Nondestructive Testing Handbook Glossary, Fourth Edition
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GLOSSARY Contributor: Richard D. Lopez, John Deere Moline A Technology Innovation Center, Ames, Iowa Å: See angstrom. INTRODUCTION absorbed dose: Amount of energy imparted This glossary is based on volumes of the to matter by an ionizing event per unit mass Nondestructive Testing Handbook (ASNT 1985, of irradiated material at the place of interest. 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, Absorbed dose is expressed in joules per kilogram, 1999, 2002) published by the American Society for or gray (Gy). Absorbed dose is not a direct indicator Nondestructive Testing. The definitions in this of the potential biological effect of radiation glossary have been modified to satisfy peer review exposure. See also dose equivalent; dose rate; and editorial style. For this reason, references dosimeter; exposure; equivalent dose; film badge; given in this glossary should be considered not quality factor; radiation absorbed dose. attributions, but rather acknowledgments and absorption: Phenomenon where incident photons suggestions for further reading. of ionizing radiation interact with electrons and/ The definitions in this Nondestructive Testing or the nucleus of the penetrated material to liberate Handbook volume should not be referenced for a charged particle, or to produce a lower-energy inspections performed according to standards photon. The likelihood of photon interaction varies or specifications or in fulfillment of contracts. with path length, atomic number of the penetrated Standards writing bodies take great pains to ensure material, and photon wavelength. See also that their documents are definitive in wording absorption coefficient. and technical accuracy. People working to written absorption coefficient, linear (µ): Density- contracts or procedures should consult definitions dependent expression of the decrease in radiation referenced in those standards when appropriate. beam intensity per unit of thickness penetrated. This glossary is provided for instructional Offered in units of cm–1, this expression varies purposes. No other use is intended. with energy of incident photon as minimum levels required for various electronic transitions are satisfied. Compare absorption coefficient, mass. absorption coefficient, mass (µ/ρ): Expression of the decrease in radiation beam intensity equal to the linear absorption coefficient divided by the density of the penetrated material. Expressed in units of cm2/g, this is the absorption expression most commonly found in reference resources. accelerator: (1) Device that accelerates charged particles to high energies. Examples are X-ray tubes, linear accelerators, and betatrons. (2) Linear accelerator. acceptable quality level (AQL): Maximum percent defective (or the maximum percentage of units with rejectable discontinuities) that, for the purposes of sampling tests, can be considered satisfactory as a process average. Compare lot tolerance percent defective. From Nondestructive Testing Handbook, Fourth Edition: Volume 3, Radiographic Testing © 2019. Reprinted with permission of The American Society for Nondestructive Testing Inc. GLOSSARY A 677 0144_4RT_Handbook2018.indd 677 12/4/19 2:37 PM acceptance criterion: Benchmark against which alternating current: Electric current whose test results are to be compared for purposes of electron flow changes direction and whose establishing the functional acceptability of a part or waveform changes in magnitude cyclically. system being examined. amorphous: In materials science, a noncrystalline acceptance level; acceptance limit: (1) Test solid without long-range atomic ordering. signal value used to establish the group to which Long-range ordering is what creates crystal a material under evaluation belongs; (2) Measured structures in crystalline and polycrystalline value or values above or below which test objects materials. Also called glassy solid. Polymers are are acceptable. Compare to rejection level. amorphous. See digital detector array. acceptance standard: (1) Specimen, similar to the ampere (A): SI unit of electric current (also called product to be tested, containing natural or artificial amp) named after Andre-Marie Ampere. discontinuities that are well defined and similar analog signal: A smooth, continuous signal. Often in size or extent to the maximum acceptable in a voltage waveform. Compare digital. the product. (2) Document defining acceptable discontinuity size limits. See also reference analog-to-digital converter: Circuit whose input standard; working standard. is information in analog form and whose output is essentially the same information in digital form. accommodation: Of the eye, adjustment of the lens’ focusing power by changing the thickness and angstrom (Å): Disused unit of length. 