Phase aberration correction in ultrasonic phased array non-destructive testing systems

Phase aberration correction for medical ultrasound systems has attracted a great deal of attention. Since phased array techniques are now widely employed for industrial non-destructive testing （NDT） applications in various fields, the problem of phase aberrations in the process of NDT testing is considered. The technique of cross-covariance for phase aberration correction is presented. The performance of the technique for phase aberration correction is tested by means of echo signals obtained in practical non-destructive testing experiment. The results show that the technique has the better accuracy of phase correction.

Model and optimization of ultrasonic phased array parameters

Beam focusing is one of the unique characteristics of ultrasonic phased array compared with conventional ultrasound.On the basis of two-dimensional radiated sound field of phased array,the three-dimensional radiated sound field was simulated in the paper,and then the effect of different frequencies,different number of array elements and different element spacings on focal spot,the depth of focus and the effect on horizontal and vertical resolution were analyzed.The optimal results of transducer parameters have certain reference value for the design of phased array probe.

Study of ultrasonic phased array inspection imaging technology for NDT

A research about the ultrasonic phased array imaging principle from A-scan signal to B-scan image for non-destructive testing （NDT） was conducted in this paper, the ultrasonic phased array inspection imaging system used in industrial field was developed and the experiment was performed on the steel testing block by the system with 64 elements, 5 MHz phased array transducer. Experimental results show that the flaws could be accurately detected and the flaws size could be estimated from the B-scan images, and the B-scan images could clearly show the location of the flaws, but the quality of B-scan images needs to be enhanced by digital signal processing and controlling dynamic focusing for improving the image resolution.

Simulation of acoustic fields emitted by ultrasonic phased array in austenitic steel weld

Ultrasonic inspection of austenitic steel weld is a great challenge due to skewed and distorted beam in such a highly anisotropic and inhomogeneous material. To improve the ultrasonic measurement in this situation, it is essential to have an in-depth understanding of ultrasound characteristics in austenitic steel weld. To meet such a need, in the present study we propose a method which combines the weld model, Dijkstra’s path-finding algorithm and Gaussian beam equivalent point source model to calculate the acoustic fields from ultrasonic phased array in such a weld. With this method, the acoustic field in a steel-austenitic weld-steel three-layered structure for a linear phase array transducer is calculated and the propagation characteristics of ultrasound in weld are studied. The research results show that the method proposed here is capable of calculating the acoustic field in austenitic weld. Additionally, beam steering and focusing can be still realized in the austenitic steel weld and the beam distortion is more severe in the middle of weld than at other positions.

Ultrasonic Scattered Field Distribution of One and Two Cylindrical Solids with Phased Array Technique

The scattered fields of plane waves in a solid from a cylinder or sphere are critical in determining its acoustic characteristics as well as in engineering applications. This paper investigates the scattered field distributions of different incident waves created by elastic cylinders embedded in an elastic isotropic medium. Scattered waves, including longitudinal and transverse waves both inside and outside the cylinder, are described with specific modalities under an incident plane wave. A model with a scatterer embedded in a structural steel matrix and filled with aluminum is developed for comparison with the theoretical solution. The frequency of the plane wave ranged from 235 kHz to 2348 kHz, which corresponds to scaling factors from 0.5 to 5. Scattered field distributions in matrix materials blocked by an elastic cylindrical solid have been obtained by simulation or calculated using existing parameters. The simulation results are in good agreement with the theoretical solution, which supports the correctness of the simulation analysis. Furthermore, ultrasonic phased arrays are used to study scattered fields by changing the characteristics of the incident wave. On this foundation, a partial preliminary study of the scattered field distribution of double cylinders in a solid has been carried out, and the scattered field distribution at a given distance has been found to exhibit particular behaviors at different moments. Further studies on directivities and scattered fields are expected to improve the quantification of scattered images in isotropic solid materials by the phased array technique.

