oSIST prEN 10160:2026

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-februar-2026
Neporušitvene preiskave - Ultrazvočno preskušanje ploščatih jeklenih izdelkov,
debelih 5 mm in več (tehnika impulz-odmev)
Non-destructive testing - Ultrasonic testing of steel flat product of thickness equal or
greater than 5 mm (reflection method)
Ultraschallprüfung von Flacherzeugnissen aus Stahl mit einer Dicke größer oder gleich 6
mm (Reflexionsverfahren)
Contrôle ultrasonore des produits plats en acier d'épaisseur égale ou supérieure à 6 mm
(méthode par réflexion)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 10160
ICS:
77.040.20 Neporušitveno preskušanje Non-destructive testing of
kovin metals
77.140.50 Ploščati jekleni izdelki in Flat steel products and semi-
polizdelki products
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
January 2026
ICS 77.040.20 Will supersede EN 10160:1999
English Version
Non-destructive testing - Ultrasonic testing of steel flat
product of thickness equal or greater than 5 mm
(reflection method)
Essais non destructifs - Contrôle ultrasonore des Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung - Ultraschallprüfung von
produits plats en acier d'épaisseur égale ou supérieure Flacherzeugnissen aus Stahl mit einer Dicke größer
à 5 mm (méthode par réflexion) oder gleich 5 mm (Reflexionsverfahren)
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 459/SC 1.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.

This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2026 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 10160:2026 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
1 Scope . 4
2 Normative references . 4
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Items for agreements . 6
5 Principle . 6
6 Procedure . 6
7 Personnel . 7
8 Test equipment . 7
8.1 Instrument . 7
8.2 Probe . 8
8.3 Reference blocks or plates . 8
8.4 Adjustment of the test equipment . 8
9 Coupling conditions . 9
10 Routine checking . 9
11 Surface condition . 9
12 Scanning plan . 9
12.1 General . 9
12.2 Testing of the flat product body . 9
12.2.1 Class S , S and S . 9
0 1 A
12.2.2 Class S and S . 10
2 3
12.3 Testing of the flat product edges . 10
13 Procedure . 10
13.1 Sensitivity and range setting . 10
13.2 Scanning speed . 11
13.3 Determination of the area of discontinuities . 11
13.3.1 Testing the flat product body . 11
13.3.2 Testing the edges . 12
14 Acceptance criteria. 12
15 Test report . 17
Annex A (informative) List of equivalent terms in several European languages . 18
Bibliography . 19

European foreword
This document (prEN 10160:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 459/SC 1 “Test
methods for steel (other than chemical analysis)”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document will supersede EN 10160:1999.
— The Scope was modified: thickness extended and new quality class added;
— Normative references updated;
— Definition 3.5 redrafted and a Note 1 to entry added;
— Clause 4 Items for agreement: added;
— Clause 6 – Procedure and Clause 13 – Operation procedure: more details and guidelines added;
— A new quality class S as an acceptance criteria in Tables 3 and 4 was added;
A
— Table 5 was added only for dual-transducer probes;
— Table 6 was added to give acceptance criteria for single-tranducer probes.
1 Scope
This document describes a method for the ultrasonic testing of uncoated flat steel product for internal
discontinuities.
This document is applicable to flat product in nominal thickness range of 5 mm to 200 mm of non-
alloyed or alloyed steel, excluding austenitic or austenoferritic steels. However, this document can be
applied to the latter types of steels provided that the difference between the amplitude of the noise
signal and that of the echo detection threshold is sufficient for the limit fixed.
This document also defines five quality classes for the flat product body (classes S , S , S , S and S ) and
0 1 A 2 3
five classes (E , E , E , E , E ) for the edges (see Clause 13).
0 1 2 3 4
Other methods of testing (e.g. by phased-array) or other test equipment may be used at the
manufacturer's discretion provided that they give identical results to those obtained under the
conditions of this document. In the event of a dispute, only the method defined in this document shall
prevail.
Testing of flat product of thickness less than 5 mm or higher than 200 mm may be the subject of special
agreements between the parties concerned.
The inspection is normally carried out in the place of production or on the premises of the supplier. If
specified on the order, the inspection takes place in the presence of the purchaser or his
representative .
A list of equivalent terms in several European languages is given in Annex A.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 1330-1, Non-destructive testing — Terminology – Part 1: List of general terms
EN 1330-2, Non-destructive testing— Terminology — Part 2: Terms common to the non-destructive
testing methods
EN ISO 5577, Non-destructive testing — Ultrasonic testing — Vocabulary (ISO 5577)
EN ISO 9712, Non-destructive testing — Qualification and certification of NDT personnel (ISO 9712)
EN ISO 16810, Non-destructive testing — Ultrasonic testing — General principles (ISO 16810)
EN ISO 16811, Non-destructive testing — Ultrasonic testing — Sensitivity and range setting (ISO 16811)
EN ISO 16827, Non-destructive testing — Ultrasonic testing — Characterization and sizing of
discontinuities (ISO 16827)
EN ISO 18563-1, Non-destructive testing — Characterization and verification of ultrasonic phased array
equipment — Part 1: Instruments (ISO 18563-1)
EN ISO 18563-2, Non-destructive testing — Characterization and verification of ultrasonic phased array
equipment — Part 2: Array probes (ISO 18563-2)

