Patent ID: 7617733

Claim:
An apparatus for ultrasonic phased array testing of bearing ball comprising: a plurality of phased arrays of ultrasonic transducers; each ultrasonic transducer having a defined curvature to focus ultrasonic enemy at a critical angle onto the bearing ball, optimizing signal generation and detection; a mount positioning and moving said phased arrays of ultrasonic transducers relative to a bearing ball under test; a rotation stage rotating the bearing ball under test about an axis; a phased array electronic control coupled to said phased arrays of ultrasonic transducers controlling sequential firing and detection of ultrasonic transducers of said phased arrays with the ultrasonic energy produced by said ultrasonic transducers being converted into a surface acoustic wave propagating along a bearing ball surface with enhanced amplitude; and a data acquisition and analysis computer coupled to said phased array electronic control generating and acquiring test data, and processing the test data to identify a defect in the bearing ball under test.