Last updated: 15 October 2026.
Quick answer. China's national standards register returns three complete NDT method families: 163 ultrasonic records, 32 penetrant records and 4 general flaw-detection records. Every one of the 199 is recommended or guidance, none compulsory. There is no GB standard an NDT procedure can fail; the number is a reference, not a legal requirement.
Ultrasonic, penetrant and general NDT return three complete register families of 163, 32 and 4 records, and not one is compulsory. Name the number and the year.
Every standard number, title, status, nature, issue date and effective date on this page was read from the Chinese national standards register on 15 October 2026 and is listed at the end. This page reads the register's title and status metadata; it does not read standard bodies, and it states no acceptance level, probe frequency or discontinuity size.
A buyer sourcing a machined, cast, forged or welded part from China eventually meets the question of inspection. The supplier proposes ultrasonic or penetrant testing, quotes a standard number, and the buyer has no way to tell whether that number is current, whether it is the right one for the material, or whether "GB compliant" means anything at all.
This page covers what the register can actually settle: which numbers exist in the two main NDT method families, whether they are in force, superseded or pending, whether any of them is compulsory, and which change in late 2026. It does not cover acceptance criteria, and it does not tell a buyer which process their part needs; that belongs to the drawing and to whoever wrote it. For the surrounding processes, see welding, materials and specification and bearings, and for the inspection side of an order see quality control and what a GB, GB/T or GB/Z code means.
The register's title search returns a reported total and then serves results page by page. When the served pages run out before the reported total, the difference is a shortfall, and any count taken from the served pages is a sample rather than a family.
| Search term | Reported total | Records retrieved | Shortfall | Status distribution (retrieved) | Nature (retrieved) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 无损检测 (umbrella term, read 9 October 2026) | 438 | 200 | 238 | not counted — sample only | not counted — sample only |
| 无损探伤 (flaw detection, general) | 4 | 4 | 0 | Current 2, superseded 2 | Recommended 4 |
| 超声检测 (ultrasonic testing) | 163 | 163 | 0 | Current 116, superseded 35, pending 12 | Recommended 162, guidance document 1 |
| 渗透检测 (penetrant testing) | 32 | 32 | 0 | Current 18, superseded 14 | Recommended 32 |
The umbrella term is the wrong search to count with. 无损检测 reported 438 records and stopped serving after 200, leaving a shortfall of 238, so nothing in that row can be turned into a family statistic. Searching by method name instead returns the whole family in three cases out of three, and it is those three complete families — 163, 32 and 4 records — that this page classifies and counts.
That is the practical answer to the register's shortfall problem, and it is the reason this page exists in this shape rather than as a general article on Chinese NDT standards.
Chinese standards carry a nature field: compulsory, recommended, or guidance document. The result across all three complete families is the same.
| Family | Records examined | Compulsory records |
|---|---|---|
| 无损探伤 (complete family) | 4 | 0 |
| 超声检测 (complete family) | 163 | 0 |
| 渗透检测 (complete family) | 32 | 0 |
Not one record is compulsory. The ultrasonic family is 162 recommended records plus one guidance document, GB/Z 43410-2023 on the selection and application of automated ultrasonic testing systems — a third category that sits alongside recommended, not above it.
The same null result turns up on bearings, on pipe fittings, on springs and on powder-metallurgy parts, and it is a property of how the register classifies components rather than a quirk of NDT: compulsory standards cluster around safety, health and consumer protection, not around an inspection method. The practical consequence for a buyer is that "GB compliance" is not a test an NDT procedure passes or fails. The standard number on a supplier's inspection report is a reference point that says which procedure was followed, not a legal requirement the supplier has met.
Because the ultrasonic search returned its whole family, it is the one family large enough to be worth grouping. The 163 records group as follows, counting each record once under the first group its title matches.
| Group | Records | What the titles cover |
|---|---|---|
| Methods, techniques and data | 43 | Phased array, time-of-flight diffraction, guided wave, electro-magnetic acoustic, surface wave, immersion, contact and thickness-measurement techniques, residual-stress measurement, data handling |
| Instrument, probe and equipment verification | 20 | Instrument performance and verification, probe and beam characterisation, thickness gauges, combined equipment |
| Weld inspection | 20 | Weld-specific ultrasonic techniques, acceptance levels, austenitic and nickel-alloy welds, thin-wall phased array |
| Test blocks and reference blocks | 17 | Calibration blocks, step blocks, curved-surface blocks, reference blocks for composites |
| Product-form inspection methods | 16 | Bar, round bar, plate, rail, hard alloy, wrought bar and additive-manufactured forms |
| Steel pipe, tube and tubular parts | 15 | Seamless and welded pipe, thick-wall pipe, clad pipe, layered pipe |
| Cast and forged parts | 13 | Cast steel and cast iron, forged steel, ductile iron components |
| Terms, general rules and classification | 9 | Terminology series, general rules, classification |
| Amusement rides and in-service components | 5 | Amusement ride components, in-service turbine blades and shafts |
| Bearings and material cleanliness | 3 | Rolling bearings, bearing steel inclusions, multilayer plain-bearing bond |
| Application-specific parts and coatings | 1 | Specific bolted and coated components |
| Composites and non-metal | 1 | Resin-matrix composite parts |
| Total | 163 |
Two groups carry more than their size suggests. The weld-inspection group is where a buyer sourcing a fabricated steel part will spend most of their attention, because it holds the acceptance-level standards. The instrument and probe group is the one a testing house will quote when it justifies its equipment.
