SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FOCUSING GUIDED WAVES BEYOND CURVES IN TEST STRUCTURES

• US 20140278193A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Penn State Research Foundation
• Original Assignee: Electric Power Research Institute
• Inventors: Breon, Luke, Quarry, Michael J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,672,187 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/113
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 5/0025 of elongated objects, e.g. pipes, masts, towers or railways G01M5/0058 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 5/0066 by exciting or detecting vibration or acceleration vibration testing of structures G01M7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0425 Parallel to the surface, e.g. creep waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/2634 cylindrical from outside
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/2638 Complex surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/043 in the interior, e.g. by shear waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/07 by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/11 by measuring attenuation of acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/36 Detecting the response signal , e.g. electronic circuits specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/00 Digital computers in general details G06F1/00 – G06F13/00; Data processing equipment in general

Abstract

A non-destructive testing system includes directing guided wave energy to regions of interest in waveguides. Knowing the propagation paths taken by guided wave energy in complex waveguides can be used to intentionally insonify regions of interest. Additionally, knowledge of the propagation direction and location of an energy mode in a waveguide allows the calculation of the path previously taken by the energy mode. This information can be used for signal processing of guided wave inspection systems. The test system can have various sensor configurations including: a single transducer configured to direct or receive guided wave energy along a particular direction, a one-dimensional array or a two dimensional array of transducers. The transducers can operate independently to provide mutual phasing and amplitude adjusting to steer guided wave energy in a waveguide or determine the directionality of guided wave energy received by the sensors.

Claims

1. A method for guided wave non-destructive testing comprising:

providing a waveguide structure to be non-destructively tested, the waveguide structure including a bend section such that the waveguide structure'"'"'s axis or plane of symmetry changes direction, a first section on a first side of the bend section and a second section on a second side of the bend section that is opposite the first side;

providing at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer coupled to the first portion of the waveguide structure;

providing a computer running an algorithm which includes a mathematical representation of the waveguide structure and which predicts the effect of the at least one transducer on a portion of interest of the waveguide structure;

calculating by the computer using the algorithm, guided wave excitation parameters for insonification of the second section of the waveguide structure with at least one ultrasonic signal from the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer on the first section of the waveguide structure;

transmitting the at least one ultrasonic signal according to the calculated guided wave excitation parameters from the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer through the first section and the bend section to the second section of the waveguide structure; and

insonifying the second section of the waveguide structure with at least one ultrasonic signal according to the calculated guided wave excitation parameters transmitted by the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

reflecting the at least one ultrasonic signal off of a feature in the second section of the waveguide structure;

transmitting the at least one ultrasonic signal from the feature in the second section through the bend section and the first section; and

receiving the at least one ultrasonic signal by the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

analyzing, by the computer or a sensor configuration, the at least one ultrasonic signal received by the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer to determine the location and direction of the received signal; and

determining, by the computer, a trajectory through the waveguide structure followed by the at least one received signal.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the trajectory through the waveguide structure is used in conjunction with the analysis of the at least one received signal to determine a presence and location of a feature in the waveguide structure.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein a feature of the at least one received signal is determined to be a defect in the second section of the waveguide structure.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein a first ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a second ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a second ultrasonic guided wave transducer wherein phases of the first ultrasonic signal transmitted from the first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and the second ultrasonic signal transmitted from the second ultrasonic guided wave transducer are not identical.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein a first ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a second ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a second ultrasonic guided wave transducer and the first ultrasonic signal and the second ultrasonic signal are not transmitted simultaneously.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein a first ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a second ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a second ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a first amplitude of the first ultrasonic signal and a second amplitude of the second ultrasonic signal are not identical.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein a first ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a second ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a second ultrasonic guided wave transducer, the first ultrasonic signal and the second ultrasonic signal reach the region of interest simultaneously during the insonifying of the second section.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one ultrasonic signal travels in a helical path around the waveguide structure during the transmitting of the at least one ultrasonic signal from the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer through the first section and the bend section to the second section of the waveguide structure.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

