METHOD FOR INSPECTING WELD PENETRATION DEPTH

• US 20140318250A1
• Filed: 11/24/2011
• Published: 10/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Uchida, Keisuke, Iwatani, Shingo, Kato, Shotaro, Yamaguchi, Shuhei, Arai, Toshinobu, Kitamura, Takahiro, Fukushima, Masami, Goda, Yoshikatsu
• Application Number:
  US14/360,438
• Publication Number:
  US 20140318250A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/588
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 31/125 Weld quality monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 33/006 for cylindrical workpieces
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 15/02 for measuring thickness
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 17/00 Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of infrasonic, sonic or ultrasonic vibrations

Abstract

In a butt-welded joint structure in which the entire peripheral edge or both end sides of the abutting surface are welded, first and second cutouts for determining insufficient penetration and determining excessive penetration are formed. After butt welding, ultrasound is beamed onto each of the first and second cutouts of the joint structure and the reflected wave is measured. The acceptability of the weld penetration depth is thus determined on the basis of both of the reflected waves. This determination is performed on the entire peripheral edge portion or both end side portions of the butted face between the welded materials, and the acceptability of the weld penetration depth of the corresponding portions is inspected.

Claims

1. A method for inspecting a weld penetration depth, characterized in that

after performing butt welding of both end portions or an entire peripheral end portion of abutting surface between workpieces including a joint structure that includes, in each of the both end portions or the entire peripheral end portion of the abutting surface between the workpieces, a cutout that reflects ultrasonic waves in a case where a weld has not penetrated therein, the cutout including a first cutout that is used to determine insufficient weld penetration and a second cutout that is used to determine excessive weld penetration,

performing, on the both end portions or the entire peripheral end portion of the abutting surface between the workpieces, a first step of emitting ultrasonic waves toward the first cutout or the second cutout of the joint structure and measuring reflected waves thereof, a second step of emitting the ultrasonic waves toward the second cutout or the first cutout of the joint structure and measuring reflected waves thereof, and a third step of determining whether the weld penetration depth is satisfactory or not based on the reflected waves measured in the first step and the second step, and thus inspecting whether the weld penetration depth in the both end portions or the entire peripheral end portion is satisfactory or not.

2. The method for inspecting the weld penetration depth according to claim 1, characterized in that

in the joint structure, the first cutout is formed so as to extend along a leg length of a welded portion having a desired length that is set from one end toward the other end of the abutting surface between the workpieces and to include a tip end position portion of the leg length,

the second cutout is formed so as to be continuous with the first cutout and to have a predetermined length toward the other end of the abutting surface between the workpieces,

each of the first cutout and the second cutout has a tilted surface that reflects the Ultrasonic waves emitted toward that cutout in an opposite direction to the emission direction in a case where the weld has not penetrated into that cutout, and

a first cutout and a second cutout, which are similar to the first and second cutouts including the tilted surface, are formed so as to extend from the other end toward the one end of the abutting surface between the workpieces symmetrically with respect to a line crossing a center of the workpieces in a workpiece thickness direction.