• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.6432-6439
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• 2014

The NAUT (Non-contact Air coupled Ultrasonic Testing) technique is one of the ultrasonic testing methods that enables non-contact ultrasonic testing by compensating for the energy loss caused by the difference in acoustic impedance of air with an ultrasonic pulser receiver, PRE-AMP and high-sensitivity transducer. As the NAUT is performed in a state of steady ultrasonic transmission and reception, testing can be performed on materials of high or low temperatures or specimens with a rough surface or narrow part, which could not have been tested using the conventional contact-type testing technique. For this study, the internal defects of spot weld, which are often applied to auto parts, and CFRP parts, were tested to determine if it is practical to make the NAUT technique commercial. As the spot welded part had a high ultrasonic transmissivity, the result was shown as red. On the other hand, the part with an internal defect had a layer of air and low transmissivity, which was shown as blue. In addition, depending on the PRF (Pulse Repetition Frequency), an important factor that determines the measurement speed, the color sharpness showed differences. With the images obtained from CFRP specimens or an imaging device, it was possible to identify the shape, size and position of the internal defect within a short period of time. In this paper, it was confirmed in the above-described experiment that both internal defect detection and image processing of the defect could be possible using the NAUT technique. Moreover, it was possible to apply NAUT to the detection of internal defects in the spot welded parts or in CFRP parts, and commercialize its practical application to various fields.