Design of a hexagonal air-coupled capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer for air parametric array

An air parametric array can generate a highly directional beam of audible sound in air,which has a wide range of applications in targeted audio delivery.Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer(CMUTs)have great potential for air-coupled applications,mainly because of their low acoustic impedance.In this study,an air-coupled CMUT array is designed as an air parametric array.A hexagonal array is proposed to improve the directivity of the sound generated.A finite element model of the CMUT is established in COMSOL software to facilitate the choice of appropriate structural parameters of the CMUT cell.The CMUT array is then fabricated by a wafer bonding process with high consistency.The performances of the CMUT are tested to verify the accuracy of the finite element analysis.By optimizing the component parameters of the bias-T circuit used for driving the CMUT,DC and AC voltages can be effectively applied to the top and bottom electrodes of the CMUT to provide efficient ultrasound transmission.Finally,the prepared hexagonal array is successfully used to conduct preliminary experiments on its application as an air parametric array.

An application of ultrasonic phased array imaging in electron beam welding inspection

The basic principle and features of ultrasonic phased array imaging are discussed in this paper. Through the ultrasonic phased array technology, the electron beam welding defects and frozen keyholes characterization and imaging were realized. The ultrasonic phased array technology can detect kinds of defects in electron beam welding (EBW) quickly and easily.

Visualisation of air–water bubbly column flow using array Ultrasonic Velocity Profiler

In the present work, an experimental study of bubbly two-phase flow in a rectangular bubble column was performed using two ultrasonic array sensors, which can measure the instantaneous velocity of gas bubbles on multiple measurement lines. After the sound pressure distribution of sensors had been evaluated with a needle hydrophone technique, the array sensors were applied to two-phase bubble col- umn, To assess the accuracy of the measurement system with array sensors for one and two-dimensional velocity, a simultaneous measurement was performed with an optical measurement technique called particle image velocimetry （PIV）. Experimental results showed that accuracy of the measurement system with array sensors is under 10% for one-dimensional velocity profile measurement compared with PIV technique. The accuracy of the system was estimated to be under 20% along the mean flow direction in the case of two-dimensional vector mapping.

Detection of Cracks in Aerospace Turbine Disks Using an Ultrasonic Phased Array C-scan Device

Crack detection in an aerospace turbine disk is essential for aircraft-quality detection.With the unique circular stepped structure and superalloy material properties of aerospace turbine disk,it is difficult for the traditional ultrasonic testing method to perform efficient and accurate testing.In this study,ultrasound phased array detection technology was applied to the non-destructive testing of aviation turbine disks:(i)A phased array ultrasonic c-scan device for detecting aerospace turbine disk cracks(PAUDA)was developed which consists of phased array ultrasonic,transducers,a computer,a displacement encoder,and a rotating scanner;(ii)The influence of the detection parameters include frequency,wave-type,and elements number of the ultrasonic phased array probe on the detection results on the near-surface and the far surface of the aerospace turbine disk is analyzed;(iii)Specimens with flat-bottom-hole(FBH)defects were scanned by the developed PAUDA and the results were analyzed and compared with the conventional single probe ultrasonic water immersion testing.The experiment shows that by using the ultrasonic phased array c-scan to scan the turbine disk the accuracy of the detection can be significantly improved which is of greater accuracy and higher efficiency than traditional immersion testing.

Development of Measurement System for Flow and Shape Using Array Ultrasonic Sensors

In Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, the fuel debris formed in the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) and Primary Containment Vessel (PCV) at Unit 1 - 3. To accelerate and decide further decommissioning steps of the FDNPP, it is crucial to obtain realistic information of the debris and localize contaminated water leakage from PCV. Due to high radiation and dark environment inside the PCV, investigating instruments and techniques should necessarily to meet specification of radiation resistance, waterproofness, dust resistance and so on. This study focuses on development of ultrasonic measurement system using a couple of sectorial array sensors to localize contaminated water leakage and visualize shape of object that repre- senting fuel debris, simultaneously. In this study, Total Focusing Method (TFM) and Ultrasonic Velocity Profiler (UVP) methods are considered to visualize object shape and flow pattern around it, respectively. To demonstrate applicability and reliability of developed measurement system with sectorial array sensors, a mock-up experiment result of simulated water leakage and fuel debris shape were discussed in this paper.

