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.

Laser ultrasonic testing for near-surface defects inspection of 316L stainless steel fabricated by laser powder bed fusion

The laser powder bed fusion(L-PBF)method of additive manufacturing(AM)is increasingly used in various industrial manufacturing fields due to its high material utilization and design freedom of parts.However,the parts produced by L-PBF usually contain such defects as crack and porosity because of the technological characteristics of L-PBF,which affect the quality of the product.Laser ultrasonic testing(LUT)is a potential technology for on-line testing of the L-PBF process.It is a non-contact and non-destructive approach based on signals from abundant waveforms with a wide frequency-band.In this study,a method of LUT for on-line inspection of L-PBF process was proposed,and a system of LUT was established approaching the actual environment of on-line detection to evaluate the method applicability for defects detection of L-PBF parts.The detection results of near-surface defects in L-PBF 316L stainless steel parts show that the crack-type defects with a sub-millimeter level within 0.5 mm depth can be identified,and accordingly,the positions and dimensions information can be acquired.The results were verified by X-ray computed tomography,which indicates that the present method exhibits great potential for on-line inspection of AM processes.

Compressive Strength of Basic Magnesium Sulfate Cement Coral Aggregate Concrete(MCAC)on Non-Destructive Testing

Basic magnesium sulfate cement coral aggregate concrete(MCAC)is a new type of concrete consisting of basic magnesium sulfate cement,coarse coral aggregate,coral reef sand and seawater.The rebound hammer(RH),the ultrasonic pulse velocity(UPV)and the compressive strength(fcu)tests of 14 sets of cube specimens of the MCAC after 28 d of aging were conducted.The impact of the content and length of sisal fiber on the relationship between the fcu-RH and the fcu-UPV was determined.A mathematical model was established to predict the strength of the MCAC using the UPV,RH,and comprehensive UPV/RH methods and to obtain the curves of test strength.The applicability of the test strength curves of ordinary portland concrete(OPC),light-weight aggregate concrete(LAC),and coral aggregate concrete(CAC)to MCAC was assessed.The results showed that the test strength curves of OPC,LAC and CAC were inappropriate to determine the strength of MCAC using non-destructive method.The relative standard error of the curves of test strength of the RH method and the comprehensive method met the specifications,whereas that of the UPV method did not.

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.

Determining rock crack stress thresholds using ultrasonic through-transmission measurements

The crack initiation stress threshold is widely used in excavation industries as rock spalling strength when designing deep underground structures to avoid unwanted brittle failures.While various strain-based methods have been developed for the estimation of this critical design parameter,such methods are destructive and often requires subjective interpretations of the stress–strain curves,particularly in rocks with pre-existing microcracks or high porosity.This study explore the applicability of non-destructive ultrasonic through-transmission methods for determining rock damage levels by assessing the changes in transmitted signal characteristics during loading.The change in velocity,amplitude,dominant frequency,and root-mean-square voltage are investigated with four different rock types including marble,sandstone,granite,and basalt under various stress levels.Results suggest the rate of signal variations can be reliably used to estimate crack closure and crack initiation stress levels across the tested rocks before failure.Comparison of the results between the conventional techniques and the new proposed methods based on ultrasonic monitoring are further discussed.

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.

The Boiler Tube Wall Thickness Quantitative Evaluation Fusing the Magnetic and Ultrasonic Technique

Wall thickness is always a key index for boiler tube inspection in power plant,in order to improve the inspection efficiency and accuracy,a new method fusing the magnetic and ultrasonic technique was proposed.The magnetic technique was used to do full inspection and locate the flaws,and the ultrasonic was employed to implement further quantitative inspection accu- rately.After comparing the precision of the polynomial,exponential and logarithmic function,the polynomial model was selected to fit the relations between the wall thickness and the peak value of magnetic signals,and the data measured by ultrasonic thickness meter was used to calibrate the model parameters online,the defect depth can be sized quickly.The experimental results demon- grate that the model used in this system has better accuracy than the statistics relation model clearly,and it is also suitable for defect evaluation real-time.Moreover,it is unnecessary to have much more experimental data for the curve fitting technology,so it has better practicability than the other methods.

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°.

