Patent ID: 7429352
Filing Date: 2008-09-30
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
1. An installation for non-destructive control of metallurgical products, comprising: an ultrasound sensor device comprising a set of selectively accessible ultrasound transducer elements; an upstream circuit configured to selectively excite the transducer elements at selected instants; a downstream circuit configured to collect signals sensed on return by the transducer elements; and a processing component configured to analyze the signals sensed, as a global response of a metallurgical product to ultrasound excitation; wherein the upstream circuit is configured to operate by bursts, which are associated with a same temporal law of excitation of the transducer elements, wherein the downstream circuit comprises a memory and is configured to store samples of the signals sensed by each transducer element, in correspondence with each burst, to a selected temporal depth, wherein the processing component is configured to cooperate with the memory and is further configured, for each burst, to read and add up repetitively groups of samples corresponding to different transducer elements, and also to instants staggered from one element to another, according to a selected temporal processing law, peculiar to each repetition, wherein said processing component is further configured to calculate for each burst a plurality of reconstituted responses, each of which corresponds to a deflection on emission, and wherein said processing component is further configured to analyze the global response constituted by the reconstituted responses as a whole.