Radiographic Investigations of Micro-Ruptures in Technical Diaphrams

Accumulators are used in lots of applications. So they are used as a pressure accumulator for quick energy supply to hold a constant pressure (equalization of leakage), for pulsation damping and as an element of suspension. We can differ between 3 types of accumulators: 1. Diaphragm Accumulator, 2. Piston Accumulator 3. Metal Bellow Accumulator. At applications with high requirements to permeation the diaphragm accumulators are equipped with so called multi-layer diaphragms. During test series some of these accumulators failed because of big gas losses. At a first look, no external damage could be seen, so that the damage was assumed in the internal layer. In this contribution the results of a detailed X-ray based non-destructive testing (NDT) of accumulator membranes are reported. This includes digital X-ray fluoroscopy using a Philips Computed Radiography (PCR) system as well as conventional and micro CT investigations.