• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.46-53
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• 2008

Ultrasonic C-scan technique is one of very popular techniques being used for detection of flaws in polymer matrix composite(PMC). However, the application of this technique is very limited for evaluation of defects in PMC fabricated by the automated fiber placement process. The purpose of this study is to develop a novel ultrasonic hybrid system based on nondestructive and non-contact ultrasonic techniques for evaluation of delamination in carbon/epoxy and carbon/PPS composite laminates. It was shown that the newly developed ultrasonic hybrid system based on dual air-coupled pitch-catch technique with ultrasonic scattering reflection concept could provide excellent image with higher resolution of delamination in PMC compared with the conventional pitch-catch method. It is expected that this ultrasonic hybrid technique can be applied for on-line inspection of flaws in PMC during the fabrication process.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.31-43
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• 2016

Applications of ultrasonic tomography to concrete structures have been reported for many years. However, practical and effective application of this tool for nondestructive assessment of internal concrete condition is hampered by time consuming transducer coupling that limits the amount of ultrasonic data that can be collected. This research aims to deploy recent developments in air-coupled ultrasonic measurements of solids, described in Part 1 of this paper set, to concrete in order to image internal inclusions. Ultrasonic signals are collected from concrete samples using a fully air-coupled (contactless) test configuration. These air coupled data are compared to those collected using partial semi-contact and full-contact test configurations. Two samples are considered: a 150 mm diameter cylinder with an internal circular void and a prism with $300mm{\times}300mm$ square cross-section that contains internal damaged regions and embedded reinforcement. The heterogeneous nature of concrete material structure complicates the application and interpretation of ultrasonic measurements and imaging. Volumetric inclusions within the concrete specimens are identified in the constructed velocity tomograms, but wave scattering at internal interfaces of the concrete disrupts the images. This disruption reduces defect detection accuracy as compared with tomograms built up of data collected from homogeneous solid samples (PVC) that are described in Part 1 of this paper set. Semi-contact measurements provide some improvement in accuracy through higher signal-to-noise ratio while still allowing for reasonably rapid data collection.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.3 s.192
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• pp.23-30
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• 2007

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.319-325
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• 2010

Pressure vacuum measurement technique using acoustic impedance change of ultrasonic transducers was studied. The sensor has been setup using two air-coupled ultrasonic transducers, one as a transmitter and the other as a receiver, and put it into vacuum chamber and measured pressure versus ultrasonic amplitude. The result confirms that the standard deviations of four repeat measurements were from 0.0093 to 0.3325 at pressure 6.66 kPa to 202.65 kPa(about two atmosphere), and the relative percents were 0.018% and 0.164% at pressure 133.32 kPa and 202.65 kPa, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.546-551
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• 2010

The objective of this research is to estimate the crack location and size of a carbon steel pipe by using a laser ultrasound guided wave for the wall thinning evaluation of an elbow. The wall thinning of the carbon steel pipe is one of the most serious problems in nuclear power plants, especially the wall thinning of the carbon steel elbow caused by Flow-Accelerated Corrosion (FAC). Therefore, a non-destructive inspection method of elbow is essential for the nuclear power plants to operate safely. The specimens used in this study were carbon steel elbows, which represented the main elements of real nuclear power plants. The shape of the wall thinning was an oval with a width of 120mm, a length of 80mm, and a depth of 5mm. The L(0,1) and L(0,2) modes variation of the ultrasound guided wave signal is obtained from the response of the laser generation/air-coupled detection ultrasonic hybrid system represent the characteristics of the defect. The trends of these characteristics and signal processing were used to estimate the size and location of wall thinning.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.487-493
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• 2004

This study was conducted to develope a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) which enable to high efficient non-contact transmit and receive the ultrasonic wave in air. Theoretical analysis and finite element analysis of the behavior of membrane (such as resonance frequency, membrane deflection, collapse deflection and collapse voltage) of the cMUT were performed. The design parameters of the cMUT such as the dimension and thickness of membrane, thickness of sacrificial layer, thickness and size of electrode were estimated. The resonance frequency of the membrane increased as the thickness of the membrane increased but decreased as the diameter of the membrane increased. The deflection of the membrane increased as d-c bias voltage increased. The collapse voltage of the membrane was analyzed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.36-43
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• 2016

Carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (Cf-SiC) and SiC / SiC composites have high thermal conductivity, and excellent corrosion and wear resistance, a low coefficient for thermal expansion and are lightweight. This is why they are commonly used in parts of the aerospace industry to develop an aircraft thrust deflector, jet vane, combustion chamber, elevens, body flap, and a shingle. So, understanding how this state-of-the-art Cf-SiC affects both internal and external crack detection and determining issues during the manufacturing process of composite materials, should be evaluated according to valuation techniques in the external environment. In this paper, we apply a non-contact air ultrasonic technique of non-destructive testing techniques to perform a study on internal defect detection identification and assessment of carbon-fiber reinforced silicon carbide composites to perform basic research and applied research.