Gachagan, Anthony

Germano, Elmergue

Hughes, David

Kwok Ho, Lam

Mohseni, Ehsan

Tabatabaeipour, Morteza

Trodden, Heather

English

Ulster University's Research Portal

                      Improving Industrial Inspections with High-Frequency Flexible Ultrasonic Kelpie ArraysGermano, E., Tabatabaeipour, M., Mohseni, E., Gachagan, A., Kwok Ho, L., Hughes, D., & Trodden, H. (2023).Improving Industrial Inspections with High-Frequency Flexible Ultrasonic Kelpie Arrays. Abstract from TheDoctoral School Multidisciplinary Symposium (DSMS 2023), Glasgow, United Kingdom.Link to publication record in Ulster University Research PortalPublication Status:Published (in print/issue): 14/06/2023General rightsThe copyright and moral rights to the output are retained by the output author(s), unless otherwise stated by the document licence.Unless otherwise stated, users are permitted to download a copy of the output for personal study or non-commercial research and arepermitted to freely distribute the URL of the output. They are not permitted to alter, reproduce, distribute or make any commercial use of theoutput without obtaining the permission of the author(s).If the document is licenced under Creative Commons, the rights of users of the documents can be found athttps://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/cclicenses/.Take down policyThe Research Portal is Ulster University's institutional repository that provides access to Ulster's research outputs. Every effort has beenmade to ensure that content in the Research Portal does not infringe any person's rights, or applicable UK laws. If you discover content inthe Research Portal that you believe breaches copyright or violates any law, please contact pure-support@ulster.ac.ukDownload date: 09/09/2024Improving Industrial Inspections with High-Frequency Flexible Ultrasonic Kelpie Arrays Keywords: High-frequency array; flexible array; complex-geometry components; Ultrasonic Non-Destructive Evaluation High frequency (>15 MHz) ultrasound arrays have gained significant attention in recent years for their ability to provide higher resolution images, allowing detection of smaller defects in materials and structures. This helps identify potential issues before they become critical, preventing costly repairs or even catastrophic failure in some cases. However, the limited penetration depth of high-frequency sound waves can hinder the inspection of thicker components, particularly with complex surface geometries. Therefore, an advanced  approach to overcome this limitation combining a high-frequency flexible ultrasonic array and specific patterns of excitation is presented.   In this investigation, a novel 20-MHz 64-element 1 mm-element spacing flexible linear array, developed by Novosound Ltd, was evaluated using two different signal excitation techniques to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensor performance on flat and complex-geometry components. An arbitrary waveform generator was used to excite the array with these excitation techniques and a pulse compression technique consisting of a matched filter was implemented on received signals.    Preliminary results were acquired with the array deployed on a 20 mm-thick flat aluminium sample with sided-drilled holes. An SNR improvement of over 65% for the backwall refection compared to a conventional pulse excitation was observed. The array offers flexibility to conform to complex-geometry surface profiles (Figure 1). A curved sample, representative of piping found in nuclear industry, was next investigated using both direct coupling and through an attenuating rubber material, that is suitable to scan the array over rough surfaces. For all experimental scenarios, both excitation schemes were optimised and compared in terms of capability for defect detection.  This innovative transducer system approach has the capability to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and reliability of industrial inspection. What makes this approach particularly noteworthy is its potential translation to medical ultrasound, thus bridging the gap between the two seemingly disparate fields. References [1] S. J. Lim, Y. L. Kim, S. Cho, and I. K. Park, “Ultrasonic Inspection for Welds with Irregular Curvature Geometry Using Flexible Phased Array Probes and Semi-Auto Scanners: A Feasibility Study,” Applied Sciences (Switzerland), vol. 12, no. 2, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.3390/app12020748. Figure 1: Problem in surface contact with a conventional rigid wedge transducer (left) [1]. Demonstration of the flexible Kelpie array inspecting a curved component (right).   

Improving Industrial Inspections with High-Frequency Flexible Ultrasonic Kelpie Arrays

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Improving Industrial Inspections with High-Frequency Flexible Ultrasonic Kelpie Arrays

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