• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.185-191
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• 2012

Typically, a wedge is involved to generate effectively high inspection angle in pipe weld inspection using phased array ultrasonic technique. But the usage of this wedge for weld or access limited area can cause coverage limitation for the examination volume because of the wedge front length. Therefore, the shear wave phased array probe which can generate high inspection angle without wedge is essentially necessary. In this paper, the shear wave phased array ultrasonic probe which can generate high inspection angle designed by modeling and manufactured from the modelling result. And this shear wave probe tested whether it can detect and sizing for EDM test block that contains various depth. As results, the experimental results show that the designed shear wave phased array probe can detect and size with reliable accuracy. Therefore if this phased array probe apply in field inspection, it is expected that it show more reliable inspection result for plant structure having access limitation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.227-233
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• 2011

The ultrasonic guided wave phased array using magnetostrictive patch transducers is proposed. The magnetostrictive transducer has received much attention because it is cost-effective and capable to generate ultrasonic waves with a simple configuration. However, it has not been used for ultrasonic guided wave phased array applications until now. In this paper, we propose a magnetostrictive transducer based phased array system consisting of a multi-channel function generator, power amplifiers and Lamb wave magnetostrictive transducers. To check the performance of the ultrasonic guided wave phased array, several Lamb wave focusing experiments were carried out in an aluminum plate. The results demonstrated the capability of the developed array to focus the Lamb waves at specific target points.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.8 s.173
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• pp.151-158
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• 2005

In the semiconductor and the optical industry, a new transport system which can replace the conventional sliding systems is required. The sliding systems are driven by the magnetic field and conveyer belts. The magnetic field nay damage semiconductor and the contact force may scratch the optical lens. The ultrasonic wave driven system can solve these problems. In this paper, an object transport system using the excitation of ultrasonic wave is proposed. The experiments for finding the optimal progressive frequency and the phase-differences between two ultrasonic wave generators are performed. The relationships between transportation speed and the excitation frequency, flexural beam shapes and amplification voltage are investigated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2013

Steam turbine blades and discs of nuclear power plants are one of the most highly stressed areas of turbine rotor, and periodic inspection of the blade roots is essential for monitoring integrity and preventing turbine failure. Ultrasonic technique is applied for volumetric inspection of blade root. However, the complexity of blade root geometry imposes challenges to inspection of blades and discs. Recently, phased array ultrasonic inspection technology is being applied to numerous power generation inspection applications including turbine rotor. The phased array ultrasonic technique requires customized inspection wedges which are generally necessary to generate effectively higher incident angle. But the usage of this wedge can cause access limitation for the lower stage blades of turbine because of the wedge front length. Therefore, the shear wave phased array probe which can generate high inspection angle without wedge is essentially necessary. In this study, feasibility study is conducted for the shear wave phased array ultrasonic probe application to blade and disc inspection. As results, the experimental results show that the shear wave phased array probe can detect the flaw and measure its size with reliable accuracy. Therefore if this shear wave phased array probe is applied to field inspection of blade and disc, more reliable inspection is expected for turbine having access limitation.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.798-802
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• 2007

The synthetic focusing in the ultrasonic imaging systems has been formed in the way that one element transmits a circular wave and receives an echo signal. The amplitude of the signal transmitted from one element is too small to propagate a long distance so that the SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio) is very low in an image obtained by the synthetic focusing. To solve this problem, a defocusing method which uses several elements has been proposed. In this method, the SNR is improved due to using several elements to transmit the circular wave. But if the number of transmitting elements increases, the phase distortion is severe in the defocusing method. In this paper, we propose a new method that can generate a circular wave using a lot of elements without phase distortion. At first, we generate limited plane waves with different propagation angles and then superpose them to make a circular wave. We show that the circular wave can be used to improve SNR in the real-time 3D ultrasonic imaging as well as the synthetic focusing through computer simulation and experiments.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1259-1263
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• 2004

In this paper, the optimum design of ultrasonic dry cleaning head was investigated. The transducer instead of mechanical dynamic structure was used to generate ultrasonic wave and the horn-shape amplifier was utilized to solve the energy decaying problem of ultrasonic wave with propagating it through the media. The analyses of ultrasonic wave and a fluid for the selected structure of a cleaning head were carried out using SYSNOISE and ANSYS simulators, respectively. Based on simulator results, the distance between a horn and the substrate of 4 mm and the horn diameter of 10 mm were determined to maximize the energy of ultrasonic waves. The cooling structure was also considered to reduce the heat from the transducer and the horn. The equivalent circuit for the fabricated horn was deduced from HP4194A impedance/gain/phase analyzer and the frequency of an ultrasonic wave of 20.25 kHz was confirmed using the parameters of the equivalent circuit.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.572-579
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• 1995

Most of conventional ultrasonic transducers are constructed to generate either longitudinal or shear waves, but not both of them. We investigate the mechanism of dual mode transducers that generate both of the longitudinal and shear waves simultaneously with single PZT element. The study is aimed to find the optimally desired cut by examining the anisotropic piezoelectric properties. Theory predicts that a mixed P/S mode transducer can be constructed using a rotated Z-cut of PZT piezoelectric ceramics. We study the performance of a PZT element as a function of its rotation angle so that its efficiency is optimized to excite the two waves as much as equally strong. The results are verified by the waveform in pulse-echo computer simulation and experiments. When the transducer is subjected to impedance analysis, it shows two thickness mode resonances, each of which being a mixed P/S thickness mode. By examining wave speeds on E transmitter delay line receiver setup, it is confirmed that the transducer can transmit and detect both longitudinal and shear wave simultaneously.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society Of Semiconductor Equipment Technology
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.184-187
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• 2005

In this paper, the transducer instead of mechanical dynamic structure was used to generate ultrasonic wave and the horn-shape amplifier was utilized to solve the energy decaying problem of ultrasonic wave with propagating it through the media. The analyses of ultrasonic wave and a fluid for the selected structure of a cleaning head were carried out Based on simulator results, the distance between a horn and the substrate of 4 mm and the horn diameter of 10 mm were determined to maximize the energy of ultrasonic waves. The cool ins structure was also considered to reduce the heat from the transducer and the horn.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2013

Ultrasonic guided wave techniques have been widely used for long range nondestructive detection in tube-like structures. The present paper investigates the ultrasonic linear and nonlinear parameters for evaluating the thermal damage in aluminum pipe. Specimens were subjected to thermal loading. Flexible polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) comb transducers were used to generate and receive the ultrasonic waves. The second harmonic wave generation technique was used to check the material nonlinearity change after different heat loadings. The conventional linear ultrasonic approach based on attenuation was also used to evaluate the thermal damages in specimens. The results show that the proposed experimental setup is viable to assess the thermal damage in an aluminum pipe. The ultrasonic nonlinear parameter is a promising candidate for the prediction of micro-damages in a tube-like structure.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2005

Ultrasonic guided waves have been widely employed for long range inspection of structures such as plates, rods and pipes. There are numerous modes with different wave velocities, and the appropriate mode selection is one of key techniques in the application of guided waves. In the present work, phase tuning by an array transducer was applied to generate ultrasonic guided waves. For this purpose, 8-channel ultrasonic pulser/receiver and their controller which enables sequential activation of each channels with given time delay were developed. Eight transducers were fabricated in order to generate guided waves by using an array transducer. The selective tuning of wave mode can be achieved by changing the interval between elements of an array transducer.