One record in the pending list is worth flagging as an artefact: GB/T 47821-2026 on hypersonic wind-tunnel test models matched the search string on 高超声速 (hypersonic), not on ultrasonic inspection. Searching Chinese standard titles by substring always carries this risk, and it is the same failure mode that makes an umbrella search unusable.
Penetrant testing is the smaller family, and its contamination is more interesting than its size.
| Group | Records | What the titles cover |
|---|---|---|
| Test blocks and materials | 9 | Reference blocks, penetrant materials, fluorescent brightness measurement, equipment |
| Terms, general rules and classification | 6 | Terminology series and general rules |
| Not penetrant testing: permeability and air-leakage testing | 5 | Air permeability of curtain walls and external doors, permeability testing of chemical equipment |
| Visual conditions, equipment and method verification | 4 | Observation conditions for penetrant and magnetic-particle testing, equipment, verification methods |
| Temperature-specific practice | 2 | Testing above 50 degrees Celsius and below 10 degrees Celsius |
| Cast parts | 2 | Penetrant testing of cast steel and cast iron parts |
| Weld inspection | 2 | Weld penetrant testing and acceptance level |
| Amusement rides and in-service | 1 | Amusement ride components |
| Steel pipe and tube | 1 | Surface discontinuities in seamless and welded steel pipe |
| Total | 32 |
The 渗透 group is a literal-translation trap, and it is not a small one. Five of the 32 records — better than one in seven — are about 渗透性 testing, meaning permeability and air-leakage performance of curtain walls, external doors and chemical equipment, which is a different discipline entirely. A buyer who searches the Chinese term and counts will overstate the penetrant family. The same word covers both meanings, and only the title tells them apart.
That leaves four records covering observation conditions, equipment and verification methods, which a testing house will cite when it explains how a penetrant line is set up at all.
Supersession is heavy in all three families: 35 of the 163 ultrasonic records and 14 of the 32 penetrant records are formally withdrawn. Several numbers exist in three generations.
| Number | Editions in the register | Current status |
|---|---|---|
| GB/T 11345 (weld ultrasonic testing) | 2013, 2023 | 2023 current, 2013 superseded |
| GB/T 12604.1 (terminology, ultrasonic testing) | 1990, 2005, 2020 | 2020 current, both earlier editions superseded |
| GB/T 19799.1 (calibration block No. 1) | 2005, 2015, 2026 | 2015 current, 2005 superseded, 2026 pending |
| GB/T 19799.2 (calibration block No. 2) | 2005, 2012, 2024 | 2024 current, both earlier editions superseded |
| GB/T 29712 (weld ultrasonic acceptance level) | 2013, 2023 | 2023 current, 2013 superseded |
| GB/T 7233.1 and GB/T 7233.2 (cast steel ultrasonic testing) | 2009/2010, 2023 | 2023 current, earlier editions superseded |
A supplier quoting GB/T 11345 without a year, or quoting the 2013 edition from an old drawing, is quoting a withdrawn document. This is the single most common way a Chinese inspection report misleads a foreign buyer, and it is why a purchase order should carry the number and the year together.
The ultrasonic family carries twelve pending records. Two of them take effect before the end of the year.
| Number | Title (as registered) | Issued | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB/T 47561-2026 | Weld NDT, ultrasonic testing of aluminium and aluminium alloy, technique and acceptance | 2026-04-30 | 2026-11-01 |
| GB/T 47623-2026 | Steel pipe NDT, automated ultrasonic testing of thick-wall welded pipe weld discontinuities | 2026-05-25 | 2026-12-01 |
| GB/T 19799.1-2026 | NDT ultrasonic test blocks, Part 1: calibration block No. 1 | 2026-07-30 | 2027-02-01 |
| GB/T 19799.4-2026 | NDT ultrasonic test blocks, Part 4: step calibration block | 2026-07-30 | 2027-02-01 |
| GB/T 47914-2026 | Clad steel pipe ultrasonic testing method | 2026-07-02 | 2027-02-01 |
| GB/T 47760-2026 | Cast steel phased-array ultrasonic testing method | 2026-07-02 | 2027-02-01 |
| GB/T 31211.3-2026 | NDT guided-wave testing, Part 3: phased array method | 2026-07-02 | 2027-02-01 |
| GB/T 2970-2026 | Thick steel plate ultrasonic testing method | 2026-07-02 | 2027-02-01 |
| GB/T 48129-2026 | Rolling bearings ultrasonic testing method | 2026-09-28 | 2027-01-01 |
| GB/T 35361-2026 | Ultrasonic testing and quality grading of titanium-alloy welded joints for submersibles | 2026-07-02 | 2027-02-01 |
| GB/T 47876-2026 | Steel pipe NDT, automatic phased-array ultrasonic testing of submerged-arc welded pipe welds | 2026-07-02 | 2027-02-01 |
A buyer who specifies ultrasonic testing of thick plate or of welded pipe during 2026 should expect the applicable edition to change during the life of the order, and should write the effective date into the specification rather than leaving the edition open.
