Patent · US Expired

Apparatus and method for nondestructive evaluation of butt welds

US5537876A · kind A · utility

44Cited by
1References
9Claims
0Family size

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 2, 1994
Grant dateJul 23, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 2, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01N2291/2675
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Apparatus and method for nondestructive evaluation of butt welds. The present invention in its broadest form includes an apparatus and method for detecting flaws in butt welds in steel sheets using horizontal shear ultrasonic waves generated on the surface thereof. Observation of reflected waves having amplitude greater than a chosen value signals the presence of significant flaw. To achieve this objective, the present apparatus detects only reflected horizontal shear waves; other modes are electronically removed using bandpass filters, since they occur at different frequencies. The invention may therefore be used in the presence of surface structures such as clamps and the like, and in the presence of surface nonuniformities in the vicinity of the weld, thereby permitting on-line flaw detection steel mill environment without interfering with the line output. The ultrasonic waves are generated and received by a pair of electromagnetic acoustical transducers having magnetic fields which are oriented 40-65 degrees from the direction of the transmitted and received waves.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.