Patent ID: 9625424
Date: 2017-04-18
CPC Classifications: G01N

Claim:
1. A method of preparing and using a scan plan for a phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) inspection system, the system configured to be coupled with a plurality of probes for conducting a plurality of categories of inspection tasks on a plurality of corresponding test objects, the inspection tasks need to be done in accordance to a set of standardized codes and a set of expertise rules given according to PAUT expertise and operated by a field inspector, the scan plan including instrument setup, acoustic setup, and positioning and movement of the plurality of probes, the method comprising the steps of: defining a set of standardized codes and expertise rules templates, each for a category of said plurality of categories of inspection tasks, by decomposing the codes, forming applicative guidelines and integrating the expertise rules for the plurality of categories of inspection tasks, defining a selected inspection task out of the plurality of categories of inspection tasks with a selected one of said plurality of test objects, and defining the category of the selected inspection task and accordingly selecting a corresponding one of said set of templates; defining a set of requirement scoring schemes, each including a target requirement score and an optimization scoring scheme according to the selected corresponding template, defining geometric definitions of the selected test object, as part of the scan plan, determining at least one selected probe out of the plurality of probes, and N sets of probe operation parameters for the at least one selected probe, one at a time, using one of the N sets of probe operation parameters and the geometric definitions to seek requirement scores using the requirement scoring schemes and selecting m sets of probe operation parameters that reached the target requirement score, wherein m is less than or equal to N, one at a time, seeking optimization scores by using the optimization scoring schemes among the m sets of operation parameters and finding a set of probe operation parameters to be the optimal set of probe operation parameters, and, using the scan plan with the selected corresponding template and the optimal set of probe operation parameters to conduct the selected inspection task inspecting the selected test object.