X-ray formular

I'm looking for the formula for changing Density of film. I've always been a fan of making exposure
charts, but now I'm in need of the quick fix formula of changing the time after an initial exposure to get
the density I need.

Copy and Paste this formula into the B9 cell in Excel:

$D$1 being the density desired.
$E$1 being the Initial Density.
1.21 is a constant and $F$1 is old time or
MAS.
This formula will give you your new time or MAS.

=(($D1/$E1)^1.21)*$F1

Then enter the values in the appropriate cells (D1, E1 and F1).
You can enter them in any row as long as the cell numbers coincide.

A good field formula is SHOT TIME times DESIRED DENSITY divided by DENSITY OBTAINED WITH TEST
SHOT equals CORRECTED SHOT TIME. Remember to use seconds, or minutes only not a combination of
both. Example....you have a density of 1.85 and want a 3.0. Shot time was 25 seconds. 25 sec X 3.0
divided by 1.85 = 40.5 seconds. Works every time.......... but only if you are running film thru a processer
or manual developing using a time and temperature chart. Does not work with sight developing. Hope
this helps you out.

safety for a contractor to do X-ray testing

- I am a QC inspector for power plant outages. The answer to your questions are as follows:

Q:How would you organize safety for a contractor to do X-ray testing in your plant?

Q: Administration, physical barriers etc.?

A: It is the contractors responsibility to conduct Radiographic operations in a safe manner (not the
plants).

The plants responsibilties are to make their employees and contractors aware of what is going on
through training and announcements.

Training. It should be simple. basically, make personnel aware of what radiography is and include
familiarization with boundary signs/rope and tell people not to cross them. And if they just so happen to
find themselves behind one for some strange reason, they should get out of the area immediately and
find the radiographer and tell them what happened, so that the radiographer can contact his or her
Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) for guidance.

Announcements. Announcements can consist of e-mails to the appropriate supervisors who will have
personnel in the plant during radiography, and announcements over the public address system at
appropriate intervals. (eg. every 15 minutes "Attention all personnel, stay clear of unit 3 from 8th
elevation up while radiography is in progress")

The plant is also reponsible to show the Radiographer(s) what needs radiographed and all possible entry
points to the area(s), so that the radiographers can adequately determine the best possible way to
secure them. That should be the plants only involvement with physical boundaries. Unless the plant
would like to go above and beyond and hire another qualified radiographer to calculate and verify the
boundaries, but, that's essentially what they did when they hired the contractor to start with.

Q: How long after X-ray testing is the area deemed safe?

A: X & Gamma Radiation is like light. After you turn out a light does the light linger around the room for
a few minutes? Of course not. Once the source of radiation is de-energized (X-ray) or shielded (gamma)
the area can be entered immediately.

At the places I work, we have it set up like this:

We work two 10 hour shifts. second shift ends at 3 am. We have the radiographers show up at 1 am, so
that they can be showed what needs radiographed and where (takes about an hour). This gives them
ample time to calculate boundaries, calculate shot times, load film(maybe even set it in place), Get signs
in place and ready to be hung, etc.. At 3 am when all the craft leaves the unit, they can run around set
up their boundaries and be shooting by around 3:15. We give them a list and have them shoot as much
as they can by 6:15. At 6:15 they break down there stuff and remove all of their signs and are off of the
unit usually by 6:30 when day shift arrives.

- The best thing to do is no X-ray at all, X-ray and Gamma ray is getting replaced by TOFD or Phased
Array. Pretty tough questions. Good advice from kwatee.It is the responsibilty of the NDT company to
perform duties in safe manner and in compliance with state regs. but it is also the responsibality of
every car owner to have insurance .I would suggest a consulant in the field of radiation control there are
many around. depending on the scope of inspection work there are many different ave.to take.Most x-
ray companies are in compliance with required regulations. The answer to the second question, well
again i would suggest a consulant.Safety awarness is very important in this field.I would be interested in
talking with you in more detail on this subject,and could give your several contacts 2 get your company
more informed in this area.I am presently RSO of an x-ray company. and have been in the buisness for
about 20 yrs.I don't know much about the TOFD, but I have been hearing that x-ray is being replaced by
something for about 20 yrs now.
- I see one thing missing in the otherwise excellant replies.
Once these contractors cross the plant boudries they become the plant's resposibility as to safety and
health. There needs to be a documented safety and health orientation for the contractors and a person
or persons that are the direct contacts.
Our plant has a 15 min video on general plant safety, rules and regulations then the area where the
work is being done in turn has as short area specific orientation.
This approach has saved on tails a couple of times over the years.

- May I suggest SCAR? The source strength is low, so production is not very high. Still the radiography
crew can work all day, and not shut down the trades. The trades can be as close as 35ft.

ASTM Reference Radiographs:

- 'm in the middle of a debate concerning the interpretation of shrinkage using ASTM Reference
Radiographs. With the surrounding metal in both the production and reference radiograph being 2.0
H&D and the shrink indication in the production film only half the size of the largest shrink in the ASTM
film. My question is, if the density of the shrink on the production radiograph is somewhat darker than
that of the referenced plate, is the indication then rejectable?

-When using the ASTM standards, they specifically tell you the density is not to be used for acceptance
or rejection. See E446-98 paragraph 8.11. Density has always been an issue for discussion for the
discontinuities but what if one void is filled with a substance and one void is all air, both the same size?
You would reject the one for density but it is not truly any worse than the other. Discretion is always to
be used by the interpreter when making assesments according to the casting reference radiographs but
he should be fair and use the specs as intended and use the guidlines they spell out.

-the answer does not lie in whether you get the same density onyour radigraph as the astm ref. The ref.
is merely a size of discontinuity type reference at a specified sensitivety, IE 2-2t. You could use a
different film and the density will vastly different but the flaw still be the same size. Remember that a
radigraph is a 2d pic of a 3d object, andthe lost dimension is depth. Hope that helps... JH

-Whilst agreeing with the views already voiced you should also consider section thickness and the
relative ASTM plate standard section.
Although the Astm plates meet the 2-2t requirements it is difficult to attain the contrast requirements
on thin wall sections of .250" and below

- an obtuse difference in density would be an indicater that the shrinkage may not be oriented to show
the true size. Try offsetting the source ,even though perpendicular to film is the norm, while keeping the
film as close to the material as possible. I have even seen crack voids that were barely detectable in one
plane of view , because of orientation, that were rejectable in another view.

- Most codes do not have provisions for considering density when evaluating discontinuities, except for
concavity. Acceptance is normally based on size. I assume you are working to a code. Can you be more
specific. I know ASTM is not your acceptance code. It has no acceptance criteria. What does your
construciton code say regarding evaluation of indiocations?