GE USM 36 Series Use and care manual

USM 36
Technical Reference and Operating Manual

This issue 2 (12/2013) applies to the following software version:
4.00 (August 2013)
You will find the software version and the serial number of your instrument on the second operating level
(CONFIG1 - ABOUT)
© GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies GmbH | Technical content subject to change without notice.

USM 36 Issue 2 (12/2013) 0-3
First operating level (Base)
To change between the first and the second operating level press Home key for 2 seconds.

0-4 Issue 2 (12/2013) USM 36
First operating level (Options)
To change between the first and the second operating level press Home key for 2 seconds.

USM 36 Issue 2 (12/2013) 0-5
Second operating level

0-6 Issue 2 (12/2013) USM 36
Second operating level (continued)

USM 36 Issue 2 (12/2013) 0-7
Status display icons
Icon Meaning Icon Meaning
SD memory card is inserted,
flashes when the SD card is accessed
Angle-beam probe 30° … 90°, flat surface,
Reflection from the backwall
Freeze active (Freeze),
Display is „frozen“.
Angle-beam probe 30°, curved surface,
Reflection from the inner surface of tube
Magnify gate is active Angle-beam probe 80°, curved surface,
Reflection from the outer surface of tube
Pulser-receiver separation is turned off Angle-beam probe 90°, surface wave
Pulser-receiver separation is turned on DAC mode = TCG is active
Pulser-receiver separation is turned on and set
to through-transmission mode
DGS reference echo has been recorded
Reject function is active DGS reference echo has been recorded,
transfer loss > 0
AGT is active dB REF is active
Calibration reminder

0-8 Issue 2 (12/2013) USM 36
Power level indicators
Icon Meaning
Battery charge level,
remaining operating time
in hours (approximate value)
Charger/power adaptor is connected,
percentage of battery charge level
(approximate value)
Warning: Low battery charge level,
remaining operating time
in minutes (approximate value)

USM 36 Issue 2 (12/2013) 0-9
Keypad functions
1Left rotary knob for direct gain adjustments
2Selection keys, for selecting and confirming,
for Zoom (long key press)
3Right rotary knob, for selection of function group or
function, changing settings
4A-Scan freeze direct access key
5Programmable function keys F1 … F4,
alternatively navigation keys,
(second operation level, function group CONFIG3)
6Homekey for exit from function group or function,
or alternate between the two operation levels
(long key press)
7On/Off key to switch the instrument on or off
1
45 6 7
2 2 3

0-10 Issue 2 (12/2013) USM 36

Contents
USM 36 Issue 2 (12/2013) 0-11
0 Overview
First operating level (Base). . . . . . . . . . . . 0-3
First operating level (Options). . . . . . . . . . 0-4
Second operating level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-5
Second operating level (continued) . . . . . 0-6
Status display icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-7
Power level indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-8
Keypad functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-9
1Introduction
1.1 Safety information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Battery operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Defects/errors and exceptional stresses. . 1-3
FCC compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
1.2 Important information on ultrasonic
testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Prerequisites for testing with
ultrasonic test equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Operator training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Technical test requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Limits of testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Ultrasonic wall thickness measurement . . 1-5
Effect of the test object material . . . . . . . . 1-6
Effect of temperature variations . . . . . . . . 1-6
Measurement of remaining wall thickness 1-6
Ultrasonic evaluation of flaws . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Flaw boundary method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Echo display comparison method . . . . . . . 1-7
1.3 The USM 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Special features of the USM 36 . . . . . . . 1-12
1.4 How to use this manual . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
1.5 Layout and presentation in
this manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Attention and note symbols. . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Operating steps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14

Contents
0-12 Issue 2 (12/2013) USM 36
2Standard package and accessories
2.1 Standard package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
2.2 Add-on functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
2.3 Recommended accessories. . . . . . . . . . 2-5
3Initial start-up
3.1 Instrument positioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
3.2 Power supply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Operation with charger/power adaptor . . . 3-2
Operation using a battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Charging the batteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
3.3 Connecting a probe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
3.4 Inserting the SD memory card. . . . . . . 3-10
3.5 Starting the USM 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
Powering On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
Powering Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
Factory default setting (Reset) . . . . . . . . 3-12
4Principles of operation
4.1 Overview of operator's controls . . . . . . 4-2
4.2 Display screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
A-scan representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Functions on the display screen . . . . . . . . 4-4
Gain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Measurement line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Status display icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
4.3 Keys and rotary knobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Power key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Rotary knobs and arrow keys . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Function keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
4.4 Operational concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Operating levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Selecting and setting functions . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Function HOME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
Choosing the start value . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11

