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2013 SECTION V

ARTICLE 11

ARTICLE 11
ACOUSTIC EMISSION EXAMINATION OF FIBER-REINFORCED
PLASTIC VESSELS
T-1110

T-1122

SCOPE

Arrangements shall be made to stress the vessel to the

design pressure and/or load. The rate of application of
stress and load shall be sufficient to expedite the examination with the minimum extraneous noise. Holding stress
levels is a key aspect of an acoustic emission examination.
Accordingly, provision must be made for holding the pressure and/or load at designated checkpoints.
(a) Atmospheric Vessels. Process liquid is the preferred
fill medium for atmospheric vessels. If water must replace
the process liquid, the designer and user shall be in agreement on the procedure to achieve acceptable stress levels.
(b) Vacuum Vessel Stressing. A controllable vacuum
pump system is required for vacuum tanks.

(a) This Article describes or references requirements

which are to be used in applying acoustic emission (AE)
examination of new and inservice fiber reinforced plastic
(FRP) vessels under pressure, vacuum, or other applied
stress.
(b) Test pressure used during examination shall not exceed 1.5 times the maximum allowable working pressure
(MAWP). Vacuum testing can be full design vacuum. These
values are subordinate to stress values in specific procedures outlined in Section X, Part T, Rules Covering Testing,
of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code.
(c) This Article is limited to vessels with glass or other
reinforcing material contents greater than 15% by weight.

T-1123

T-1120

VESSEL SUPPORT

All vessels shall be examined in their operating position

and supported in a manner consistent with good engineering practice. Flat bottomed vessels examined in other than
the intended location shall be mounted on a noiseisolating pad on a concrete base or equivalent during the
examination.

GENERAL

(a) When this Article is specified by a referencing Code

Section, the method described in this Article shall be
used together with Article 1, General Requirements. Definitions of terms used in this Article are found in
Mandatory Appendix III of this Article.
(b) Discontinuities located with AE shall be evaluated
by other methods, e.g., visual, ultrasonic, liquid penetrant,
etc., and shall be repaired and retested as appropriate.

T-1121

VESSEL STRESSING

T-1124

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

The minimum acceptable vessel wall temperature is

40F (5C) during the examination. Evaluation criteria
are based above 40F (5C). For vessels designed to

Table T-1121
Requirements for Reduced Operating Level
Immediately Prior to Examination

VESSEL CONDITIONING

For tanks and pressure vessels that have been stressed

previously, the operating pressure and/or load shall be reduced prior to testing according to the schedule shown in
Table T-1121. In order to properly evaluate the AE examination, the maximum operating pressure or load on the
vessel during the past year must be known, and recorded.
Table T-1121 is used as follows. The reduced pressure
is divided by the maximum operating pressure and the
quantity is expressed as a percent. This value is entered
in the first column and the corresponding row in the second column shows the time required at the reduced pressure, prior to making an AE test. When the ratios fall
between two values in the second column the higher value
is used.

Percent of Operating Maximum

Pressure and/or Load
10 or less
20
30
40
50
60

Time Spent at Percent of

Maximum Pressure and/
or Load
12 hr
18 hr
30 hr
2 days
4 days
7 days

GENERAL NOTE: As an example, for an inservice vessel, two fac

tors must be known prior to making a test:
(1) The maximum operating pressure or load during the past year
(2) The test pressure

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