An ultrasonic multi-wave focusing and imaging method for linear phased arrays

To overcome the inherent limits of traditional single wave imaging for nondestructive testing,the multi-wave focusing and imaging method is thoroughly studied.This method makes the compressional waves and shear waves focused in both emission and reception processes,which strengthens the focusing energy and improves the signal-to-noise ratio of received signals.A numerical model is developed to study the characteristics of a multi-wave focusing field.It is shown that the element width approaching 0.8 wavelengths of shear waves can keep a balance between the radiation energy of two waves,which can achieve a desirable multi-wave focusing performance.And an experiment using different imaging methods for a linear phased array is performed.It can be concluded that due to the combination of the propagation and reflection characteristics of two waves,the multi-wave focusing and imaging method can significantly improve the imaging distinguishability of defects and expand the available sweeping range to a sector of-650 to 65°.

Inspection system for welded tubular joint based on ultrasonic phased array

A manual inspection of large-diameter tubular joints is difficult. As a result a scanner with three degrees of freedom （ DOFs） was developed based on the scanning principle of ultrasonic phased array. The weld tracing is realized by a 2DOF motion of scanner. The pose of ultrasonic probe is controlled by the third one. The control strategy is put forward based on a programmable multi-axis controller. Four kinds of scanning modes can be implemented simultaneously employing this ultrasonic inspection system. Experiments on reference blocks of tubular joints reveal that the automatic ultrasonic phased array inspection system has the same inspection accuracy as a manual ultrasonic inspection. This system is superior to the manual ultrasonic system in terms of reliability and repeatability. The artificial dejects of weld at tubular joint can be detected accurately with the presented inspection system.

The radial self-positioning algorithm of intelligent ultrasonic probe array in oil/gas pipeline

The working principle of the pipeline intelligent pig and the structure of ultrasonic probe array used to detect defects in oil/gas pipeline are introduced. The effects of the array＇ s radial position in pipe on defect resolution are analyzed. The causes leading to radial positioning error are investigated. An algo- rithm for the radial self-positioning is presented. The experimental results show that the radial self-positioning algorithm can eliminate the array＇ s space position error effectively and improve the defect resolution.

Ultrasonic flaw detection of discontinuous defects in magnesium alloy materials

Phased array ultrasonic testing, an effective ultrasonic testing(UT) technology, has been widely used in steel inspection because of its high accuracy, sensitivity, and efficiency. However, as its application in as-cast magnesium alloys has just begun, more research is needed. Considering the important role of the gain compensation in quantifying defects in magnesium alloys by ultrasonic phased array technology, the effects of microstructure, the position, size, and overlap of defects, and boundary distance(distance from the defect position to the side surface of the test casting) on gain compensation of as-cast AZ80 and AZ31 magnesium alloys were studied. Results show the gain compensation increases with the increase of grain size. There is a strict linear positive correlation between gain compensation and defect depth, but such relationship no longer exists due to the defects overlap, orientation and boundary distance. In addition, there is a strict linear negative correlation between the gain compensation and defect size.

Simplified Matrix Focusing Imaging Algorithm for Ultrasonic Nondestructive Testing

Full matrix focusing method of ultrasonic phased array has been proved with advantages of good signal-to-noise ratio and imaging resolution in the field of Ultrasonic NDT.However,it is still suffering from the time-consuming data acquisition and processing.In order to solve the problem,two simplified matrix focusing methods are provided in the paper.One provided method is a triangular matrix focusing algorithm based on the principle of reciprocity for the multi-channel ultrasonic system.The other provided method is a trapezoidal matrix focusing algorithm based on the energy weight of the different channel to the focusing area.Time of data acquisition and computational is decreased with the provided simplified matrix focusing methods.In order to prove the validity of two provided algorithms,both side-drilled holes and oblique cracks are used for imaging experiments.The experimental results show that the imaging quality of the triangular matrix focusing algorithm is basically consistent to that of the full matrix focusing method.And imaging quality of the trapezoidal matrix focusing algorithm is slightly reduced with the amount of multi-channel data decreasing.Both data acquisition and computational efficiency using the triangular matrix focusing algorithm and the trapezoidal matrix focusing algorithm have been improved significantly compared with original full matrix focusing method.