Contents
USM 36 Issue 2 (12/2013) 0-13
Functions of the second operating level . 4-12
4.5 Important default settings . . . . . . . . . . 4-13
Language setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-13
Units setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Decimal separator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Date format, Date, and Time . . . . . . . . . 4-15
4.6 Default settings of the display. . . . . . . 4-16
Selecting the color scheme. . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
Selecting the A-scan color . . . . . . . . . . . 4-17
Selecting the grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-17
Setting the brightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-18
4.7 Saving the settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-19
Recalling settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-21
Displaying dataset name . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22
5Operation
5.1 Overview of the functions . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Function groups first operating level . . . . . 5-3
Function groups second operating level . . 5-4
5.2 Setting the gain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Setting the dB increment of gain. . . . . . . . 5-5
5.3 Assignment of function keys. . . . . . . . . 5-7
5.4 Setting the display range
(function group RANGE) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9
RANGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
PROBE DELAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
VELOCITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
DISPLAY DELAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
5.5 Setting the pulser
(function group PULSER). . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
VOLTAGE (pulser voltage) . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
ENERGY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
WIDTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15
DAMPING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-16

Contents
0-14 Issue 2 (12/2013) USM 36
PRF MODE (pulse repetition frequency) 5-16
5.6 Setting the receiver
(function group RECEIVER). . . . . . . . . 5-18
FREQUENCY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
RECTIFY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-19
DUAL (pulser-receiver separation) . . . . . 5-19
REJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-20
5.7 Setting the gates
(function groups GATE A
and GATE B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
Tasks of the gates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
A-START/B-START
(starting point of the gate) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
A-WIDTH/B-WIDTH
(width of the gates) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
A-THRESHOLD/B-THRESHOLD
(response and measurement
threshold of the gate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
TOF MODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Starting point of gate B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-26
Automatic gate height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
5.8 Calibrating the USM 36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Calibrating the display range. . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Choice of the measuring point . . . . . . . . 5-28
Calibration with straight-beam and
angle-beam probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29
Calibration using dual-element probes . . 5-33
5.9 Making measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
General notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
5.10 dB-difference measurement
(function group dB REF) . . . . . . . . . . . 5-37
Recording a reference echo . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
Deleting a reference echo . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-38
Echo height comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-39
5.11 Rating of welds
(function group AWS D1.1) . . . . . . . . . 5-40
Rating of welds according to
AWS D1.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-41
5.12 Flaw position calculation with
angle-beam probes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-44
PROBE ANGLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-45

Contents
USM 36 Issue 2 (12/2013) 0-15
THICKNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-46
X VALUE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
O-DIAMETER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-47
COLOR LEG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-48
5.13 Defining the probe angle . . . . . . . . . . . 5-49
BLOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
5.14 Enabling options (Upgrade). . . . . . . . . 5-51
5.15 Configuring the USM 36 for
test tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52
TOF MODE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52
Phantom echo detector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-57
Configuring the measurement line . . . . . 5-58
Enlarged display of reading . . . . . . . . . . 5-62
LARGE (alarm signal). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-64
MAGNIFY GATE (spanning the gate). . . 5-65
Activating the magnify gate function. . . . 5-66
Automatic A-scan freeze (Freeze) . . . . . 5-68
5.16 Setting the display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-70
ASCAN FILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-71
Working with Echo Max . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-72
5.17 General setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-73
EVAL MODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-73
Gate logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-74
Selecting the pulser type. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-75
Configuring the alarm output. . . . . . . . . . 5-76
Analog output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-78
Horn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-78
Power saving mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-79
VGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-80
TOF in LAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-81
Backwall echo attenuation (BEA) . . . . . . 5-83
Displaying the envelope curve
(ENVELOPE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-84
Automatic gain control
(Auto Gain Control) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-85
Calibration reminder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-87
Password protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-89
5.18 Distance-amplitude correction (DAC). 5-93
Recording a DAC curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-94
Setting up the DAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-96
Turning the DAC evaluation off. . . . . . . . 5-97

