• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.84-90
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• 2017

An ultrasonic synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) using a root mean square (RMS) velocity model is proposed for pulse-echo immersion testing to improve the computational efficiency. Considering the immersion ultrasonic testing of a steel block as an example, three kinds of imaging were studied (B-Scan, SAFT imaging based on ray tracing technology and RMS velocity). The experimental results show that two kinds of SAFT imaging have almost the same imaging performance, while the efficiency of RMS velocity SAFT imaging is almost 25 times greater than the SAFT based on Snell's law.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2008

Immersion ultrasonic testing (UT) was used to determine elastic moduli of solid materials instead of the widely-used contact UT method. Conventionally, immersion UT is only used for determining the longitudinal wave speed. However, in this research, transverse wave speed was measured through finding transverse wave echoes caused by mode-conversion at material's boundary. Also, even in the cases when wave speeds could not be determined due to unknown thickness, Poisson's ratio was able to be calculated from the ratio of longitudinal and transverse wave speeds. This technique was verified for several materials, and it was found that higher accuracy was obtained by immersion UT method for materials either with relatively high wave speed or with relatively small Poisson's ratio. This technique thus will be suitable fur ceramics or high strength materials.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.519-523
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• 2008

Poisson's ratio is one of elastic constants of elastic solids. However, it has not attracted attention due to its narrow range and difficult measurement. Transverse wave velocity as well as longitudinal wave velocity should be measured for nondestructive measurement of Poisson's ratio. Hard couplant for transverse wave prevents transducer from scanning over specimen. In the present work, a novel measurement of Poisson's ratio distribution was proposed. Immersion method was employed for the scanning over the specimen. Echo signals of normal beam longitudinal wave were collected. Transverse wave modes generated by mode conversion were identified. From transit time of longitudinal and transverse waves, Poisson's ratio can be determined without information of specimen thickness. This technique was demonstrated for aluminum and steel specimens.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.348-353
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• 2004

This study is aimed for the implementation of ultrasonic method to assess the reliability of turbine bearings. A modified ultrasonic immersion technique was carried out in both laboratory experiment and field application. From the laboratory results, we confirmed that the condition of interface layer between the babbitt and base metal be monitored by the C-Scan. The C-scan image by the ultrasonic immersion test can be used successfully to observe the condition of interface layer. The testing with a focused transducer provides a promising approach for estimating the extent of the damaged region and observing the interface layer effectively. The difference of the ultrasonic reflection ratio between the bonding and debonding area at the interface layer is one of the key parameters for assessing the extent of the damaged area; additionally, the reflection amplitude exhibits a favorable correlation with the overall damage level. The technique developed in this study was applied to the inspection of the turbine bearings at several power plants in Korea whereby the applicability in the field can be ascertained.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.153-161
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• 2006

A simulation program SIMULTSONIC is under development at CNDE to help determine and/or help optimize ultrasonic probe locations for inspection of complex components. SIMULTSONIC provides a ray-trace based assessment for immersion and contact modes of inspection. The code written in Visual C++ operating in Microsoft Windows environment provides an interactive user interface. In this paper, a description of the various features of SIMULTSONIC is given followed by examples illustrating the capability of SIMULTSONIC to deal with inspection of canonical objects such as pipes. In particular, the use of SIMULTSONIC in the inspection of very thin-walled pipes (with 450 urn wall thickness) is described. Ray trace based assessment was done using SIMULTSONIC to determine the standoff distance and the angle of oblique incidence for an immersion mode focused transducer. A 3-cycle Hanning window pulse was chosen for simulations. Experiments were carried out to validate the simulations. The A-scans and the associated B-Scan images obtained through simulations show good correlation with experimental results, both with the arrival time of the signal as well as with the signal amplitudes.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.548-557
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• 2010

An ultrasonic resonance scattering spectroscopy technique is developed and applied for reconstructing elastic constants of a transversely isotropic cylindrical component. Immersion ultrasonic measurements are performed on tube samples made from a boron/aluminum composite material to obtain resonance frequencies and dispersion curves of different guided wave modes propagating in the tube. Theoretical analysis on the acoustic resonance scattering from a transversely isotropic cylindrical tube is also performed, from which complete backscattering and resonance scattering spectra and theoretical dispersion curves are calculated. A sensitive change of the dispersion curves to the elastic properties of the composite tube is observed for both normal and oblique incidences; this is exploited for a systematic evaluation of damage and elastic constants of the composite tube samples. The elastic constants of two boron/aluminum composite tube samples manufactured under different conditions are reconstructed through an optimization procedure in which the residual between the experimental and theoretical phase velocities (dispersion curves) is minimized.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.8-14
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• 2008

For nondestructive inspection of electron beam (EB) welding part in automotive power transmission assembly, a pulse-echo ultrasonic testing apparatus in water immersion has been applied using the ultrasonic waves with a frequency of 10MHz. However various problems have appeared during the ultrasonic inspection, which led to some significant mistakes in automatic quality evaluation of the welding parts. Experimental study showed that the state of water couplant medium containing some amount of contaminants, rusts and anti-corrosion agents had considerable influences on the reduction of ultrasonic amplitudes during wave propagation. The amplitude reduction depending on the coupling medium state could bring about some mis-diagnoses for defects in the welding parts. The results proposed that for a reliable inspection of defects in welds the state of water medium should be kept in about 15 volume fractions (vol.%) of anti-corrosion agents and in minimized contaminants.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.586-590
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• 2009

Poisson's ratio, one of elastic constants of elastic solids, has not attracted attention due to its narrow range and difficult measurement. Transverse wave velocity as well as longitudinal wave velocity should be measured for nondestructive measurement of Poisson's ratio. Rigid couplants for transverse wave is one of obstacle for scanning over specimen. In the present work, a novel measurement of Poisson's ratio distribution was applied. Immersion method was employed for the scanning over the specimen. Echo signals of normal beam longitudinal wave were collected, and transverse wave modes generated by mode conversion were identified. From transit time of longitudinal and transverse waves, Poisson's ratio was determined without the information of specimen thickness. Poisson's ratio distribution of the carbon steel weldment was mapped. Heat affected zone of the weldment was clearly distinguished from base and filler metals.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2017

Ultrasonic transducers with high resolution and resonant frequency are required to detect small defects (less than hundreds of ${\mu}m$) by ultrasonic testing. The resonance frequency and resolution of an ultrasonic transducer are closely related to the thickness of piezo-electric materials, backing materials, and the electric impedance matching technique. Among these factors, electrical impedance matching plays an important role because it can reduce the loss and reflection of ultrasonic energy differences in electrical impedance between an ultrasonic transducer and an ultrasonic defects detecting system. An LC matching circuit is the most frequently used electric matching method. It is necessary for the electrical impedance of an ultrasonic transducer to correspond to approximately $50{\Omega}$ to compensate the difference in electrical impedance between both connections. In this study, a 15 MHz immersion ultrasonic transducer was fabricated and an LC electrical impedance circuit was applied to that for having broad-band frequency characteristic.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.33-39
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• 1992

This paper presents a summary of the immersion ultrasonic test to analyze the quality of diffusion bonding parts. The most important property of diffusion bonding parts is bonding strength, and that can be obtained by shear test. By comparing among data obtained by ultrasonic test(C-Scan) and those by shear test (bonding strength), these data are shown to be in good relation. Therefore ultrasonic C-Scan test result can be used successfully in quantitative quality control for diffusion bonded parts.