UTComp Inc. is a global leader in non-destructive assessment and engineering for FRP composite equipment. Our UltraAnalytix® non-destructive testing system is the only proven NDT method for safe, fast and reliable assessment of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite assets. Since 2000, the technology’s development has been guided by hard data, scientific precision and repeatable results. Before we brought UltraAnalytix NDT to market in 2008, we repeatedly tested it, and tested it more, until we were thoroughly satisfied of its accuracy.
A reliable NDT method for in-service FRP evaluation
Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) materials are ideal for pipes, tanks and other equipment used in a wide range of industrial processes. They are lightweight, provide excellent corrosion resistance and have a high strength-to-weight ratio. However, when we launched UTComp, there wasn’t a reliable, non-destructive method for evaluating the structural integrity of FRP assets.
We’ve changed that. Drawing on more than 60 years of research, we identified the specific ultrasonic equipment, calibrations and assessment algorithms we needed to perform in-use evaluations of FRP assets and create highly accurate corrosion curves.
To prove our model, we’ve conducted more than 500 tests over the years — some blind, some in the lab — comparing our technology with destructive methods. (For blind testing, UTComp receives asset samples or data with little or no information about the type of resin/glass, chemical fluid or process involved. We test the sample using UltraAnalytix® NDT and sent the same sample for destructive testing at a third-party lab.) Our results are within 15 per cent of the results obtained through destructive testing 95 per cent of the time.
Validated by external experts
To give our customers even more confidence in our approach, we’ve also had external experts assess our system. For example, researchers from York University’s Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering conducted an independent assessment on our ultrasonic evaluation methods.
At the 2015 Composites and Advanced Materials Expo, the researchers presented their conclusions that UltraAnalytix® provides a good indication of the flexural modulus of FRP tanks. According to their experiments, the majority of results obtained using our technology were within +/– 20 per cent of results obtained from ASTM D790 destructive tests.
Figure 5 (a) Comparison between average destructive test modulus and predicted modulus from thickness
Figure 5 (b) Comparison between average destructive test modulus and predicted modulus from transit time.
Source: Zhu, Z.H., L. Murugathasan and G.E. Clarkson. 2015. Experimental validation of ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation of residual service life of fibreglass reinforced plastic structures. CAMX.
Engineers from the University of Alabama and the University of Tennessee echoed those findings. The researchers conducted split ring testing to determine the Hoop tensile modulus of 6- and 8-inch pipes. They then compared that data to predictions made through our ultrasonic composite inspection, concluding that UltraAnalytix® performs as well as destructive tests for FRP integrity analysis.
Table 5: Comparison of Hoop tensile modulus obtained by spit ring testing and Hoop tensile modulus obtained by non-destructive testing
Source: Hassen, A.H., U.K. Vaidya and G.E. Clarkson. 2015. Innovative nondestructive ultrasonic testing and analysis for FRP piping. CAMX.
4,500+ FRP assets inspected worldwide
We’re currently tracking Fitness For Service of FRP assets for more than 200 of the world’s largest food processors, mineral processors, chemical processors, oil and gas companies and other industry leaders. With each new customer we gain, our database gets bigger, allowing us to predict FRP lifespans with even greater accuracy.
But the statistic we’re most proud of? Of the thousands of FRP assets we’ve tested since 2008 — across North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia — not one of them has experienced a failure that we didn’t warn our clients about in advance and recommend they address.
As composites materials expert Pradip Khaladkar concluded: UltraAnalytix has proven to be “the best available technology for determining the percentage of design strength and remaining life cycle of the FRP asset.”
Breaking new ground for FRP reliability
UTComp continues to grow and break new ground for FRP composite reliability. In 2023, we established an ASNT-compliant certification program for UltraAnalytix inspection personnel. Also in 2023, UTComp founder Geoff Clarkson authored WRC Bulletin 601 — “Assessment of Existing Fiber Reinforced Polymer Equipment for Structural Damage” provides reliability engineers with a technically valid, quantitative and repeatable process for evaluating fitness-for-service of FRP composite equipment.
For more information about UltraAnalytix validation, please see our Technical Papers and Case Studies.
Get our free FRP Assessment Guidebook for more technical background and key concepts about FRP composites, their damage mechanisms and UltraAnalytix applications.