Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US4864178?dq=6,712,702
Timestamp: 2017-04-23 12:16:49
Document Index: 215789478

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 19', 'art 19']

Patent US4864178 - Ultrasonic probe for testing the material of slotted or hollow pieces of the ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsAn ultrasonic probe 1 for non-destructive material testing of slotted or hollowed pieces of material 2 and comprising a carrier 3 and a probe part 4 connected to said carrier, which probe part is formed with one or several piezo-electric crystals 5 provided at or adjacent the tip thereof and mounted...http://www.google.com/patents/US4864178?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US4864178 - Ultrasonic probe for testing the material of slotted or hollow pieces of the materialAdvanced Patent SearchTry the new Google Patents, with machine-classified Google Scholar results, and Japanese and South Korean patents.Publication numberUS4864178 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 07/169,888Publication dateSep 5, 1989Filing dateMar 18, 1988Priority dateDec 6, 1985Fee statusLapsedPublication number07169888, 169888, US 4864178 A, US 4864178A, US-A-4864178, US4864178 A, US4864178AInventorsPer A. Bjurling, Martin Ryf, Goran P. EmbringOriginal AssigneeBjurling Per A, Martin Ryf, Embring Goran PExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (13), Referenced by (10), Classifications (15), Legal Events (6) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetUltrasonic probe for testing the material of slotted or hollow pieces of the material
US 4864178 AAbstract
An ultrasonic probe 1 for non-destructive material testing of slotted or hollowed pieces of material 2 and comprising a carrier 3 and a probe part 4 connected to said carrier, which probe part is formed with one or several piezo-electric crystals 5 provided at or adjacent the tip thereof and mounted at an angle to the longitudinal plane of the probe of between 45° and 50° and rotated around its own axis over an angle of about 45°-47°. The probe can be formed with two or several symmetrically arranged piezo-electric crystals for allowing a complete testing of the piece of material by one single docking operation in that the different crystals are connected in turn after each other. Further the probe may also be formed with one or several straight scanning piezo-electric crystals 6 mounted in the carrier 3.
1. An ultransonic probe for use in a slotted specimen of bifurcated shape to provide an ultrasound trace of the specimen in the area adjacent the inner end of the slot, said probe comprising a carrier (3), a chisel shaped probe part (4) connected to the carrier and having a longitudinal axis, said probe part having a tip adapted for docking adjacent the inner end of the slot, said chisel shaped part having flat sides spaced from one another by a dimension dictated by the slot width, at least one piezo-electric crystal element provided adjacent the tip of said chisel shaped probe part, said piezo-electric crystal element having a generally rectangular planar shape and said element having a major element axis parallel the element's longer rectangular sides, and a minor element axis perpendicular said major element axis, said crystal element oriented in said probe part with said major element axis set at an angle (a) of about 46° relative said probe part longitudinal axis, and said element axis and longer sides defining a plane that is tilted relative said flat sides of said probe part so that a normal to said flat sides describes an angle (b) of about 46.5° with respect to said minor element axis.
2. An ultrasonic probe according to claim 1 further characterized by a second piezo-electric crystal element arranged in axially symetric relation to said one element in said tip such that both elements are arranged on opposite sides of said longitudinal axis at angles of 46°.
3. An ultrasonic probe according to claim 2 wherein said second element is provided in a second plane such that a normal to said flat probe part sides describes an angle (b) of 46.5° with said second element minor axis.
4. An ultrasonic probe for use in a hollow specimen defining a cylindrical bore to provide an ultrasound trace of the specimen in the area adjacent the inner end of the bore, said probe comprising a carrier, a cylindrical part (19) connected to the carrier and having a longitudinal axis, said cylinder probe part having a tip adapted for docking adjacent the inner end of the bore, said cylindrical probe part having a diameter dictated by the bore diameter, at least one piezo-electric crystal element provided adjacent the tip of said probe part, said element having a major element axis parallel the element's longer rectangular sides, and a minor element axis perpendicular said major element axis said crystal element oriented in said part with said element axis set at an angle (a) of about 50° relative said probe part longitudinal axis, and said major element axis and longer sides defining a plane that is tilted relative said longitudinal probe part axis so that said plane is inclined relative to a diameter of said probe part at an angle (b) of about 50° relative said minor element axis.
5. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 4 further characterized by a second piezo-electric crystal element arranged in axially symetric relation to said one element in said probe tip such that both elements have their major axes on opposite sides of said longitudinal axis at angles of 50° relative said longitudinal axis.
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 937,210, filed Dec. 3, 1986 now abandoned.
