Method and device for ultrasound inspection of welds, particularly welds of blades on the disk of a bladed disk

• US 10,161,917 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2015
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Safran Aircraft Engine Company
• Original Assignee: Safran Aircraft Engine Company
• Inventors: Coulette, Richard Michael, Le Ber, Laurent, Ravault, Pascal Jean-Christian Claude, Vassault, Marc Jacky
• Primary Examiner(s): Huls, Natalie
• Assistant Examiner(s): Young, Monica S
• Application Number:
  US14/693,966
• Publication Number:
  US 20150308984A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,342 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0422 Shear waves, transverse waves, horizontally polarised waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/056 Angular incidence, angular propagation
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/106 one or more transducer arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/267 Welds
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/2693 Rotor or turbine parts
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/043 in the interior, e.g. by shear waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/223 Supports, positioning or alignment in fixed situation mounting transducers per se G10K11/004
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/24 Probes transducers for acoustic waves B06B, G10K; for measuring G01H
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/26 Arrangements for orientation or scanning by relative movement of the head and the sensor mechanical steering of sound transducers or their beams G10K11/35
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/262 by electronic orientation or focusing, e.g. with phased arrays phased arrays per se G10K11/34
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/265 by moving the sensor relative to a stationary material
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/4436 with a reference signal amplitude comparison G01N29/48
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/44 inspection

Abstract

A method and device for ultrasound testing of welds is provided. For testing element welds on a body forming a single-piece assembly with these elements, the free end of a poly-articulated robot is fitted with an ultrasound probe which is fitted with an ultrasonic multi-element array transducer; the probe is inserted into the space between two adjacent elements of the assembly; the probe is moved along three-dimensional trajectories along the profile of the element; sectorial electronic scanning is performed in at least two non-parallel testing planes; and ultrasound signals output by the transducer in order to test the welds are processed. The method and device may be applied to welds of blades on the blisk of a bladed disk.

Claims

1. A method for testing element welds on a body, the body and the elements that are welded to the body forming a single-piece assembly, the method comprising:

equipping a free end of a poly-articulated robot with an ultrasound probe, fitted with an ultrasonic multi-element array transducer, the elements of said transducer being arranged in a checkerboard layout;

inserting the ultrasound probe into a space between two adjacent elements of the single-piece assembly, facing a welded joint, corresponding to one of the two elements for which a weld is to be tested;

moving the ultrasound probe along three-dimensional trajectories along a profile of the element for which the weld is to be tested;

performing at least two sectorial electronic scannings in at least two non-parallel testing planes which are approximately orthogonal for each of a plurality of acquisition points along each of the three-dimensional trajectories;

processing the resulting sectorial electronic scans to compensate for an effect of deviations of an ultrasound beam output by the ultrasonic multi-element array transducer due to an interaction of the ultrasonic multi-element array transducer with a surface of the welds between the body and the elements; and

further processing ultrasound signals output by the transducer in order to test the welds.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the test is a test by transverse ultrasound waves.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein testing is made by working in full-skip and in half-skip.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising testing the welded joint of each element by performing a first pass to test the welded joint in half-skip and a second pass to test the welded joint in full-skip.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising using the poly-articulated robot to follow the profile along each element, at a first constant distance from a corresponding joint plane and at a second constant distance from the corresponding joint plane different from the first distance.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasound probe is a beveled probe, adapted to the space between the two adjacent elements of the single-piece assembly.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

using a data acquisition software,

entering characteristics of the transducer, characteristics of the single-piece assembly, and a test configuration in the data acquisition software,

calculating delay laws for the transducer,

making a calibration on a reference part,

adjusting intervals of numeric values of test parameters,

defining a test sequence, and

acquiring signals output by the transducer and analyzing the signals to test the welds.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the elements are composed of blades, and the body includes a disk part of an assembly forming a turbomachine blisk, the test being a test of the welds of the blades on the disk part of the blisk.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sectorial electronic scanning in at least two approximately orthogonal testing planes is performed in a single pass for each of the plurality of acquisition points.

10. A device for testing welds of elements on a body, the body and the elements welded to the body forming a single-piece assembly, the device comprising:

a poly-articulated robot, capable of making three-dimensional trajectories;

an ultrasound probe, fitted with an ultrasonic multi-element array transducer, the elements of said transducer being arranged in a checkerboard layout, the probe being fitted on the poly-articulated robot to make an ultrasound test in a space between two adjacent elements of the single-piece assembly, wherein the ultrasound probe is arranged for performing at least two sectorial electronic scannings in at least two non-parallel testing planes which are approximately orthogonal for each of a plurality of acquisition points along a three-dimensional trajectory; and

an electronic signal processing device configured to process the sectorial electronic scans to compensate for an effect of deviations of an ultrasound beam output by the ultrasonic multi-element array transducer due to an interaction of the ultrasonic multi-element array transducer with a surface of the welds between the body and the elements and further configured to process signals output by the ultrasonic multi-element array transducer in order to test the welds.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the poly-articulated robot and the ultrasound probe are arranged for performing the sectorial electronic scanning in at least two approximately orthogonal testing planes in a single pass for each of the plurality of acquisition points.