Research on Ultrasonic NDT System for Complex Surface Parts

Aimed at inner quality controlling for complex surface parts, an ultrasonic testing system for complex surface parts has been developed using ultrasonic NDT(Non-destructive Testing)which has features of strong penetration, well direction, high sensitivity, low cost, and harmless to people and material. The technologies of the computer, NC (Numerical control), precision mechanism, signal analysis and processing were integrated in the testing system. The system includes a PC, system software, ultrasonic data acquisition card, stepper motor drive card and five-axis precision mechanical device, etc. The software was developed using WIN98-based VC++. According to CAD data of the parts and interpolation methods, the scanning programs can be programmed. The five-axis scanning system is driven by the CNC(computer numerical control) system to control the attitude of ultrasonic probes. The system’s automatic scanning for complex surface parts, real-time acquiring ultrasonic data and automatic identifying flaw signal have been realized. This system can be used not only for testing complex surface parts, but for testing random curve parts. With fast testing speed, high sensitivity, high testing precision and high reliability, the system has a wide adaptability.

Ultrasonic C-scan inspection of brazed joint in thin panel honeycomb structure

The non-destructive testing of brazed joint in honeycomb structure with thin panel （ thickness ： 0. 2 mm） was studied by ultrasonic C-scan method. Samples with different types of artificial defect were designed; the characteristic signal and the main parameters of the test were determined by the pre-experiment, and then parameters were optimized by orthogonal design, finally the optimum process was verified by a single panel sample. The multiple reflection echoes were chosen as the characteristic signal. The optimal C-scan results were achieved when the 20 MHz focus probe was used, and the pass band range for received signal were selected as 8 - 17. 5 MHz. The defects such as incomplete penetration and core damage can be detected with ultrasonic C-scan, and the detection accuracy can reach to 1 ram.

Application of the digital matched-filter technique to ultrasonic non-destructive testing

Acoustic-pulse compression is obtained in systems with different timebandwidth products by applying the digital matched-filter technique to ultrasonic non-destructive testing. The signal is linearly frequency -modulated (LFM) pulse and the digitized electrical-excitation signal itself is used as a digital matched filter. Experimental results are in good agreement with theory. Suppressions of side lobes achieve -41.9 dB and -41.5 dB for the Hamming and Gaussian weighted signals respectively. It shows that the application of the digital matched-filter technique improves the performances of a ultrasonic testing system explicitly.

Successes and challenges in non-destructive testing of aircraft composite structures

Composite materials are increasingly used in the aerospace industry.To fully realise the weight saving potential along with superior mechanical properties that composites offer in safety critical applications,reliable Non-Destructive Testing(NDT)methods are required to prevent catastrophic failures.This paper will review the state of the art in the field and point to highlight the success and challenges that different NDT methods are faced to evaluate the integrity of critical aerospace composites.The focus will be on advanced certificated NDT methods for damage detection and characterization in composite laminates for use in the aircraft primary and secondary structures.

Non-contact air-coupled transducers Lamb wave signal multipath effect and blind separation for different modes using PZT as receiver

Due to the complexity and faintness of the detection wave patterns obtained by aircoupled transducers,if it is possible to effectively separate the various modes and obtain nondispersive signals for more accurate detection and positioning,it will help to improve the accuracy and reliability of air-coupled ultrasonic Lamb wave detection,providing better technical support for the application and development of related fields.Because of the increased complexity of aircoupled signals,there is no definite theoretical formula to describe the mode changes of aircoupled signals,so the method based on blind separation has unique value.To address these challenges,the paper proposes a single-channel blind source separation(SCBSS)method.The effectiveness of this method is evaluated through simulations and experiments,demonstrating favorable separation results and efficient computational speed.This work first conducts an in-depth analysis of the signal characteristics of air-coupled ultrasonic non-destructive testing,and simulates the ultrasonic excitation conditions of air-coupled sensors through finite element software.The study of modal changes and multipath effects caused by the variation of the incidence angle of the ACT signal is carried out,and the situation of the Lamb wave signal excited by ACT at the receiving end is analyzed.By combining ACT with PZT signals,the ultrasonic signals of air-coupled Lamb waves are compared and studied,and their modal purification is carried out.

