Given that phased array probe are made with the piezo-composite technology, it is more and more current to use ultrasonic probes having 3D shaped active area, subdivided into many individual elements (up to one or two hundreds) and operating with various acoustic beam configurations. Therefore, it is impossible or very time consuming to attempt to characterise them the same way conventional probes are, that is to establish a full identity list of sensitivity and focal characteristics of all beams.
For many years FRAMATOME has developed and used PA probes designed for applications ranging from thick steel plate examinations to steam generator tube examinations. Each time the probe characterisation has to be carefully studied, taking into balance the cost of the task and the wish to obtain a complete inventory of the probe performances.
The paper intends to give, through different examples, guide-lines for characterisation of PA probes. They are treated either like series of individual elements or like groups of element constitutive of an acoustic aperture. We will discuss beam pattern measurement methods with regards to specific default that may be encountered. We will raise also the question whether it is useful to achieve a full characterisation of all beams steered by the probe or to limit the characterisation to a minimum set of acoustic configurations.
By the end, we will describe an automatic bench for full characterisation of the tube inspection probes which has been developed for meeting specific customer requirements.
Abstract Source:
Book of Abstracts, 7th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, 26-29 May 1998, ISBN: 87-986898-0-00
Full-Text Source:
Proceedings of the 7th European Conference on Non-Destructive Testing, 26-29 May 1998, ISBN:
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