• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2009

Steam Generator(SG) tube is an important component of Nuclear Power Plant(NPP), which comprises of the pressure boundary of primary system. The integrity of SG tube has been confirmed by the eddy current test every outage. In Korea, Bobbin probe and MRPC probe have been generally used for the eddy current test. Meanwhile the usage of Array probe has gradually increased in U.S., Japan and other countries. In this study, we investigated the defect detection capability of the Array probe through its preliminary application to SG tube inspection. The Array probe has the equivalent capability in the defect detection and sizing as the conventional methods. Thus it is desirable that the Array probe is generally applied to SG tube inspection in the domestic NPPs.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2005

Ultrasonic guided waves have been widely employed for long range inspection of structures such as plates, rods and pipes. There are numerous modes with different wave velocities, and the appropriate mode selection is one of key techniques in the application of guided waves. In the present work, phase tuning by an array transducer was applied to generate ultrasonic guided waves. For this purpose, 8-channel ultrasonic pulser/receiver and their controller which enables sequential activation of each channels with given time delay were developed. Eight transducers were fabricated in order to generate guided waves by using an array transducer. The selective tuning of wave mode can be achieved by changing the interval between elements of an array transducer.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.291-298
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• 2015

An array type probe for monitoring metal tubes is proposed in this paper which utilizes peak value and peak time of a pulsed eddy current(PEC) signal. The probe consists of an array of encircling coils along a tube and the outside of coils is shielded by ferrite to prevent source magnetic fields from directly affecting sensor signals since it is the magnetic fields produced by eddy currents that reflect the condition of metal tubes. The positions of both exciter and sensor coils are consecutively moved automatically so that manual scanning is not necessary. At one position of send-receive coils, peak value and peak time are extracted from a sensor PEC signal and these data are accumulated for all positions to form an array type peak value signal and an array type peak time signal. Numerical simulation was performed using the backward difference method in time and the finite element method for spatial analysis. Simulation results showed that peak value increases and the peak appears earlier as the defect depth or length increases. The proposed array signals are shown to be excellent in reflecting the defect location as well as variations of defect depth and length within the array probe.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.330-337
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• 2010

In this paper, 3-dimensional electromagnetic numerical analysis is performed about the eddy current(EC) array probe characteristic which is the next generation probe for accurate diagnosis of steam generator(SG) in nuclear power plants(NPPs). ASME(American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Standard and X-probe combo calibration standard tube are selected for acquisition of eddy current testing(ECT) signals and this result of compared with the real test signals for reasonability of result. Based on the analysis result of calibration standard tube, ECT signals that are about the defects of pitting, stress corrosion cracking(SCC), multiple SCC and wear is obtained. Material of specimen was Inconel 600 which is usually used for SG tubes in NPPs. The operation frequency of 300 kHz were used. The signal characteristics could be observed according to the various defects. The results in this paper can be helpful when the ECT signals from EC array probe are evaluated and analyzed.

• Proceedings of the Acoustical Society of Korea Conference
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• spring
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• pp.385-388
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• 2002

현재 복부용 초음파 진단장치에 가장 일반적으로 사용 되고 있는 3.5MHz의 굴곡형 선형배열(curved linear array) 탐촉자에 대하여, 탐촉자 요소의 폭과 높이, 측 방향 및 높이 방향의 곡률 반경 둥의 구조적인 파라메터 변화가 음장에 미치는 영향을 시물레이션을 통하여 체계적으로 해석하였다. 시물레이션에 있어서, 탐촉자는 128개의 요소변환자 중 32개에 의해 초음파 빔을 형성하며, 매질 중에 방사된 파형은 코사인 포락선을 갖는 3주기의 펄스인 것으로 일정하게 가정하였다. 시뮬레이션의 결과, 탐촉자의 측 방향 및 높이 방향 곡률보다는 탐촉자 요소의 폭 및 개구높이가 음장에 더 많은 영향을 미치고 있음을 알 수 있었다.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.744-756
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• 2002

The transient acoustic fields formed by a 3.5 ㎒ curved linear array transducer which is commonly used in ultrasonic medical imaging system for diagnosis of abdomen are systematically analyzed to obtain new design parameters for the better acoustic image. In the analysis with an assumption of radiating waveform, element size, radius of curvature, amplitude apodization are considered as parameters giving constitutive relations with the fields. As simulation results, appropriate new parameters with the reduced curvature and elevation aperture and the apodization of Hamming window, which make an improved acoustic beam with lower side lobe levels than a conventional typical transducer, are obtained.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.592-599
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• 2002

In this study, an ultrasonic transducer was designed with a commercial finite element analysis (FEA) code, PZFlex, and fabricated based on the design. The transducer has the dimension and shape suitable for abdomen diagnosis working at 5 ㎒ and consists of 128 piezoelectric elements disposed in a convex linear array form. The transducer is composed of two impedance matching layers, one backing layer, and kerfs placed between the piezoelectric elements. Validity of the design with the FEA was illustrated through experimental characterization of a sample transducer. Comparison with the design results by equivalent circuit analysis method was also made to check the superiority of the FEA design.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.350-355
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• 2005

The probes of fiber optic OTDR (Optical Time Domain Reflectometry) sensor was developed to measure displacements of social infrastructures. This probe was simply constructed with two conventional optical fiber connectors, and a fiber bending part, which transforms displacement to optical loss. When the displacement was affected on the bending loss part, the reflected light intensity of one optical connector was changed. The displacement was determined from this reflected light intensity change of the connector. fiber optic OTDR displacement sensor was developed as the multiplexed type of one fiber line with 5 sensor probes. Multiplexing operation was tested by these 5 sensor probes.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.93-97
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• 2009

An advantage of a magnetostrictive strip transducer for a long-range guided wave inspection is that the wave patterns are relatively clear and simple when compared to a conventional piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer. Therefore, if we can characterize the evolution of defect signals, it could be a promising tool for a structural health monitoring of pipes for a long period of time as well as an identification of flaws. However, when evaluating a signal during a realistic field examination, it should be careful because of some spurious signals or false indications, such as signals due to a directionality, multiple reflections, mode conversion, geometrical reflections etc. Mode converted signals from a realistic piping mockup were acquired and analysed. We found mode conversions between a torsional guided wave T(0,1) mode and a flexural F(1,3) or longitudinal L(0,2) mode generated by a magnetostrictive strip transducer. Based on the experimental observations, an interpretation of the source of the mode conversion is discussed in a viewpoint of electromagnetic properties and structure of the strip transducer.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2010

Ultrasonic inspection of heavy walled cast austenitic stainless steel(CASS)welds is very difficult due to complex and coarse grained structure of CASS material. The large size of anisotropic grain strongly affects the propagation of ultrasound by severe attenuation, change in velocity, and scattering of ultrasonic energy. therefore, the signal patterns originated from flaws can be difficult to distinguish from scattered signals. To improve detection and sizing capability of ID connected defect for heavy walled CASS piping welds, the low frequency segmented TRL Pulse Echo and Phased Array probe has been developed. The experimental studies have been performed using CASS pipe mock-up block containing artificial reflectors(ID connected EDM notch). The automatic pulse echo and phase array technique is applied the detection and the length sizing of the ID connected artificial reflectors and the results for detection and sizing has been compared respectively. The goal of this study is to assess a newly developed ultrasonic probe to improve the detection ability and the sizing of the crack in coarse-grained CASS components.