Sensors 2013, 13(1), 975-983; doi:10.3390/s130100975
Applications of Flexible Ultrasonic Transducer Array for Defect Detection at 150 °C
1
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McGill University, 3480 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 2K6, Canada
2
National Research Council Canada, Boucherville, QC J4B 6Y4, Canada
3
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Rd., Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan 333, Taiwan
4
Center for Biomedical Engineering, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Rd., Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan 333, Taiwan
5
Healthy Aging Research Center, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Rd., Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan 333, Taiwan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 22 November 2012 / Revised: 10 January 2013 / Accepted: 10 January 2013 / Published: 15 January 2013
(This article belongs to the Section Physical Sensors)
Abstract
In this study, the feasibility of using a one dimensional 16-element flexible ultrasonic transducer (FUT) array for nondestructive testing at 150 °C is demonstrated. The FUT arrays were made by a sol-gel sprayed piezoelectric film technology; a PZT composite film was sprayed on a titanium foil of 75 µm thickness. Since the FUT array is flexible, it was attached to a steel pipe with an outer diameter of 89 mm and a wall thickness of 6.5 mm at 150 °C. Using the ultrasonic pulse-echo mode, pipe thickness measurements could be performed. Moreover, using the ultrasonic pulse-echo and pitch-catch modes of each element of FUT array, the defect detection was performed on an Al alloy block of 30 mm thickness with a side-drilled hole (SDH) of f3 mm at 150 °C. In addition, a post-processing algorithm based on the total focusing method was used to process the full matrix of these A-scan signals of each single transmitter and multi-receivers, and then the phase-array image was obtained to indicate this defect- SDH. Both results show the capability of FUT array being operated at 150 °C for the corrosion and defect detections. View Full-TextKeywords:
flexible ultrasonic transducer array; PZT sol-gel; pulse-echo mode; pitch-catch mode; total focusing method; phased-array imaging; defect detection
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Figure 1a
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MDPI and ACS Style
Shih, J.-L.; Wu, K.-T.; Jen, C.-K.; Chiu, C.-H.; Tzeng, J.-C.; Liaw, J.-W. Applications of Flexible Ultrasonic Transducer Array for Defect Detection at 150 °C. Sensors 2013, 13, 975-983.