Patent ID: 7496456

Claim:
A three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus comprising: a sensing device for ultrasonic inspection including a transducer as an ultrasonic sensor having a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators disposed in a matrix or an array; a drive element selecting unit for sequentially selecting piezoelectric vibrators from the plurality of piezoelectric vibrators constituting the ultrasonic transducer to produce an ultrasonic wave; a signal detecting circuit for causing the ultrasonic wave produced by the piezoelectric vibrator selected by the drive element selecting unit to propagate through an acoustic wave propagating medium and enter a joined area of an object to be inspected for receiving a reflected echo from the joined area, and for detecting an electric signal corresponding to the reflected echo from the joined area; a signal processing unit for subjecting the electric signal detected by the signal detecting circuit to signal processing, and generating three-dimensional imaging data by causing the electric signal to correspond to a mesh element partitioned in a three-dimensional imaging region set inside the object to be inspected; and a display processing device for displaying the detection results and three-dimensional image data from the signal processing unit, while detecting a size and a position of a molten-solidified portion, and a size and a position of a weld defect of the joined area from intensity distribution of the three-dimensional imaging data generated by the signal processing unit, wherein the display processing device includes: a bottom portion data processing unit for detecting the size and position of a molten-solidified portion from a strength distribution of three-dimensional imaging data of a bottom of the joined area of the object to be inspected generated by the signal processing unit; an intermediate portion data processing unit for detecting presence or absence and the size of a molten defect of the joined area from the strength distribution of the three-dimensional imaging data of an intermediate joined area of the object to be inspected; a determination unit for comparing detected results obtained by the bottom portion data processing unit and the intermediate portion data processing unit with determination reference values of the presence or absence and the size and position of the determined molten-solidified portion, and determining the acceptability of the object to be inspected based on the comparing; and a display unit for displaying the results obtained by the bottom portion data processing unit, the intermediate portion data processing unit and the determination unit, and displaying the three-dimensional imaging data generated by the signal processing unit.