Ultrasonic arc maps and its potential application in non-destructive testing

Abstract

The ultrasound is a widely extended technique in non-destructive testing (NDT). Some its advantages are: low cost, safety and simplicity to be implemented, environment friendly and reliability. The ultrasound probes are useful to detect gaps, corrosion, breakages, changes of density and impurities in materials. However, the C-Scan used to produce a 3D image is complex and requires the use of a special probe made of a transducers matrix and a powerful computer to run the image processing algorithm. The cross-talk, spurious echoes and the position uncertainty of the reflected point make it harder to locate in the space the true points. This work describes the ultrasonic arc maps (UAM) technique and proposes to use them in NDT. Originally, the UAM was developed in robotics, where it showed good features to locate the true reflected points using a simple pulse-echo transducer. The algorithms for data processing are fast, easier to program and could be embedded in a digital system like a microcontroller or a FPGA.