THE IDD VOL. 7 NO.3 APPLICATIONS NEWSLETTER FALL 1983 Tekniques COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE Tekniques In This Issue Special Feature ! . ~ , . Computer Graphics Standards: Where They Are. .. .. .. 8 Where Standards Fit, What They Are ................... 10 4050 Series Underwater Inspection of Waterfront Structures. •. 2 Graphics Enhancement ROM Pack .. S New ROM Packs, Interfaces and Peripherals ................... 7 Ron. Brackett (Ie/t) and Ron Erich, performing ultrasound materiols analysis at the Port Hueneme (Calif) PLOT 10 instrumentation/acility adjacent to NCEL's test dive tank. Erich is performing real time data analysis Tektronix PLOT 10 GKS ......•.... 12 with the Tektronix 4052 desktop computing system, while Brackett studies ultrasound in/ormation with Undergraduate Mathematics an ultrasonic flaw detector. Curriculum ....................... 14 4110 Series Chrysler CAD/CAM .............. IS Underwater Inspection of Water­ 41 lOA Local Programmability at Chrysler ...•................... 19 front Structures Aided by 4052 "8" Series Enhancement Kits ....... 20 Autoconvergence .................. 21 Desktop Computing System 4100 Jeri" SAS~ with Tektronix ORT HUENEME, Calif., - In sup­ and repair costs forced a move from our tra­ Low Cost Terminals ............... 2S port of its massive fleet of ships. air­ ditional visual inspection techniques," says 4105 Version 2 Firmware ........... 27 P craft and miUtary vehicles. the U.S. Ron Brackett, managing engineer on the ( Navy maintains an extensive Naval Shore underwater inspection program at NCEL. Tektronix 4970 Cluster Controller. .. 36 Establishment, including a major network of ) Tektronix 4663 Plotter ............. 44 waterfront facilities. More than two-thirds of "While a trained diver can determine evi­ ) Warranty Plu,s .................... 28 these stationary facilities - piers, wharfs, dence of external deterioration in steel plate, Tektronix 51,4 • Floppy Disks . .. 28 bulkheads, and quaywalls - are over 30 years concrete structure or timber piling, a diver Workshops .........•............. 46 old. and most of these facilities have reach­ cannot sense the hidden damage caused to ed, or exceeded their original design life, steel by corrosion, internal darriage to con­ Editor's Note ..................... 20 resulting in escalating maintenance and ctete or concrete reinforcement, or biologi­ Programming Tips ................. 31 repair costs. cal attack on wooden structure," related Program Exchange ................ 38 Carmela Keeney, project engineer for the Publications Update ............... 43 Underwater inspection of waterfront facili­ copcrete and timber inspection investigations. ties has until recently been limited to visual Addresses ........................ 47 surface observations by Navy scuba divers "With our desktop computing system and TEKniques, the IDD Applications News­ using rudimentary tools. However, visual in­ ultrasonic generation and analysis equip­ letter, is published in the Information spection cannot identify hidden flaws in steel ment, we can perform extremely accurate, Display Division of Tektronix, Inc., Mail structures caused by corrosion, in concrete Stop 63-575, P.O. Box 1000, Wilsonville, real-time analyses of the three major con­ Oregon 97070. It is distributed to TEK­ pilings stemming from years of freeze/thaw struction materials found in waterfront struc­ TRONIX computer and terminal users. conditions, or in wooden pilings due to tures - steel. concrete and timber." Publishing Manager Jody Peake marine borers or fungi. Managing Editor Patricia Kelley NCEL is the principal research, development Currently, the U.S. Naval Civil Engineering Technical Editor Dan Taylor and testing center for Navy shore facilities, Graphic Design John Ellis Laboratory (NCEL) is developing a computer­ fIXed surface and subsurface ocean facilities, Typesetting Jean Bunker aided technique for the underwater inspec­ and for the Navy and Marine Corps con­ Copyright © 1983, Tektronix, Inc. tion of steel, concrete and timber. The new struction Forces. Located in Port Hueneme, All rights reserved. technique, which uses high-frequency sound­ California, the lab is engaged in a wide varie­ To submit articles to TEKniques or for in­ waves (ultrasound) to determine metal thick­ ty of disciplines, including energy manage­ formation on reprinting articles, write to ness and the internal defects of concrete and the above address. Changes of address ment, materials engineering, ocean facilities timber, will enable the Navy to efficiently in­ should be sent to the 10D Program Ex­ engineering and environmental protection. In spect existing facilities and recommend repair change serving your area (see Program Ex­ addition to its underwater material