Time-of-Flight Diffraction (TOFD) Report Template

A TOFD report for encoded weld scans that records the probe pair setup, probe centre separation, time window, encoder and dead-zone coverage, and sizes each indication by position, length, depth and height.

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What a compliant TOFD report must contain

TOFD falls under ASME Section V Article 4, whose TOFD mandatory appendix sets the equipment, calibration and data-recording requirements. Two probes are used in a pitch-catch arrangement, each probe in the pair with the same nominal frequency and the same element dimensions. The report carries the Article 4 record items (instrument and probe identification, couplant, cables, the location of each recorded reflector and the operator) plus the setup that defines TOFD coverage: probe centre separation, wedge angle, time window and encoder.

ISO 10863:2020 specifies TOFD for semi- or fully automated testing of fusion-welded joints in metallic materials of minimum thickness 6 mm, for full-penetration joints of simple geometry in plates, pipes and vessels. It defines four testing levels, A to D, in line with ISO 17635, with increasing testing reliability, and allows TOFD indications to be assessed for acceptance. Acceptance levels are in ISO 15626 or the application standard.

TOFD's weak spots are the near-surface and back-wall dead zones. A compliant report shows how those zones were covered, whether by offset scans, a complementary PAUT or pulse-echo technique, or surface methods, because a clean TOFD image says nothing about the few millimetres it cannot see.

• Probe pair: frequency, element size, beam angle, and the probe centre separation (PCS) chosen for the target depth.
• Time window and gain: the window from before the lateral wave to after the back-wall (or first mode-converted) signal, and the gain setting.
• Scan: non-parallel or parallel, encoder check, offset scans and the dead-zone coverage method.
• Indications: scan start and length, depth to top, through-wall height, classification (upper-surface, embedded, lower-surface) and result.

Example TOFD report layout

The layout below is the template filled with illustrative example values so each field's purpose is clear. The print view gives you the same layout blank, ready to fill in on site.

Download, print or get the editable version

• Open the printable TOFD template: a clean blank form. Use your browser's Print and choose "Save as PDF" to keep a PDF copy.
• Download the CSV with every field and the example rows, to build your own spreadsheet.
• Want the editable Word or Excel version with your logo? Use the request form on this page or ask for it here.

What reviewers check first on a TOFD report

A TOFD reviewer opens the image, checks the lateral wave and back-wall are both present and stable along the whole scan, checks the encoder moved in step with the probes, and only then looks at indications. The report needs to let them do that without guessing.

1. Record the PCS and the depth it was optimised for; the same probes at a different PCS give a different coverage.
2. State how the upper-surface and back-wall dead zones were covered, and reference the complementary report.
3. Note any loss of coupling or lateral-wave dropouts and whether those lengths were rescanned.
4. Size height from the diffracted tip signals and record depth to the top of each indication.
5. Name the data file and software version so the scan can be reopened.

Reading the TOFD image for the report

The TOFD image is a record of arrival times, not of amplitudes, and the report should describe indications in those terms. The lateral wave travels just below the scanning surface and the back-wall echo marks the far surface; an embedded flaw typically shows as upper and lower tip signals between them, with the phase of the upper tip opposite to the lower. Surface-breaking flaws interrupt the lateral wave or the back-wall. Point reflectors such as porosity appear as short arcs.

Record the depth to the top tip and the through-wall height from the tip signals, and the length from the scan-axis extent after any correction your procedure requires for the arc-shaped ends. Where an indication cannot be characterised from the TOFD image alone, the report should reference the complementary technique used to confirm it.

The header fields every NDT report shares

Whatever the method, a report is only useful if it can be tied to the job, the drawing and the people. Every template in this library starts with the same header block: report number and revision, date, client, job and work-order references, site, component, drawing and revision, procedure and revision, acceptance standard and extent. ASME Section V Article 1 sets general record requirements that each method article then builds on, and client specifications almost always add their own. Keeping the header identical across methods means a reviewer, or the software that reads your reports later, always finds the same facts in the same place.

Generate these reports automatically in Atlantis NDT Reporting

A template solves the layout. It does not stop the same job, drawing, procedure, instrument and technician details being typed again on every report, or a report going out before anyone checked the technician's certificate was in date. In Atlantis ERP, the NDT Reports app holds TOFD as its own report type with its own numbering sequence, captured in an offline field app with photos and on-screen signatures, then moved through draft, review, approval and sending with inspector, reviewer and approver signatures.

TOFD is its own report type in the NDT Reports app, with its own numbering sequence, and it sits in the same job as the PAUT report that covers its dead zones. Both draw their drawing, WPS, procedure and work-order references from the job, and both go through the same review and approval workflow before they are sent.

Your company format is kept: templates can be versioned in Excel, Word, PDF or HTML with your logo, header and footer, and Excel templates are filled automatically by mapping fields to cells. When the report is approved, Digital Twin Reporting can place its results on a 3D model of the asset, so clients find reports by location rather than by file name.

See TOFD reports generated in Atlantis, or keep using the template: both are fine starting points.

Frequently asked questions

Which ASME Section V part covers TOFD?

Article 4, through its mandatory appendix for TOFD. It requires two probes in a pitch-catch arrangement with the same nominal frequency and element dimensions, plus the equipment, calibration and data-recording rules that appendix sets.

What thickness range does ISO 10863 cover?

ISO 10863:2020 applies to fusion-welded joints of minimum thickness 6 mm in plates, pipes and vessels, with testing levels A to D aligned to ISO 17635.

Why does a TOFD report need a complementary technique?

TOFD has dead zones near the scanning surface and near the back wall. The report must show how those zones were covered, usually by PAUT or pulse-echo UT, or by surface methods.

Where are TOFD acceptance levels defined?

In ISO 15626 for ISO-based work, or in the construction code or client specification that calls for the examination.

Should the report state probe centre separation?

Yes. PCS determines the depth at which the beams intersect and therefore the coverage; without it the scan cannot be reproduced.

Other NDT report templates

• All NDT report templates
• Ultrasonic Testing (UT) Weld Inspection Report template
• UT Thickness Survey Report template
• Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT) Report template
• Magnetic Particle Testing (MT) Report template
• Radiographic Testing (RT) Report template
• Visual Testing (VT) Weld Inspection Report template
• Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) Report template

Standards referenced

• ASME Section V Article 4 record and report items (T-492, T-493), summarised
• ASME Section V Article 4 overview
• ISO 10863:2020

ASME Section V paragraph numbers change between editions. Always check the edition your contract or the referencing construction code names; the template fields are the same.