Why the A-Scan is Everything in Ultrasonic ILI

In ultrasonic in-line inspection (UT ILI), the A-Scan is the true heartbeat of the data. It’s the raw ultrasonic signal, the untouched waveform that tells the real story of what’s happening inside the pipeline wall. Yet in today’s market, very few inspection providers truly understand or preserve it.

Most UT ILI tools on the market either: ❌ 

❌ Don’t store the A-Scan data at all ❌ 

❌ Heavily downsample it, often losing over 95% of the original data.

Unfortunately, if some UT ILI providers were given a basic Level 1 UT flaw detector test, they wouldn’t pass. Their systems simply aren’t built to meet true ultrasonic NDT standards.

At Vector Inspection, we take a different approach with our Phased Array UT intelligent pigging tools: ✅ 

✅ Every pulse is recorded with full A-Scan fidelity.

✅ Clear Back Wall Echo with good signal-to-noise ratio

✅ Multiple Back Wall Echos with a decaying amplitude pattern ✅ 

✅ All data is synchronised with B-Scan, C-Scan and D-Scan PAUT views ✅ 

✅ Offline analysis software allows UT threshold modification post run, gain adjustment and A-Scan re-gating tools just like how proper ultrasonic inspection systems operate. 💡 

The A-Scan and C-Scan data shown in the image are from a real world ovality anomaly from an 8" underground spiral weld pipeline in South America, collected using our PAUT-PIG™ intelligent pigging tool.

Contact Us