analysis ( change addresses). or renovation work before an aging facility suffers a potentially dangerous structural efforts, other research programs include fa­ On the cover: At Chrysler Corporation cility anchoring, welding technology, solar ) structural modeling in color on the Tek­ failure. tronix 4115B Color Graphics Terminal is and wind energy, seawater hydraulic systems, performed through Local Programmability. "The rapid aging of existing waterfront facil­ and design of advanced base and amphibious ities, coupled with increasing maintenance facilities. Tekniques 2 Vol. 7 No.3 Visual Inspection: BUnd to ffidden Damage materials inspection, including ultrasound, UDderwater Materials ADalysis - Underwater visual inspection generally begins Taldiography, vibration analysis and acoustic Metal Structures with a thorough cleaning of a structural ele­ emission. Their studies have indicated that Metal structures, typically retaining walls and ment, removing marine growth which may conventional radiography is an unacceptable breakwaters in waterfront applications, posed underwater technique due to the long ex­ ~ hiding surface damage. Once clean, a a difficult problem for NCEL engineers in diver is able to determine the most apparent posure times required to record an image. the development of underwater analysis pro­ damage. In the case of steel structures, ex­ Vibration analysis and acoustic emission are cedures. The desired result in a metals analy­ cessive corrosion, severe mechanical damage difficult to manage in an underwater en­ sis procedure is a thickness measurement (caused by a ship colliding with a structure) vironment because of the complex integra­ across a representative cross-section of the or less serious surface pitting from corrosion, tion of the structural elements and the length structure - whether it be steel sheet pile or H­ can be recognized. of time required to acquire the information pile. However, as most metal structures form needed to detect a change in condition. a barrier between a body of water and a land­ Severe damage to concrete facilities, such as based shore facility, only one side of the mechanical damage from overloading, crack­ Ultrasonic testing, however, requires a limited amount of underwater equipment, and a structure is accessible - that being the water­ ing from freeze/thaw conditions and severe front side. corrosion of reinforcing steel is also apparent relatively short analysis time to produce ac­ to the trained eye. With regards to wooden curate results. Essentially, ultrasonic testillJ "Our divers do not have the luxury of simp­ structures, a diver can recognize the external uses the measurement of the transit time of ly fitting a caliper around a section of steel evidence of boring marine animals, and the high-frequency sound waves to detect both bulkhead to determine its thickness," says splintering or overall failure of timbers due metal thickness and the internal defects pre­ Brackett. "Consequently, our measurement to mechanical overloading. sent in concrete and timber. technique requires accessibility to one side of the structure to achieve accurate readings. In "Although ,a diver can recognize the most ap­ Computer Controls Test System, Analyzes Data addition to being used underwater, the pro­ parent damage to marine structures, we are cedure is also nondestructive - as drilling most concerned with the corrosion, mechan­ At the heart ofNCEL's underwater materials holes or cutting out metal sections could ical damage and biological attack which is analysis system is a Tektronix 4052 desktop damage the integrity of the facility, possibly hidden from sight," says Brackett. "Unex­ computing system. Confrgured with a variety resulting in a major failure." pected failure stemming from unseen damage of electronic instrumentation, the desktop is a potentially dangerous occurrence, and computer provides test system control, data According to Brackett, NCEL has achieved repairs are tremendously expensive." analysis and graphics capabilities to the test excellent results in the underwater measure­ procedures. ment of metal structures using an ultrasonic Adapting Nondestructive Tecbniques for testing technique known as pulse/echo mea­ "Jnderwater Use "The tektronix gear is powerful enough to surement, Using a single transducer to send 'We had to develop analysis procedures which provide real-time analysis and graphic pre­ and receive signals, this procedure measures would not damage the integrity of the struc­ sentation of our complicated test procedures, the transit time of high-frequency sound­ ture, because the facilities to be tested are yet its ruggedness and compact size enables waves through the metal structure to deter­ working elements of the Naval Shore Estab­ the machine