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Ultrasonic Inspection
Revised by Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Douglas Aircraft Company, McDonnell Douglas Corporation; Ajit K. Mal, University of California, Los Angeles;
and the ASM Committee on Ultrasonic Inspection*

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Electronic Equipment

Although the electronic equipment used for ultrasonic inspection can vary greatly in detail among equipment manufacturers, all
general-purpose units consist of a power supply, a pulser circuit, a search unit, a receiver-amplifier circuit, an oscilloscope, and
an electronic clock. Many systems also include electronic equipment for signal conditioning, gating, automatic interpretation, and
integration with a mechanical or electronic scanning system. Moreover, advances in microprocessor technology have extended
the data acquisition and signal-processing capabilities of ultrasonic inspection systems.

Power Supply. Circuits that supply current for all functions of the instrument constitute the power supply, which is usually
energized by conventional 115-V or 230-V alternating current. There are, however, many types and sizes of portable instruments
for which the power is supplied by batteries contained in the unit.

Pulser Circuit. When electronically triggered, the pulser circuit generates a burst of alternating voltage. The principal frequency
of this burst, its duration, the profile of the envelope of the burst, and the burst repetition rate may be either fixed or adjustable,
depending on the flexibility of the unit.

Search Units. The transducer is the basic part of any search unit. A sending transducer is one to which the voltage burst is
applied, and it mechanically vibrates in response to the applied voltage. When appropriately coupled to an elastic medium, the
transducer thus serves to launch ultrasonic waves into the material being inspected.

A receiving transducer converts the ultrasonic waves that impinge on it into a corresponding alternating voltage. In the
pitch-catch mode, the transmitting and receiving transducers are separate units; in the pulse-echo mode, a single transducer
alternately serves both functions. The various types of search units are discussed later in this article.

Receiver-amplifier circuits electronically amplify return signals from the receiving transducer and often demodulate or
otherwise modify the signals into a form suitable for display. The output from the receiver-amplifier circuit is a signal directly
related to the intensity of the ultrasonic wave impinging on the receiving transducer. This output is fed into an oscilloscope or
other display device.

Oscilloscope. Data received are usually displayed on an oscilloscope in either video mode or radio frequency mode. In
videomode display, only peak intensities are visible on the trace; in the RF mode, it is possible to observe the waveform of signal
voltages. Some instruments have a selector switch so that the operator can choose the display mode, but others are designed for
single-mode operation only.

Clock. The electronic clock, or timer, serves as a source of logic pulses, reference voltage, and reference waveform. The clock
coordinates operation of the entire electronic system.

Signal-conditioning and gating circuits are included in many commercial ultrasonic instruments. One common example of a
signal-conditioning feature is a circuit that electronically compensates for the signal-amplitude loss caused by attenuation of the
ultrasonic pulse in the testpiece. Electronic gates, which monitor returning signals for pulses of selected amplitudes that occur
within selected time-delay ranges, provide automatic interpretation. The set point of a gate corresponds to a flaw of a certain size
that is located within a prescribed depth range. Gates are often used to trigger alarms or to operate automatic systems that sort
testpieces or identify rejectable pieces.

Image- and Data-Processing Equipment. As a result of the development of microprocessors and modern electronics, many
ultrasonic inspection systems possess substantially improved capabilities in terms of signal processing and data acquisition. This
development allows better flaw detection and evaluation (especially in composites) by improving the acquisition of transient
ultrasonic waveforms and by enhancing the display and analysis of ultrasonic data. The development of microprocessor
technology has also been useful in portable C-scan systems with hand-held transducers (see the section "Scanning Equipment" in
this article).

In an imaging system, the computer acquires the position of the transducer and the ultrasonic data from the point. Combining the
two, an image is produced on the computer monitor, either in color or in gray-scale shades; each point is represented by a block
of a predetermined size. To expedite the inspection, it is common to use large blocks. Areas that require special attention are then
inspected with a higher resolution by using smaller blocks. Built-in software in the system allows users to analyze available
information under precise, controlled conditions and enables simulation of a top view regardless of transducer angle.
Copyright © 2002 ASM International®. All Rights Reserved.

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