes.  Often the answer only comes once the IRIS, eddy current, and/or RFET probes get jammed in the tubes.  Trying to solve this problem, Bryan Potter and Adam Bazzi from IRISNDT developed a 3D-printed mock probe for verifying tube cleanliness.  The mock probe is run through the tubes to verify their cleanliness (as shown in the image below).  Cleanliness is assessed and further cleaning, if needed, can be scheduled before starting the tube inspections, leading to more efficient inspections.

Questions about the process, or needing a dummy probe to test cleanliness before IRISNDT personnel arrive?  Please send your questions to Bryan.Potter@irisndt.com and/or Adam.Bazzi@irisndt.com.

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Figure Caption: The inside surface of the tube
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Figure caption: The 3D printed mock probe
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