Contents
0-16 Issue 2 (12/2013) USM 36
Deleting the DAC curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98
Editing DAC points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-98
Adding DAC points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-99
Multiple DAC curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-99
AWS D1.1 in DAC/TCG . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-101
Sensitivity correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-101
Echo evaluation using DAC/TCG . . . . . 5-102
5.19 Distance-amplitude curve according to
JIS Z3060-2002 (JISDAC) . . . . . . . . . . 5-104
Activating JISDAC
(DAC according to JIS) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-104
Recording a DAC curve . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-105
Setting up JISDAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-107
Sensitivity correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-108
Turning the JISDAC evaluation off . . . . 5-108
Deleting the DAC curve . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-109
Echo evaluation using DAC . . . . . . . . . 5-109
5.20 Distance-amplitude curve according to
JB/T4730 and GB 11345 (CNDAC) . . . 5-111
Evaluations according to CNDAC . . . . . 5-111
Standards and reference blocks . . . . . . 5-112
Activating the CNDAC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-113
Recording a DAC curve . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-113
Setting up CNDAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-116
Sensitivity correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-117
Adjusting reference lines. . . . . . . . . . . . 5-118
Turning the CNDAC evaluation off . . . . 5-118
Deleting the DAC curve. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-119
Echo evaluation using DAC . . . . . . . . . 5-119
5.21 Evaluation according to the
DGS method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-121
Using the DGS for measurements . . . . 5-121
Validity of the DGS method. . . . . . . . . . 5-123
Starting the echo height evaluation
according to DGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
Basic settings for the DGS
measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-125
Recording a reference echo and
turning the DGS curve on . . . . . . . . . . . 5-127
Locks, error messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-129
Sound attenuation and transfer
correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-130

Contents
USM 36 Issue 2 (12/2013) 0-17
Using multiple DGS curves. . . . . . . . . . 5-130
Turning the DGS evaluation off . . . . . . 5-131
Deleting a DGS reference echo . . . . . . 5-131
Probe data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-132
trueDGS angle-beam probes . . . . . . . . 5-135
6Documentation
6.1 Test reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Storing test reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Displaying test reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Printing test reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Deleting test reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Storing the A-scan and parameters in
the test report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
6.2 Storing memos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
Creating a new memo file . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
Editing a memo file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11
Attaching a memo file to test report . . . . 6-12
6.3 Storing a report header . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-13
Creating a new header file . . . . . . . . . . . 6-13
Editing a header file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-14
Including a header file in the test report . 6-15
6.4 Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-16
Recording a video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-16
Viewing a video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-19
6.5 Documentation using UltraMATE . . . . 6-21
6.6 Data Recorder (option) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-21
Creating a Data Recorder file . . . . . . . . . 6-22
Activating a Data Recorder file . . . . . . . . 6-25
Storing readings in the grid matrix . . . . . 6-26
Deleting readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-27
A-scan preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-27
Viewing Data Recorder files . . . . . . . . . . 6-27
Turning the grid matrix on/off . . . . . . . . . 6-28
7Maintenance and care
7.1 Instrument care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
7.2 Battery care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Battery care. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2

0-18 Issue 2 (12/2013) USM 36
Charging the batteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
7.3 Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
7.4 Software updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4
Download of update files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4
Installing an update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
8Interfaces and Peripherals
8.1 Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
USB interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Service interface (LEMO-1B) . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
8.2 VGA output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
8.3 Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
9Appendix
9.1 Function directory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
9.2 Manufacturer/Service addresses. . . . . 9-11
9.3 Environmental protection regulations 9-13
WEEE directive (Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-13
Disposal of batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-14
9.4 Recycling directives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-16
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-16
Materials to be disposed of separately . . 9-18
Other materials and components . . . . . . 9-20
Recycling data of the USM 36. . . . . . . . . 9-22

Contents
USM 36 Issue 2 (12/2013) 0-19
10 Specifications
10.1 Specifications of USM 36 . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Display screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Pulser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-4
Receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-5
Gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-6
General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-7
Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-9
10.2 Specifications according to
EN 12668 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-10
11 Index

0-20 Issue 2 (12/2013) USM 36