Simulation of Ultrasonic Propagation in Transformers within Thermal Fields and Intelligent Methodology for Hot-spot Temperature Recognition

Hot-spot temperature of transformer windings is a crucial indicator of internal defects.However,current methods for measuring the hot-spot temperature of transformers do not apply to those already in operation and suffer from data lag.This study introduces a novel inversion method that combines ultrasonic sensing technology,multiphysics simulation,and the K-nearest neighbors algorithm.Leveraging the penetrative ability and temperature sensitivity of ultrasonic sensing,a detailed physical field simulation model was established.This study extensively investigates the characteristics of ultrasonic wave signals inside transformers.The investigation includes different temperature fields,ranging from 40℃ to 110℃ at 10℃ intervals,and various ultrasonic wave emitter conditions.By extracting the key features of the acoustic signals,such as the peak time,propagation time,and peak amplitude,an accurate inversion of the winding hot-spot temperature is successfully achieved.The results demonstrate that this method achieves a high accuracy rate(98.57%)in inverting the internal winding hot-spot temperatures of transformers,offering an efficient and reliable new approach for measuring winding hot-spot temperatures.

Applications of Non-destructive Tests for Diagnosis of Heritage Buildings:Case Studies from Singapore and Malaysia

Non-destructive tests have been increasingly used in historic buildings not only for pre-restoration investigation but also as useful tools to evaluate the effectiveness of eventual interventions.These tests can complement and supplement destructive tests like laboratory analysis of extracted samples as long as a sound sampling plan has been put in place to commensurate with the pattern and extent of dilapidation and materials distribution.Common methods employed in projects in Singapore and Malaysia include the infrared thermography,ground penetrating radar,microwave moisture tomography and ultrasonic pulse echo tomography.The paper discusses about a selection of case studies,demonstrating the application of various techniques for the identification of hidden details,defects and deterioration,and moisture detection.

A New Method for Detecting Internal Defects in Composite Materials Based on Time of Flight

Carbon-fiber reinforced polymer composites have been widely used to achieve the light-weighted design and high performance due to superior performance. Internal defects in the composite materials are the main factors that determine their performance,which makes reliable and effective detection methods of internal defects essential. Nondestructive testing(NDT)methods are the most widely-used way due to their tremendous advantages. Though the theoretical background is found,experimental results could be quite complicated and confusing,especially for composite materials with complex defects characteristics. In this paper,experimental study on internal defects in composite materials based on the time of flight(ToF)are investigated. The Gaussian echo model and the parameter estimation methods are established to build a theoretical model for measurements. Then,the distance amplitude correction(DAC)method is proposed to effectively improve the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)and to reduce distortion of the signal during measurements. Finally,the ToF is adopted to determine depth of internal defects. Experiment study is conducted to investigate the porosity defects and the anti-impact performance of composite materials,as well as defects in objects with various thicknesses. Experimental results show that the proposed method is quite helpful for obtaining the intuition and deep understanding of internal defects,thus contributing to the determination of product performance and its improvement.

Model selection for SVM using mutative scale chaos optimization algorithm

This paper proposes a new search strategy using mutative scale chaos optimization algorithm （MSCO） for model selection of support vector machine （SVM）. It searches the parameter space of SVM with a very high efficiency and finds the optimum parameter setting for a practical classification problem with very low time cost. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed method it is applied to model selection of SVM in ultrasonic flaw classification and compared with grid search for model selection. Experimental results show that MSCO is a very powerful tool for model selection of SVM, and outperforms grid search in search speed and precision in ultrasonic flaw classification.

Artificial Neural Network(ANN)Approach for Predicting Concrete Compressive Strength by SonReb

The compressive strength of concrete is one of most important mechanical parameters in the performance assessment of existing reinforced concrete structures.According to various international codes,core samples are drilled and tested to obtain the concrete compressive strengths.Non-destructive testing is an important alternative when destructive testing is not feasible without damaging the structure.The commonly used non-destructive testing(NDT)methods to estimate the in-situ values include the Rebound hammer test and the Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity test.The poor reliability of these tests due to different aspects could be partially contrasted by using both methods together,as proposed.in the SonReb method.There are three techniques that are commonly used to predict the compressive strength of concrete based on the SonReb measurements:computational modeling,artificial intelligence,and parametric multi-variable regression models.In a previous study the accuracy of the correlation formulas deduced from the last technique has been investigated in comparison with the effective compressive strengths based on destructive test results on core drilled in adjacent locations.The aim of this study is to verify the accuracy of Artificial Neural Approach comparing the estimated compressive strengths based on NDT measured parameters with the same effective compressive strengths.The comparisons show the best performance of ANN approach.