• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.927-934
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• 2002

The HANARO ( High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor) has been operated since 1995. The Cold Neutron (CN) hole was implanted in the reflector tank from the design stage. Before a vacuum chamber and a moderator cell for the cold neutron source are installed into the CN hole, it is necessary to measure exactly the size of the inside diameter and thickness of the CN hole to prevent the interference problem. Due to inaccessibility and high radiation field in the CN hole, a mechanical measurement method is not permitted. The immersed ultrasonic technique is considered as the best way to measure the thickness and the diameter of the CN hole. The 4-Axis manipulator was designed and fabricated for locating the ultrasonic sensors. The transducer of an ultrasonic sensor having 10 MHz frequency leads to high resolution as much as 0.03mm. The inside diameter and thickness of 550 points of the CN hole were measured using 2 channel ultrasonic sensors. The results show that the thickness and inside diameter of the CN hole is in the range of 3.3∼6.7mm and 156∼ 165mm, respectively. This data will be a good reference for the design of the cold neutron source facility.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.395-400
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• 2013

In this paper, we introduce the implementation of high accurate level sensor system using the pulse wave type magnetostriction sensor. When a current pulse flows along the waveguide, the magnetic field also propagates towards the end of waveguide. When this magnetic field just passes the position of the magnet for level detection, the resultant magnetic field by these two magnetic fields makes a torsional reflected signal. This is used to calculate the time difference between a interrogation pulse wave and this torsional reflected signal. The key elements and characteristics were investigated to implement level sensor system based on this principle. We introduce a method to calculate the speed of ultrasonic reflected signal and how to make a model of sensing coil. In particular, we experiment with the characteristics of the torsional reflected signal according to the changes of the interrogation voltage and displacement. To make high accurate level sensor system, two methods were compared. One is to use the comparator and time counter, the other is STFT(Short Time FFT) which is capable of the time-frequency analysis.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.183-186
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• 2002

It is well known that a discharge in oil is the source of various physical and chemical phenomena. One of them is ultra-sonic wave, and its detection is a useful method to the diagnosis of the transformer insulation condition. Conventionally, ultra-sonic waves are detected by Piezo-electric trans-ducer(PZT), and we use optical method that has many advantages. In this paper, we constructed a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with optical fiber and investigated the principle of operation. Test of the ultrasonic-detecting ability was performed for both of PZT and fiber-optic sensor. Discharge test arrangement is based on the needle-plane electrode system in oil and applied AC high voltage. Ultrasonic waves were detected and showed time-delay characteristics. We analyzed the data with frequency domain and wavelet transform.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.161-167
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• 2018

The amount of CNG was measured using a pressure sensor in the case of CNG vehicles. However, the current measurement method causes anxiety to the driver because it is difficult to measure the detailed amount of CNG according to various environmental conditions. This study was performed to measure the amount of CNG in CNG fuel system, and presented the method of measurement by simulating the detection system of CNG. In this experiment, a detection simulator with an ultrasonic sensor in CNG tank of Type-3 was designed, and the reception signal of the ultrasonic sensor was verified by reducing the pressure from 100 bars to 0 bars (increment=5 bars) using compressed air. As a result, the output signal voltage of the ultrasonic sensor decreased as the pressure in the tank decreased, and the it was verified that the shape of the graph was linearity.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.48-57
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• 2015

In a sodium-cooled fast reactor, which is a Generation-IV reactor, refueling is conducted by rotating, but not opening, the reactor head to prevent a reaction between the sodium, water and air. Therefore, an inspection technique that checks for the presence of any obstacles between the reactor core and the upper internal structure, which could disturb the rotation of the reactor head, is essential prior to the refueling of a sodium-cooled fast reactor. To this end, an ultrasound-based inspection technique should be employed because the opacity of the sodium prevents conventional optical inspection techniques from being applied to the monitoring of obstacles. In this study, a ranging inspection technique using a plate-type ultrasonic waveguide sensor was developed to monitor the presence of any obstacles between the reactor core and the upper internal structure in the opaque sodium. Because the waveguide sensor installs an ultrasonic transducer in a relatively cold region and transmits the ultrasonic waves into the hot radioactive liquid sodium through a long waveguide, it offers better reliability and is less susceptible to thermal or radiation damage. A 10 m horizontal beam waveguide sensor capable of radiating an ultrasonic wave horizontally was developed, and beam profile measurements and basic experiments were carried out to investigate the characteristics of the developed sensor. The beam width and propagation distance of the ultrasonic wave radiated from the sensor were assessed based on the experimental results. Finally, a feasibility test using cylindrical targets (corresponding to the shape of possible obstacles) was also conducted to evaluate the applicability of the developed ranging inspection technique to actual applications.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.07c
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• pp.1870-1872
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• 2005

