• High speed inspection: The ability of electronic rotation of the ultrasonic beam allows high speed inspection up to 6000 rounds per minute (r. p. m. )

• High versatility of the probes: The phased array technology allows electronic beam steering and focussing and then a single probe allows the inspection of various diameters and thicknesses of tubes

• Simpler mechanism: the electronic rotation of the beam reduces the mechanical motion of the probes to only one axis (translation)

• Improved control of the beam: the suppression of the mechanical rotation of the probe improve the homogeneity of the incident beam in the tube when high speed inspection is required.

The special design of the probes developed by FRAMATOME allows a multi-purposed inspection technique with a single phased array transducer: such as detection of axial and radial cracks in the tube but also thickness, inner and outer diameters measurements.

In this presentation, we described several applications of these techniques with their performances.

• High speed in service inspection of Steam Generator (SG) tubes of Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) for crack detection and sizing, using an inner probe

• In service wear detection and full profilometry of control rods of PWR using an outer encircling probe.

• High speed control of fuel cladding tube, in manufacturer conditions for axial and radial defect detection, using an outer encircling probe.

The electronic phased Array equipment and specific real-time Hardware and Softwares to drive the probes and acquire data at such cadences are also described.