No. In the three complete method families retrieved from the register, the compulsory count is zero: 0 of 4 general flaw-detection records, 0 of 163 ultrasonic records and 0 of 32 penetrant records. The ultrasonic family contains one guidance document, GB/Z 43410-2023, which is a separate category from compulsory.
GB/T 11345-2023 is the current edition of the weld ultrasonic testing technique, level and evaluation standard, superseding GB/T 11345-2013. Acceptance levels sit in GB/T 29712-2023, which supersedes GB/T 29712-2013. Both should be quoted with the year.
The umbrella term reported 438 records and stopped serving after 200, a shortfall of 238, so its returned set is a sample. The three method searches returned their complete families — 163 of 163, 32 of 32 and 4 of 4 — with no shortfall.
No. Five of the 32 records in that family are permeability and air-leakage testing of curtain walls, external doors and chemical equipment, not penetrant inspection of parts. The Chinese term covers both, and only the title distinguishes them.
GB/T 47561-2026, on ultrasonic testing of aluminium and aluminium alloy welds, takes effect on 1 November 2026, and GB/T 47623-2026, on automated ultrasonic testing of thick-wall welded pipe, on 1 December 2026. Both are recommended standards, as every record in these families is.
All sources retrieved 15 October 2026. This page is an independent reading of the sources listed; the official pages themselves are the specification.
| Fact used on this page | Source |
|---|---|
| S1 — National standards register, title search on 无损检测: reported total 438, records retrieved 200, shortfall 238. Read in a prior batch on 9 October 2026 and not re-queried on 15 October 2026; used here only as the umbrella-term shortfall, not as a family count | State Administration for Market Regulation, national standards register; retrieved 9 October 2026 https://std.samr.gov.cn/gb/search/gbQueryPage?searchText=无损检测 |
| S2 — National standards register, title search on 无损探伤: reported total 4, records retrieved 4, shortfall 0; current 2, superseded 2; all 4 recommended, none compulsory. Including GB/T 5616-1985, GB/T 37400.14-2019, GB/T 37400.15-2019 and GB/T 19937-2005 | State Administration for Market Regulation, national standards register; retrieved 15 October 2026 https://std.samr.gov.cn/gb/search/gbQueryPage?searchText=无损探伤 |
| S3 — National standards register, title search on 超声检测: reported total 163, records retrieved 163, shortfall 0; current 116, superseded 35, pending 12; 162 recommended plus 1 guidance document GB/Z 43410-2023; none compulsory. This is the complete family classified on this page, including the GB/T 11345, GB/T 12604.1, GB/T 19799.1, GB/T 19799.2, GB/T 29711, GB/T 29712, GB/T 7233.1, GB/T 7233.2, GB/T 27664.1 to 27664.3, GB/T 6402, GB/T 4162 and GB/T 35361 series | State Administration for Market Regulation, national standards register; retrieved 15 October 2026 https://std.samr.gov.cn/gb/search/gbQueryPage?searchText=超声检测 |
| S4 — National standards register, title search on 渗透检测: reported total 32, records retrieved 32, shortfall 0; current 18, superseded 14; all 32 recommended, none compulsory; 5 of the 32 records cover permeability and air-leakage testing rather than penetrant inspection. Including GB/T 18851.1, GB/T 18851.2, GB/T 18851.5, GB/T 9443, GB/T 5097, GB/T 12604.3 and GB/T 26953 series | State Administration for Market Regulation, national standards register; retrieved 15 October 2026 https://std.samr.gov.cn/gb/search/gbQueryPage?searchText=渗透检测 |
| S5 — Pending ultrasonic records and their effective dates: GB/T 47561-2026 effective 2026-11-01, GB/T 47623-2026 effective 2026-12-01, and GB/T 19799.1-2026, GB/T 19799.4-2026, GB/T 47914-2026, GB/T 47760-2026, GB/T 31211.3-2026, GB/T 2970-2026, GB/T 35361-2026 and GB/T 47876-2026 effective 2027-02-01, GB/T 48129-2026 effective 2027-01-01 | State Administration for Market Regulation, national standards register; retrieved 15 October 2026 https://std.samr.gov.cn/gb/search/gbQueryPage?searchText=超声检测 |
| S6 — The national standards register records standard number, title, nature, status, issue date and effective date. It does not serve the text of the standard body, so no acceptance level, probe frequency or discontinuity size is quoted on this page | State Administration for Market Regulation, national standards register; retrieved 15 October 2026 https://std.samr.gov.cn/ |