In this study, an ultrasonic level limit sensor with a new structure utilizing the acoustic impedance matching is proposed to be able to check it out a change of water-level. 2 PZT resonators with the same property are bonded directly on the polyethylene plate. One resonator is for transmitter as an ultrasonic transducer, the other one is for receiver. In this case, a polyethylene plate will operate as an acoustic guider to transmit a transverse wave between 2 PZT resonators in air. While in the water, a polyethylene plate having a similar acoustic impedance with the water will be emitted an acoustic energy into the water as a longitudinal wave. According to this mechanism, there was a wide difference of acoustic signal output between underwater and in air. As a summary, this proposed level limit sensor could be used as a strong candidate with low cost and more stable one.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.151-156
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• 1994

Exertion has been made to develop high-temperature (about $250{\sim}650^{\circ}C$) immersion ultrasonic sensor for the visualization of objects, temperature measurement, dimensional check, or nondestructive testing of welds under liquid sodium. In this study, the feasibility of the ultrasonic sensor taking advantage of a strip waveguide was confirmed by water-experiment. The lowest order of antisymmetric Lamb wave was used in the frequency range with negligible dispersion. This plate wave was excited in the stainless steel strip waveguide of 1.0mm thickness and 13mm width by the comb-structure transducer of 2.3MHz frequency. Its attenuation coefficient was 1.2dB/m in air and 380dB/m in water. The signal to noise ratio of 25dB was obtained from a planar reflector 270mm away from the beam aperture of $13mm{\times}39mm$ size.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.391-407
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• 2019

Tracking the location (position) of a surface or underwater marine vehicle is important as part of guidance and navigation. While the Global Positioning System (GPS) works well in an open sea environment but its use is limited whenever testing scaled-down models of such vehicles in the laboratory environment. This paper presents the design, development and implementation of a low energy ultrasonic augmented single beacon-based localization technique suitable for such requirements. The strategy consists of applying Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to achieve location tracking from basic dynamic distance measurements of the moving model from a fixed beacon, while on-board motion sensor measures heading angle and velocity. Iterative application of the Extended Kalman Filter yields x and y co-ordinate positions of the moving model. Tests performed on a free-running ship model in a wave basin facility of dimension 30 m by 30 m by 3 m water depth validate the proposed model. The test results show quick convergence with an error of few centimeters in the estimated position of the ship model. The proposed technique has application in the real field scenario by replacing the ultrasonic sensor with industrial grade long range acoustic modem. As compared with the existing systems such as LBL, SBL, USBL and others localization techniques, the proposed technique can save deployment cost and also cut the cost on number of acoustic modems involved.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.9 s.180
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• pp.2167-2173
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• 2000

The HANARO (High-flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor) has operated since 1995. The Cold Neutron(CN) hole was implanted in the reflector tank from the design stage. Before a vacuum chamber and a moderator cell for the cold neutron source are installed into the CN hole, it is necessary to measure the exact size of the inside diameter and thickness of the CN hole to prevent the interference problem. Due to inaccessibility and high radiation field in the CN hole, a mechanical measurement method is not permitted. The immersion ultrasonic technique is considered as the best method to measure the thickness and the diameter. The 4 axis manipulator of the 2 channel of a sensor module was fabricated. The transducer of 10 MHz results in 0.03 nun of resolution. The inside diameter and thickness for 550 points of the CN hole were measured using 2 channel ultrasonic sensors. The results showed that the thickness is in the range of 13-6.7 mm and inside diameter is in the range of o 156-165. These data will be a good reference in the design of a cold neutron source facility.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.165-170
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• 2014

Shear horizontal (SH) waves propagate as a type of plate wave in a thin sheet. The dispersion characteristics of SH waves can be used for signal analysis. Therefore, SH-waves are useful for monitoring the structural health of a thin-sheet-structure. An electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT), which is a non-contact ultrasonic transducer, can generate SH-waves easily by varying the shape and array of magnets and coils. Therefore, an EMAT can be applied to an automated ultrasonic testing system for structural health monitoring. When used as a sensor, however, the EMAT has a weakness in that electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise can occur easily in the automated system because of motors and electric devices. Alternatively, a fiber optic sensor works well in the same environment with EMI noise because it uses a light signal instead of an electric signal. In this paper, a fiber Fabry-P$\acute{e}$rot interferometer (FFPI) was proposed as a sensor to receive the SH-waves generated by an EMAT. A simple test was performed to verify the performance of the FFPI sensor. It is thus shown that the FFPI can receive SH-wave signals clearly.