confirming, based on the guided wave excitation parameters, that the second section of the waveguide structure has been insonified with the at least one ultrasonic signal corresponding to the guided wave excitation parameters and that the at least one ultrasonic signal has been transmitted by the at least one ultrasonic transducer.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the insonifying is performed using a wave mode selected from the group consisting of torsional, flexural and longitudinal.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one ultrasonic signal consists of one or more frequencies from the group consisting of single frequency, multiple frequencies and frequencies across one or more ranges of frequencies.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the insonifying is performed using one or more wave types selected from the group consisting of lamb, surface, shear, shear horizontal, shear vertical, longitudinal, and combinations thereof.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein the ultrasonic guided wave transducer is of a type selected from the group consisting of piezo-electric, magnetostrictive, electromechanical acoustic, and combinations thereof.

12-21. -21. (canceled)

26. A method for guided wave non-destructive testing including a region of interest comprising:

providing a waveguide structure not containing a bend section, the waveguide structure is to be non-destructively tested;

providing at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer coupled to the waveguide structure;

providing a computer running an algorithm which includes a mathematical representation of the waveguide structure and which predicts an effect of the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer on the region of interest of the waveguide structure;

calculating, by the computer using the algorithm, guided wave excitation parameters for insonification of the waveguide structure with at least one ultrasonic signal from the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer coupled to the waveguide structure;

transmitting the at least one ultrasonic signal according to the calculated guided wave excitation parameters from the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer through the waveguide structure; and

insonifying the waveguide structure with the at least one ultrasonic signal according to the calculated guided wave excitation parameters transmitted by the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

reflecting the at least one ultrasonic signal off of a feature in the waveguide structure;

transmitting the at least one ultrasonic signal from the feature in the waveguide structure; and

receiving the at least one ultrasonic signal by the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer.

28. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

analyzing, by the computer or a sensor configuration, the at least one ultrasonic signal received by the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer to determine a location and direction of the received at least one ultrasonic signal; and

determining, by the computer, a trajectory through the waveguide structure followed by the received at least one ultrasonic signal.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the determination of the trajectory of the received at least one ultrasonic signal through the waveguide structure is used in conjunction with an analysis of the received at least one ultrasonic signal by the computer to determine a presence and a location of a feature in the waveguide structure.

30. The method of claim 28 wherein a feature of the received at least one ultrasonic signal is determined to be a defect in the region of interest of the waveguide structure.

31. The method of claim 26 wherein a first ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a second ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a second ultrasonic guided wave transducer, wherein phases of the first ultrasonic signal transmitted from the first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and the second ultrasonic signal transmitted from the second ultrasonic guided wave transducer are not identical.

32. The method of claim 26 wherein a first ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a second ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a second ultrasonic guided wave transducer and the first ultrasonic signal and the second ultrasonic signal are not transmitted simultaneously.

33. The method of claim 26 wherein a first ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a second ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a second ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a first amplitude of the first ultrasonic signal and a second amplitude of the second ultrasonic signal are not identical.

34. The method of claim 26 wherein a first ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a first ultrasonic guided wave transducer and a second ultrasonic signal is transmitted from a second ultrasonic guided wave transducer, the first ultrasonic signal and the second ultrasonic signal reach a region of interest simultaneously during the insonifying of the waveguide structure.

35. The method of claim 26 wherein the at least one ultrasonic signal travels in a helical path around the waveguide structure during the transmitting of the at least one ultrasonic signal from the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer.

36. The method of claim 26 wherein the insonifying is performed using a wave mode selected from the group consisting of torsional, flexural and longitudinal.

37. The method of claim 26 wherein the at least one ultrasonic signal from the at least one ultrasonic guided wave transducer consists of one or more frequencies from the group consisting of single frequency, multiple frequencies and frequencies across one or more ranges of frequencies.

38. The method of claim 26 wherein the insonifying is performed using a wave type selected from the group consisting of lamb, surface, shear, shear horizontal, shear vertical, longitudinal, and combinations thereof.

39. The method of claim 26 wherein the ultrasonic guided wave transducer is of a type selected from the group consisting of piezo-electric, magnetostrictive, electromechanical acoustic, and combinations thereof.