• 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.

• Architectural research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.179-184
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• 2016

The structure must be periodically checked and measures must be taken to prevent deterioration in building construction. From this point of view, a nondestructive test is essential to estimate whether the construction of buildings is proper, and whether the dimension of depositing concrete is consistent and without damage. This study estimated the thickness of the concrete component of construction framework using the ultrasonic velocity method and the impact echo method, in order to investigate reliability of the estimation of the thickness of normal strength concrete and high strength concrete, leading to the following conclusions. In the estimation of the thickness of the concrete structures, specimens of normal strength of 24MPa and specimens of high strength of 40MPa demonstrated an average error rate of 5.1% and 2.2%, respectively. The impact-echo method, one of the non-destructive tests, is verified as an efficient diagnostic technique. With this information, we will determine specific standards for the maintenance of structures, and the re-creation of lost building blueprints.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.246-254
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• 2007

The scanning laser source (SLS) technique is a promising new laser ultrasonic tool for the detection of small surface-breaking defects. The SLS approach is based on monitoring the changes in laser-generated ultrasound as a laser source is scanned over a defect. Changes in amplitude and frequency content are observed for ultrasound generated by the laser over uniform and defective areas. The SLS technique uses a point or a short line-focused high-power laser beam which is swept across the test specimen surface and passes over surface-breaking or subsurface flaws. The ultrasonic signal that arrives at the Rayleigh wave speed is monitored as the SLS is scanned. It is found that the amplitude and frequency of the measured ultrasonic signal have specific variations when the laser source approaches, passes over and moves behind the defect. In this paper, the setup for SLS experiments with full B-scan capability is described and SLS signatures from small surface-breaking and subsurface flaws are discussed using a point or short line focused laser source.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2017

A nonlinear ultrasonic parameter is defined by the ratio of displacement amplitude of the fundamental frequency component to that of the second-order harmonic frequency component. In this study, the ultrasonic displacement amplitude of an SUS316 specimen was measured via a piezo-electric-based method to identify the validity of piezo-electric detection method. For comparison, the ultrasonic displacement was also determined via a laser-based Fabry-Pérot interferometer. The experimental results for both measurements were in good agreement. Additionally, the stability of the repeated test results from the piezo-electric method exceeded that of the laser-interferometric method. This result indicated that the piezo-electric detection method can be utilized to measure a nonlinear ultrasonic parameter due to its excellent stability although it involves a complicated process.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.348-353
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• 2004

This study is aimed for the implementation of ultrasonic method to assess the reliability of turbine bearings. A modified ultrasonic immersion technique was carried out in both laboratory experiment and field application. From the laboratory results, we confirmed that the condition of interface layer between the babbitt and base metal be monitored by the C-Scan. The C-scan image by the ultrasonic immersion test can be used successfully to observe the condition of interface layer. The testing with a focused transducer provides a promising approach for estimating the extent of the damaged region and observing the interface layer effectively. The difference of the ultrasonic reflection ratio between the bonding and debonding area at the interface layer is one of the key parameters for assessing the extent of the damaged area; additionally, the reflection amplitude exhibits a favorable correlation with the overall damage level. The technique developed in this study was applied to the inspection of the turbine bearings at several power plants in Korea whereby the applicability in the field can be ascertained.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.331-338
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• 2008

Ultrasonic testing for welds is widely used to ensure the integrity of facilities in NPPs. Automated ultrasonic testing(AUT) is more consistent than the manual ultrasonic testing(MUT). It can scan welded parts, examines the scanned images, and saves the results as data files. AUT in NPPs is making use of commercial systems, and there has been some difficulties in calibration of the system. An AUT system is developed. It comprises of pulser/receiver, scanner and a control program(SonicWizard). The performance demonstration for piping welds in NPPs and the piping wall thickness measurement on site were conducted to verify this system. The test results of the ultrasonic testing system developed is satisfactory and effective.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.174-183
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• 1997

Turbine rotor disc consists of disc, bore, keyway, hub, and rim in which the typical defects are located. And these part of disc has very complicated geometry, therefore proper transducer selection, wedge design, fabrication, classification and evaluation of the signal identification are required. In this research, test block with the artificial flaws at keyway and boresurface parts have been used in order to establish the ultrasonic inspection technique for flaw detectability on disc. The analysis of the signals from the test blocks was performed. The wedges were designed according to the curvature from the discs. All the ultrasonic signals were collected and identified for evaluation. The ultrasonic inspection technique for the flaw-detection was established from this research. And it is proved that the result of this research can be applicable in the field inspection.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.64-69
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• 2008

In order to detect the internal defects which occur in welding parts of pressure vessel and structures, radiographic testing and ultrasonic testing is applied. However, because of the risks of radiation exposure and film processing, radiographic testing takes a relatively long time to verify the test results and it has affected in the production process. Typically, the manual ultrasonic testing is not easy to reproduce the result and it is highly dependent on the tester's skills. The TOFD technique, one of the automatic ultrasonic testings is spreading alternatively. This research describes the comparing test results by applying radiographic testing and TOFD technique to a mock-up specimen incruding the flaws. The TOFD technique will contribute to improve the objective reliability of the ultrasonic technique.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.347-355
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• 1999

A feasibility investigation on vibration-based nondestructive evaluation of thermal stress-induced micro-failure in the free edge region of thin composite laminates(1mm thick) has been carried out. The failure occurrence and damage zone, which were predicted by the three-dimensional finite-element thermal stress analysis, were observed using the ultrasonic C-scan and optical microscopy. Analysis of the vibration spectrum measured from the laminate beam specimens by the vibration sweep test exhibited that the obvious decrease in resonancy frequency and some considerable increase in damping factor were associated with the micro-failure formation. The vibration technique utilizing short beam and high resonant frequency was found to be very sensitive to the thermal stress-induced damage in the thin laminates.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.820-830
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• 2016

Pipe wall thinning by flow-accelerated corrosion and various types of erosion is a significant and costly damage phenomenon in secondary piping systems of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Most NPPs have management programs to ensure pipe integrity due to wall thinning that includes periodic measurements for pipe wall thicknesses using nondestructive evaluation techniques. Numerous measurements using ultrasonic tests (UTs; one of the nondestructive evaluation technologies) have been performed during scheduled outages in NPPs. Using the thickness measurement data, wall thinning rates of each component are determined conservatively according to several evaluation methods developed by the United States Electric Power Research Institute. However, little is known about the conservativeness or reliability of the evaluation methods because of a lack of understanding of the measurement error. In this study, quantitative models for UT thickness measurement deviations of nuclear pipes and fittings were developed as the first step for establishing an optimized thinning evaluation procedure considering measurement error. In order to understand the characteristics of UT thickness measurement errors of nuclear pipes and fittings, round robin test results, which were obtained by previous researchers under laboratory conditions, were analyzed. Then, based on a large dataset of actual plant data from four NPPs, a quantitative model for UT thickness measurement deviation is proposed for plant conditions.