1 Å = 0.1 nm. curvature of the lens through its movement by tiny anode: (1) In radiography, the positive electrode of a muscles. cathode ray tube that generates ionizing radiation. accuracy: Degree of conformity of measurement to (2) Positively charged terminal, which may corrode a standard or true value. electrochemically during production of an electric current. Compare cathode. activation: Process by which incident neutrons captured by previously stable atoms are made AQL: See acceptable quality level. radioactive. arc welding: See welding, arc. activity: Degree of isotope radioactivity, expressed as artifact: See indication, false. the number of unstable atomic nuclei disintegrating artificial discontinuity standard: See acceptance per second. Measured in becquerel. standard. acuity: See neural acuity; vision acuity. artificial discontinuity: See reference standard. adaptive thresholding: More advanced than the ASNT: American Society for Nondestructive simpler global threshold operator; a dynamic process Testing. of separating, or segmenting, desirable foreground image objects from their background surroundings ASNT Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A: See based on differences in local pixel intensities. The Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A. term threshold refers to the grayscale value used attenuation: (1) Decrease in energy or signal as segmentation level; all pixels whose intensity is magnitude in transmission from one point to above the threshold are set to a foreground value, another. Can be expressed as a scalar ratio of and all remaining pixels are set to a background the input magnitude to the output magnitude. value. See threshold; thresholding. (2) Decrease in intensity caused by absorption, agency: See outside agency. diffraction, scattering, or other phenomenon. algorithm: Prescribed set of well-defined rules austenite: Face-centered cubic phase of iron, that is or processes for the solution of a mathematical stable between 906 °C (1663 °F) and 1390 °C (2535 °F) problem in a finite number of steps. (ASNT 1986; and often acts as a solvent for carbon. Also called IEEE 1984). gamma iron. alpha particle: Positively charged helium ion austenite, retained: Face-centered cubic iron emitted by certain radioactive materials. It is made phase that remains at room temperature due to iron up of two neutrons and two protons; hence, it is content, alloy content (e.g., nickel or manganese), identical with the nucleus of a helium atom. quenchant temperature, or post-processing. The presence and amount of retained austenite desired alpha ray: Ionizing radiation in the form of a stream varies with end use. of alpha particles. Compare beta ray; gamma ray; X-ray. From Nondestructive Testing Handbook, Fourth Edition: Volume 3, Radiographic Testing © 2019. Reprinted with permission of The American Society for Nondestructive Testing Inc. 678 GLOSSARY A 0144_4RT_Handbook2018.indd 678 12/4/19 2:37 PM automated system: Acting mechanism that beam hardening: Increase in the average energy performs required tasks at a determined time of an x-ray beam (usually from a bremsstrahlung and in a fixed sequence in response to certain source) due to the more rapid attenuation of the conditions or commands. lower energy photons relative to the higher energy axial: See longitudinal; transverse. photons passing through an object or shielding. axis: An imaginary line about which a body rotates beam quality: Intensity, or penetrating power, of that forms a reference for measuring coordinates. an X-ray beam controlled by the average photon energy across the emission spectrum. Beam quality is a governing factor in half-value-layer B calculations, and varies with tube voltage, choice of background: Image grayscale or signal levels from filter, and anode target angle. a test object that constitute the intensity variations beam spread: Divergence of a beam of radiation. from which a discontinuity is detected. The higher Over distance a beam of radiation, originating at a the level of background noise, the more difficult source, will increase in size and decrease in area it is to distinguish a discontinuity. Background intensity. Compare scattering. signals may arise from visual, acoustic, chemical, becquerel (Bq): SI unit for measurement of electrical, or radiation sources that the sensor radioactivity, equivalent to one disintegration per responds to. See also neural acuity; sensitivity; second. Replaces curie (Ci), where 1 Ci = 3.7 × 1010 Bq. signal-to-noise ratio. beta particle: Electron or positron emitted from a backscatter: (1) In radiographic testing, interaction of nucleus during radioactive decay. (IEEE 1984). radiation with matter such that the direction of travel beta ray: Radiation beam consisting of beta after scattering is over 90°and often close