RECORDING INSTRUMENTS

Automatic monitor:
• Many instruments are equipped with a monitor function which
facilitates observing the flaw in the expectancy range.
• The start and end of the flaw expectancy range can thereby be marked
by means of a step on the base line of the screen or an additionally
displayed bar on the screen.
• If now an echo appears within this range then this releases a visible
and/or audible alarm signal.
• The response threshold of the monitor is also variable so that an echo
indication only releases the alarm when it has reached a certain height.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Automatic monitor:
• This mode of operation is called “coincidence” mode.
• Some systemse are fitted with monitor which can also operate in the
“anticoincidence” mode, i.e. an echo indication only releases the
alarm when it has fallen below a certain threshold value.
• The anticoincedence mode is usually used for monitoring the
backwall echo height. This monitoring enables the operator to check
whether sufficient ultrasonic energy is being transmitted into the test
specimen or not.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Automatic monitor:
• In addition to the monitor function, most of these instruments have a
control output which can be used to further process the information.
• As soon as an echo appears within the monitor threshold a voltage is
fed to the control output which is proportional to the echo height and
which can be immediately used for automatic recording.
• By means of this monitor function together with a path pick-up which
is fixed into the probe, C-scans of workpieces can be easily printed on
an X-Y recorder.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Computer interfacing:
• The signal acquired through a conventional ultrasonic flaw detection
system can only be processed by a computer if it is first converted into
a digital signal.
• The digitization of the analogue signal is carried out in a special
electronic circuit called the analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) which
samples the incoming analogue signal at a fast rate of more than 20
MHz.
• This process of connecting the output of an ultrasonic flaw detector
through an ADC to the computer is called as computer interfacing.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Computer interfacing:
• The ADCs used in ultrasonic detection are either of successive
approximation type or of flash type of 8 or 12 bit resolution and
sample rate (or conversion rate) of 20 MHz or above.
• ADCs of 8 to 12 bit resolution and a sampling rate of 200 MHz or
more are available on boards which can be mounted into an empty
slot provided in a personal computer.
• These boards will then digitize and store the output of the flaw
detector which can then be processed by the computer using
appropriate software packages.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Recorders, printers and colour markers:
Recorders:
Almost any type of recorder can be used in ultrasonic test systems. The type
of recorder is usually related closely to the mechanical scanner used, since
search unit position is often one or two of the variables to be recorded.
Some of the pertinent advantages of various recorders follow.
Strip chart recorders:
• These recorders are usually the least expensive type.
• Chart paper flows through the recorder at a constant rate while a pen (or
pens in a multi-channel recorder) moves back and forth across the paper.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Recorders, printers and colour markers:
Strip chart recorders:
• They are useful where the search unit is carried over the test piece at
a constant rate so that its position can be determined easily from the
chart.
• The helix-drum type recorder is commonly used to make C-scan
recordings.
• In this recorder a chemically treated paper is passed between a bar
and a drum with a helix of wire wrapped around it.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Recorders, printers and colour markers:
Strip chart recorders:
• The printing bar has a narrow edge and is connected to the output of
an alarm or proportional output gate.
• The scanning of the probe over the work piece can be directly
coupled to the scan of the spot across the paper. At the end of each
scan the search unit and the paper are both indexed along.
• C-scan recordings showing many shades of gray are possible, each
shade representing different amplitude.
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Recorders, printers and colour markers:
X-Y recorders:
• In an X-Y recorder the pen moves in two orthogonal directions and
the paper remains stationary.
• In many models the pen can be lifted from the paper automatically
allowing its use as a C-scan recorder.
• Also in many models a constant scan speed along one axis can be
chosen if desired.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Recorders, printers and colour markers:
Magnetic tape recorders:
• Tape recorders have been used for recording the A-scan display of the
CRT screen directly, although the tape must be played back on
another CRT device.
• However, this scheme does allow retention and re-examination of the
signal pattern seen during an inspection.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Recorders, printers and colour markers:
Printers:
• Digital recorders are new to ultrasonic testing.
• They print rows of numbers on a paper tape rather than drawing lines. Each column
or group of columns of numbers can record several different variables simultaneously.
• The numerical print out is often much easier to use than trying to read values from a
scale on a strip chart. However, electrical data must be supplied to the recorder in a
digital form.
• This means that analogue to digital converters must be used thus increasing the cost
of the system, or the system must be designed to produce data in a digital form
originally.
 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS
Recorders, printers and colour markers:
Colour markers:
• Colour markers are devices which are triggered by the monitor gates
to mark the location of flaws on the test specimen surface.
• These devices are usually used in automatic inspection of plates, bars,
billets, pipes, etc.
• In immersion testing the location of flaws is either marked by using a
pneumatically operated lipstick or by running a grinding belt which is
pressed against the specimen at positions of the flaw.