Introduction
PODBrowser is designed to simplify browsing through the 500+ POD Data files in the POD Handbook. The application window is broken down into three lists:
The Technique list on the left hand side lists the NDE Techniques for which data are available. Currently this consists of:
- Eddy Current
- Magnetic Particle
- Liquid Penetrant
- Ultrasonic
- Visual
- XRay
- Emerging Technologies, which includes Holographic Interferometry and Edge Of Light.
Each Technique has one or more Inspections, which are listed in the Inspection list in the middle of the application window. These are specific applications of the Inspection, e.g. the Eddy Current technique has an 'Ae9' inspection: 100 kHz pencil probe ET inspection of stringers.
Each Inspection has one or more Datasets, which are listed on the right hand side of the application window. These are the results of a performed Inspection. These can be the same Inspection conducted by several different technicians, or the same Inspection for several different specimen conditions, etc. For example, the 'Ae9' inspection for Eddy Current includes A9001, A9002, and A9003 data which are the results of the inspection taken from the sample as machined, after an etch, and after stringers were cut from the panel and riveted to a flat plate respectively.
When you launch PODBrowser it will automatically load the Techniques list, based on what it finds in the data folder on disk. Selecting a Technique will load a list of the Inspections available for that Technique, and similarly selecting an Inspection will load a list of the available datasets.
Viewing Data
From the Datasets list, double-click on a dataset filename to automatically open the Excel spreadsheet with your system's default spreadsheet viewer. You can also select the dataset filename and press the "Open Data" button for the same result. If you don't have an application to read Excel spreadsheets or you just want a quick look at the data, select the data file and press the "Preview Data" button. The data file will open in a new window, from which you can select different sheets to preview.
If you can open Excel spreadsheets on your system, the original POD Handbook data files contain a wealth of information about the inspection that isn't viewable from the preview. Among other things the chart legend in the datafile frequently details the inspected part, the conditions of the inspection, and the results of the inspection. The Preview function in PODBrowser is convenient for a quick look at the data, but we encourage you to look both at the original data file and at the POD Handbook itself.
Previewing Plots
To preview a plot of the POD Data, click the 'Plot POD' button at the top of the preview window. PODBrowser will look for the POD and the hit/miss data inside the sheet you're currently viewing and if found will generate a POD plot for you in a new window:
In the POD Handbook series of data files, one dataset file won't contain any Probability Of Detection data but instead is used to provide more details on the dataset as a whole such as a schematic of the part inspected and when and where the inspections took place. This file is usually the first listed in the dataset, usually with a parenthesis in its name, e.g. 'F3000(2L.XLS'. Although you can preview and open this file as any other data file in the POD Handbook dataset, you won't be able to generate a POD plot.
The plot window has several tools available for interacting with the plot:
- To pan around the plot, click the Pan button (the crossed arrows) and hold the left mouse button down over the plot to drag the plot. If instead you hold the right mouse button down, you can zoom in or out of the plot as you move the mouse. Try moving the mouse vertically to zoom in and out of the vertical scale and horizontally to zoom on the horizontal scale. Moving diagonally will simultaneously zoom in/out of both axes.
- To zoom in on a selected region in the plot, click the Zoom button at the bottom of the plot window (looks like a magnifying glass) and draw a rectangle in the plot with the left mouse button. When you release the button, the plot will update the axis ranges to display only those features inside the rectangle you drew. Similarly to zoom out, draw a rectangle with the right mouse button.
- To reset the scales to their original limits, click the Home button.
- Once you are satisfied with the appearance of a plot you can create an image by clicking the Save button (looks like a disk) to export the current plot. The PNG format is a good choice if you just need a standard bitmap, EPS for presentation-quality graphics, or PDF for high-quality output.
Adding Data
Probability of Detection data can be added to PODBrowser simply by adding it to the data folder. PODBrowser interprets the top-level folders in the data folder as techniques; sub-folders beneath the technique as inspections; and Excel files beneath the inspections as datasets. For example, to have PODBrowser display a new inspection technique 'Magnetic Flux Leakage,' create a folder named "Magnetic Flux Leakage" in the data folder. Within this folder, create sub-folders for each inspection (e.g. 'Flat HY-80 Plate'), and within this folder copy your data files.
As of this writing PODBrowser is able to read XLS (Microsoft Excel) files of the following versions only: 2003, 2002, XP, 2000, 97, 95, 5.0, 4.0, 3.0. Excel 2007 and later is not supported. PODBrowser reads Excel files and looks for two sets of columns: a set of adjacent columns named "CRACK LENGTH" and "PRED.POD" that details the POD series, and a set of adjacent columns named "ACT. CRK LEN." and "HIT/MISS DATA" that details the hit/miss series. The exact position of these columns does not matter as PODBrowser will scan the entire sheet, however the columns must be named exactly as described above. When in doubt, look at some of the other files that ship with PODBrowser and use them as a template for your own.
If you have POD data you'd like to include with PODBrowser, you can contact TRI for inclusion in a later version.
Contact Information
For more information on PODBrowser or TRI's NDIToolbox software, please contact David Forsyth.