In this case, all steps should be taken to ensure that the production process is not disturbed.
EN ISO 18563-3, Non-destructive testing — Characterization and verification of ultrasonic phased array
equipment — Part 3: Complete systems (ISO 18563-3)
EN ISO 22232-1, Non-destructive testing — Characterization and verification of ultrasonic test
equipment — Part 1: Instruments (ISO 22232-1)
EN ISO 22232-2, Non-destructive testing — Characterization and verification of ultrasonic test
equipment — Part 2: Probes (ISO 22232-2)
EN ISO 22232-3, Non-destructive testing — Characterization and verification of ultrasonic test
equipment — Part 3: Combined equipment (ISO 22232-3)
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 1330-1, EN 1330-2,
EN ISO 5577 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp/
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
internal discontinuity
any imperfection lying within the thickness of the flat product, e.g planar or laminar imperfection,
single-plane or multi-plane inclusion bands or clusters
Note 1 to entry: It is referred to in the text as discontinuity.
3.2
defect
unacceptable internal discontinuity, i.e. exceeding the specified maximum size or population density
limits
3.3
population density
number of individual internal discontinuities of a size greater than a specified minimum size and less
than a specified maximum size per specified area of body or length of edge zone
3.4
manual and assisted manual testing
testing by an operator applying an ultrasonic probe, or probes, to the flat product surface, manually
executing the appropriate scanning pattern on the flat product surface and visually assessing ultrasonic
signal indications on the ultrasonic instrument either by direct viewing or by built-in signal amplitude
alarm devices
3.5
automated and semi-automated testing
testing using a mechanized means of applying the ultrasonic probe or probes to, and executing the
appropriate scanning pattern on the flat product surface, together with ultrasonic signal indication
evaluation by using fully automated software-based data acquisition
Note 1 to entry: Such testing shall be either fully automatic or semi-automatic when the operator performs basic
equipment operation functions and validates testing results.
4 Items for agreements
The following aspects of ultrasonic testing may be agreed at the time of enquiry and order:
a) the manufacturing stage(s) at which ultrasonic testing shall be performed (see Clause 10);
b) the volume(s) to be tested and whether grid scanning coverage or complete scanning coverage is
required (see Clause 13);
c) the Quality Class required, or the Quality Classes and the zones to which they apply (see Clause 15);
d) the applicable recording level and acceptance criteria if different from those detailed in Table 3,
Table 4, Table 5 and Table 6;
e) whether any special scanning coverage, equipment or couplant is required in addition to that
detailed in Clauses 8 and 13;
f) the techniques to evaluate discontinuities (see Clause 14);
g) the technique(s) to be used for setting sensitivity (see Clause 12);
h) whether the test is to be conducted in the presence of the purchaser or his representative;
i) whether a written procedure shall be submitted for approval by the purchaser (see Clause 6).
5 Principle
The method used shall be based on the reflection of ultrasonic waves, the beam axis of which is
perpendicular to the surface of the product.
The examination shall consist of:
a) locating any discontinuity by comparing the amplitude of the discontinuity echo with the amplitude
of the echo of a flat-bottomed hole of a given diameter and located at the same depth as the
discontinuity (DAC, DGS, or equivalent methods);
NOTE Only those discontinuities giving an echo higher in amplitude to that of the echo obtained with the
reference flat-bottomed hole are taken into consideration.
b) if applicable according to Clause 14, determining the contour of the discontinuity being defined by
the positions of the centre of the probe corresponding to an echo amplitude of half the maximum
amplitude of the discontinuity under consideration (6 dB drop method). The width of the
discontinuity shall be determined perpendicular to the direction of rolling. The length shall be
determined in the rolling direction.
The examination shall be carried out during the first ultrasonic scan for all the flat product thicknesses
and from one side only.
6 Procedure
The testing shall be carried out in the place of production or on the premises of the supplier. If specified
on the order, the testing may take place in the presence of the purchaser or his representative (see
Clause 4 h)).
Ultrasonic testing shall be performed in accordance with a written procedure. Where specified in the
enquiry or order, the written procedure shall be submitted to the purchaser for approval prior to
testing.
This written procedure shall be in the form of:
— a product specification; or
— a procedure written specifically for the application; or
— this document may be used if it is accompanied by examination details specific to the application.
The procedure shall contain the following details as a minimum requirement:
a) description of the item to be examined;
b) reference documents;
c) qualification and certification of examination personnel;
d) stage of manufacture at which the examination is carried out;
e) examination zones specified in terms of the applicable Quality Classes;
f) any special preparation of scanning surfaces, if applicable;
g) couplant;
h) description of examination equipment;
i) setting;
j) scanning plan;
k) description and sequence of examination operations;
l) recording levels;
m) characterization of discontinuities;
n) acceptance criteria;
o) examination report.
7 Personnel
Testing shall be carried out by a qualified and certified personnel under the responsibility of a qualified
and certified Level 3 personnel in accordance with EN ISO 9712.
8 Test equipment
8.1 Instrument
Instrument for manual testing shall feature A-scan presentation and shall comply with the
requirements of EN ISO 22232-1. or EN ISO 18563-1, if applicable.
8.2 Probe
The probe used for testing shall comply with the requirements of EN ISO 22232-2 or EN ISO 18563-2.
The test equipment shall include at least one probe which may be either a probe with a single
transducer serving
...