• 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.2
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• pp.120-127
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• 2015

In this paper, a linear-array transducer capable of overcoming the faults of a single element and phased array transducers with convex shape for non-destructive ultrasonic testing was designed and fabricated. A 5.5 MHz linear-array transducer was designed using the PiezoCAD program based on the KLM analysis and the PZFlex program based on the FEM analysis. A 2-2 composite structure was employed to achieve broad-band characteristics. A 128 element linear-array transducer was fabricated and its performance was compared with the simulation results. The center frequency of the fabricated transducer was 5.5 MHz and the -6 dB frequency bandwidth was 70 %. Thus, we expect that the designed transducer can provide an effective inner image of the test material during non-destructive ultrasonic testing.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.78-82
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• 2010

The feeder pipe of Main Primary Heat Transfer System in Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant was inspected by the Ultrasonic Phase Array technique in 2010. It is the first time to apply this method to the construction at Nuclear Power Plant in Korea. The time required for UT technique is less than RT method. The UT method doesn't need to evacuate personnel who works nearby inspecting area and doesn't need to wait developing of film. For these reasons, the UT method is the fastest method among the volumetric inspections. As a result of the examination, it became clear that main defect of the feeder pipe is the Lack of fusion in the welded area. Moreover, the rate of defect was reduced gradually as improvement of welder's skill. If welding machine has problem, the defect has tended to same pattern(occurred same position in the welding area) but these defects were founded without specific rules. For these reasons, the creation of defect is dependent on the skill of worker not on the automatic welding machine. This evaluation of defect signal and collecting data would be useful to further examination in ISI.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.80-81
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• 2011

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.540-544
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• 2012

Like the phase array based ultrasonic system, complicated electronics has been used for real time signal processing in the magnetostrictive long-range ultrasonic testing(LRUT) system. This study shows that the software approach including the phase compensation, noise filtering and waveform transformation takes advantage rather than the previous hardware approach. Furthermore, it is possible for the software approach to be able more flexible and efficient realtime signal processing. These results will contribute to a cost-effective LRUT system and analysis of the inspection data.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.699-704
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• 2008

This paper describes a general approach for processing data from an omni-directional guided wave transducer array for the rapid inspection of large plate structures. A basic phased array algorithm is presented that can be applied to any array Geometry. For guided waves on plate, beam steering algorithm is derived and the corresponding beam pattern is analyzed. The algorithms are applied to simulation and experimental data. The results show well its usefulness in structural applications.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2009

NDE(Nondestructive examination) detects a flaw or discontinuity in materials. Flaws detected by the examination shall be evaluated for the decision basis of the integrity. The internal flaws of forging products can be detected by UT. However, UT has detection limits because of its reflected signal weakness. Normally, a 1mm or less flaw is known as the limit. If a flaw was detected, the size of flaw would be evaluated by AVG(or DGS) technique. To verify the evaluation data, alternative examination methods are needed. But there is no alternative examination methods until now. In this study, Phased array ultrasonic technique can be used to size the flaws in the generator rotor with focused beam of ultrasonic wave as a supplement method of AVG. Also, the phased array ultrasonic technique described enables the shape of flaw to be depicted exactly.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.56-63
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• 2009

This paper describes a general approach for processing data from an omni-directional guided wave transducer array for the rapid inspection of large plate structures. A basic phased array algorithm is presented that can be applied to any array geometry. For guided waves on plate, beam steering algorithm is derived and the corresponding beam pattern is analyzed. The algorithms are applied to simulation and experimental data. The results show well its usefulness in structural applications.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 2010

Cast austenitic stainless steel(CASS) is used in the primary cooling piping system of nuclear power plant for it's relative low cost, corrosion resistance and easy of welding. However, the coarse-grain structure of cast austenitic stainless steel can strongly affect the inspectability of ultrasonic testing. The major problems encountered during inspection are beam skewing, high attenuation and high background noise of CASS component. So far, the best inspection performance involving CASS components have been achieved using low frequency TRL(Transmitter/Receiver side-by-side L wave) angle beam probe. But TRL technique could not detect shallow defect and it contains an uncertainty for sizing capability. Currently, most of researchers are studying to overcome these challenge issue. In this study, low-frequency phased array TRL technique used to detect and sizing the flaws in CF8A cast austenitic stainless steel.As conclusion, we could detect and size not only axial flaw but also circumferential flaw using low frequency phased array technique.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.40-47
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• 2011

KSNPs(Korea Standard Nuclear Power Plant) have been applied the break exclusion criteria to the high energy lines passing through containment penetration area to ensure that piping failures would not cause the loss of containment isolation function, and to reduce the resulting dynamic effects. Systems with the criteria are the Main Steam system, Feed Water system, Steam Generator Blowdown system, and Chemical & Volume Control system. In accordance with FSAR(Final Safety Analysis Report), a 100% volumetric examination by augmented in-service inspection of all pipe welds appled the break exclusion criteria is required for the break exclusion application piping. However, it is difficult to fully satisfy the requirements of inspection because 12", 8" and 6" weldolet weldments of Main Steam pipe line have complex structural shapes. To resolve the difficulty on the application of conventional UT(Ultrasonic Testing) technique, realistic mock-ups and UT calibration blocks were made. Simulations of conventional UT were performed utilizing CIVA, a commercial NDE(Nondestructive Examination) simulation software. Phased array UT experiments were performed through mock-up including artificial notch type flaws. A phased array UT technique is finally developed to improve the reliability of ultrasonic test at main steam line pipe to 12", 8" and 6" branch connection weld.