The present invention generally relates to non-destructive subsurface material testing by means of ultrasonic probes thereby detecting possible defects like fissures, pits, cavities etc. by observing differences from normal acoustic properties of pieces of materials caused by such defects. More particularly the invention is directed to testing slotted or hollow pieces of material.
By forming the sound rotatable around its own axis it is in some cases possible to provide a good result with a probe having only one piezo-electric crystal. In many cases, for instance when the probe has a chisel-form or a similar form it is not possible to rotate the probe, and in such case the probe must be formed with at least two piezo-electric crystals each covering an angle of at least 180°, whereby the crystals are mounted in a specific way, so that the crystals together give a complete picture all around the test object.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention for testing slotted pieces of material the ultrasonic probe is chisel-formed and at or close to the tip or the end of the chisel-form rod part the probe has two separate piezo-electric crystals which are mounted at an angle of about 35°-70° or preferably 45° in two opposite directions in relation to the longitudinal axis of the rod part, and in addition thereto the crystals are rotated around its own axis at an angle of around 45°-50° in relation to the longitudinal axis of the rod part. A crystal which in relatively fine grain test objects prove to have a good distribution and a good signal-to-noise-ratio has a frequency of about 4 MHz. The said crystal, however, is not particularly suitable for course grain object, and tests have shown that a crystal having a frequency of about 2 MHz, in spite of giving a relatively less good distribution and signal-to-noise-ratio than the 4 MHz crystal still gives an ultrasound picture in course grain materials which is more easy to interprete. Therefore piezo-electric crystals having a frequency of about 4 MHz ought to be used as far as possible, but if the sound picture indicates that the test object is of course grain type crystals having a frequency of about 2 MHz should rather be used.
FIG. 1 shows an example of an ultrasound probe for testing a slotted guide pin of guide support tubes for fuel rods of a nuclear reactor.
FIG. 1 shows a chisel formed ultrasonic probe 1 for testing a slotted pin, for instance a guide pin. The probe comprises a carrier 3 and a chisel part 4 adjacent the tip of which two "round scanning" piezo-electric crystals 5 are mounted. At the end of the carrier part 3 the probe may also be formed with two "straight scanning" crystals 6.
The angle (a) is preferably on the order of 46° relative the longitudinal axis of the probe or chisel part 4 and the angle (b) of the minor element axis is preferably oriented at 46.5° relative to the line normal to the faces of the chisel part 4.
The locating and positioning of the piezo-electric round scanning crystals 5 is critical and is shown diagrammatically in the enlarged picture of FIGS. 3 and 4. The crystals are mounted isolated in a damping block, and they are localized in an angle a of between 40° and 70° or preferably between 40° and 50° in relation to the longitudinal axis 14 of the chisel part 4, and they are also rotated in an angle b around its own axis of between 45 and 50°. Practical tests have shown that the optimum angles vary for different crystals. For instance a crystal of 4 MHz gives the best values at an angle a of about 50° and an angle b of about 45°, whereas a crystal of 2 MHz frequency gives the best result at an angle a of 46° and an angle b of about 46.5°. The two crystals 5a and 5b are isolated from each other, and each is connected to a mixing box 15 over a (not illustrated) conduit, and the mixing box 15 in turn is connected to an ultrasonic apparatus 16 having an oscilloscope like reading instrument 17. A computer or a tape registering unit 18 also may be connected to the ultrasonic apparatus 16. With the assistance of the mixing box 15 each of the piezo-electric crystals can in turn be connected and be read whereby a cumulated total sound picture is obtained of the four illustrated units, which picture is compared with corresponding reference pictures over fault free reference objects or reference objects having known defects thereby giving a clear conception of the character of the test object. Any fissures, cavities or similar defects given an echo which is observed as a peak on the oscilloscope 17.
As previously mentioned the ultrasonic probe can be formed with a circular cylindrical probe part 19 as shown in FIG. 7 and at the tip of said cylindrical part 19 the probe is formed with one or several piezo-electric crystals. Irrespective of the number of crystals which are used said crystals ought to be placed as mentioned above at an angle a to the longitudinal axis of 40°-70° or preferably 45°-50° and rotated an angle b around its own longitudinal axis of about 45°. In case the probe has only one crystal this is provided centrally in the cylindric part and close to the tip thereof, and when making tests with such a probe it is rotated into several test steps, for instance 180°, 90° or any other angle, whereby a test is made in each such angular position. In case the probe is formed with two or several crystals they are mounted symmetrically according to the above mentioned guide lines.
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