Patent ID: 6439054
Filing Date: 2002-08-27
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A method for testing substantially homogeneous materials for inhomogeneities, comprising:defining a plurality of positions across at least a portion of a material; sequentially irradiating at each of the positions of said plurality of positions with sonic energy; detecting individual echoes induced by said sonic energy at each sequentially irradiated position and associating at least some of the detected echoes with individual positions of the plurality of positions that triggered the at least some of the detected echoes; processing information pertaining to a measurement of at least one physical attribute of the at least some of the detected individual echoes to sort the at least some of the detected individual echoes into a first group indicative of inhomogeneities in the material, and a second group which does not indicate inhomogeneities in the material; sorting the individual echoes of the first group into clusters, with the clusters being defined as echoes from adjacent positions of the plurality of positions; analyzing and considering together the individual echoes associated with a common cluster to generate information about an inhomogeneity in the material; and comparing the generated information with data obtained from a reference material.