Patent ID: 8448518

Claim:
A wear-plate assembly suitable for being configured to form a housing for an ultrasonic probe generating and receiving ultrasonic signals, the wear-plate assembly comprising: a covering plate that has a thickness less than a wavelength of the ultrasonic signals, wherein the probe is in a testing status when a testing surface of the probe is engaged with the covering plate via a liquid coupling, a plate holder further comprising a first holder and a second holder, the first holder being attached to the covering plate; a plate holder joining member connecting the first holder and the second holder and being configured to allow the housing to be at an open or a closed position to allow the probe to be put into or taken out of the housing, respectively, wherein the wear-plate assembly is configured so that when the probe is placed in the housing, the probe is in the testing status, wherein the covering plate is made of material that has an ultrasonic sound speed higher than 5500 m/s, an elastic modulus higher than 100 GPa, a hardness higher than 2 GPa, a tensile strength higher than 200 MPa, a flexural strength higher than 500 MPa, and fracture toughness greater than 5 MPa/m 0.5 .