German Efforts to Standardize the Assessment of Competence and Reliability in Nondestructive Testing

MIL-HDBK 1823, the U.S. guideline for determining the Probability of Detection (POD), has been in existence since 1999. Although the document is considered the international state of the art, its use for general application in nondestructive testing (NDT) practice is accompanied by several drawbacks: 1. The PODs described represent only the basic POD, each with only one defect parameter and one signal parameter. More modern approaches are not addressed here. 2. The current version almost entirely omits specific mathematical formulations. 3. The guideline is primarily intended for military aviation. 4. The document is available only in English. With the support of a BMWi-funded project, a comprehensive set of guidelines based on MIL-HDBK 1823 will be developed under German leadership, which will broaden the application of POD calculations and address the aforementioned shortcomings of MIL-HDBK 1823. The “normPOD” project presented here will develop a normative description of the procedure for calculating a POD for the reliability assessment of non-destructive testing that is as broad and cross-industry applicable as possible. This will provide clarity on different POD approaches and, using practical examples from mechanical engineering and civil engineering, develop a guide for future practical application. The poster provides an overview of the planned work within the project and invites participants at the DGZfP Annual Conference to join the discussion in order to establish a broad foundation and acceptance for the developed calculation methods, particularly with regard to NDT 4.0 and digitalization.