Patent ID: 8235663

Claim:
A method of ultrasonically inspecting a disk-shaped article having a plurality of axially-oriented slots circumferentially spaced from each other at a periphery of the article and circumferentially separated from each other by volume portions of the article, the article comprising a plurality of members secured at the periphery of the article, each member having a retention feature that extends into and engages a corresponding one of the slots so as to secure the members to the slots, the method comprising the steps of: forming the slots to have radial depths within the article that are greater than an extent to which the retention features of the members extend into the slots so as to define cavities radially-inward from radially-inward extremities of the retention features, the cavities accommodating at least a first ultrasonic transducer adapted to be placed in the slots without requiring removal of the members; placing at least the first ultrasonic transducer in at least a first of the cavities defined by a first of the slots; and performing a diagnostic technique on an interior surface of a second of the slots that is immediately adjacent the first slot by causing the first ultrasonic transducer to emit an ultrasonic signal that passes through one of the volume portions of the article between the first cavity and the interior surface of the second slot so that the ultrasonic signal intersects the interior surface of the second slot.