• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.118-126
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• 2011

The characteristics of the responses obtained in thermosonic tests are investigated in this study to improve the performance of a thermosonic test system. Thermosonic tests are conducted with an acoustic horn with high power capability to investigate the characteristics of the vibration produced in turbine blades with complex geometry. The influences of the excitation signal that is input to the horn and the coupling methods between a clamp and the acoustic horn on the characteristics of the vibration excited in a component are presented. As a result, an excitation method with a fast narrow band chirp test (sweep test) and a stud coupling is proposed as an excitation method for thermosonic testing. This method can be applied to different types of turbine blades and also to other components.