Patent ID: 8490492

Claim:
A method for nondestructive testing of a metallic pipe, in particular of a seamlessly produced steel pipe, comprising the steps of: scanning a perimeter of the pipe along an entire length of the pipe; determining from the scan a wall thickness and an outside diameter; examining an inner and outer surface of the pipe to identify flaws; comparing the identified flaws with a predefined permissible reference flaw depth expressed as a percentage of a nominal wall thickness of the pipe; correlating the wall thickness, the outside diameter and the permissible reference flaw depth with one another in an evaluation step; and releasing the pipes for reworking only if the correlation satisfies the following condition: WD−RFT>WD min for flaws on an inside and outside of the pipe, and D a −RFT>D a min for flaws on the outside of the pipe, wherein WD=wall thickness, WD min =required minimum wall thickness, D a =outside diameter of the pipe, D a min =required minimum outside diameter of the pipe, RFT=reference flaw depth.