Ultrasonic focusing and scanning with multiple waves

This paper presents a new focusing and scanning method which focuses multiple waves on a target. The key of the method is to control excitation pulses for each element of the transducer array. The excitation pulse on each array element is obtained by time reversing the signal received by the same element, which is generated by an imaginary source at the target. The excitation pulses from all array elements are transmitted and arrive at the target simultaneously, and focusing is achieved. The performance of the two methods is compared in numerical examples, and it is demonstrated that the proposed method achieves a satisfactory focusing and a good signal-to-noise ratio no matter where the target location is.

Simulation as a Support for Ultrasonic Testing

Ultrasonic testing is a very important non-destructive method for testing components for safety of nuclear power plants and other security and delicate parts in other industries. Nowadays, thanks to the development of computer technology, it is possible to simulate processes which occur during ultrasonic testing. That is why numerical simulations are becoming an integral part of non-destructive testing. Simulations are used to determine parameters of ultrasonic examination, especially parameters of probes and scan plan and also in the analysis of results. They are used in such cases, when it is necessary to verify applicability of probes and methods. This verification could be provided on the weld and test block which are not manufactured. It could be also provided on defects, which are not manufactured in test block, but their presence is possible in given weld joint. Simulations are very useful for verifying the propagation of ultrasonic signal in given area (e.g. weld area). If movement of probe is limited, possibility of whole volume scan should be verified.

Measurement and Characterisation of a Diffuse Acoustic Field Using a Phased Array

A diffuse acoustic field has been increasingly used to infer temporal changes in the structures,such as early dislo-cations and microcracking.This study explores three different techniques to characterise acoustic field by using a single ultrasonic phased array.The first two techniques are proposed to measure spatial uniformity of wave field by examining differences in the integral of energy and the maximum energy respectively at multiple inspection loca-tions.The third one is developed to evaluate the degree of phase coherence between propagating waves transmitted sequentially by two neighbouring array elements.The efficacy of these techniques are investigated by examining their metrics on simulations and well-known samples.The results suggest that two selected metrics can be used to quantitatively estimate the diffuse field start time as well as the field size by comparing their value with the idealised diffuse state(15%for the energy integral metric,ηarea and 1 for the phase coherence metric,ηphase)and identifying the convergence start point.

DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A 20 MHz ANNULAR ARRAY FOR MEDICAL ULTRASOUND

Most high frequency(>15MHz)medical ultrasound systems are based on single element transducers mechanically scanned.These systems can provide images with excellent resolution.However,single element transducers are often limited by the fixed focal point and small depth of field.Annular arrays consisting of concentric rings of elements are focused electronically.These arrays are desirable to avoid the fixed focal point of the single element transducers and improve the depth of field.This paper reports the design,fabrication,and characterization of a 5-element equal-area annular array transducer.After electrical impedance matching,the average center frequency was 20MHz and-6 dB bandwidths ranged from 34 to 42%.The ILs for the matched annuli ranged from 6.1 to 26.5 dB.

A simple algorithm to calculate the pulsed sound field of a wide-band linear phased array

A simple algorithm using an impulse response for a rectangular piston element is discussed. The impulse response of linear phased array is obtained hv stumming the impulse responses of rectangular piston elements with different delay times. The output response of the linear wide-band array is equal to the convolution of impulse response functions with wide-band pulse exeiting signal. Sound field distributions and impulse responses of three kinds of transducers are compared. The results can be used to optimize the parameters of the linear phased array transducers used in uhrasonie imaging in nondestructive testing （NDT）.