MEDIUM-RANGE MAGNETOSTRICTIVE ULTRASONIC GUIDED WAVE SCANNER SYSTEMS AND METHODS
First Claim
1. A system for non-destructive inspection of a structure, comprising:
- a magnetostrictive scanner probe including a probe body for supporting at least one flexible sensor coil and a position encoder;
a ferromagnetic strip configured to be coupled to the structure;
at least one magnet for applying a biasing magnetization to the ferromagnetic strip; and
a processor configured tocause a time-varying current to be generated in the at least one flexible sensor coil to induce a time-varying magnetization in said ferromagnetic strip perpendicular to said biasing magnetization to generate shear horizontal-type guided wave energy into said structure, andprocess reflected shear horizontal-type guided wave energy received by the at least one flexible sensor coil as the probe is moved relative to said structure to generate at least one two-dimensional image of a region of said structure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inspection system includes a magnetostrictive scanner probe, a ferromagnetic strip, at least one magnet, and a processor. The magnetostrictive scanner probe includes a probe body for supporting at least one flexible sensor coil and a position encoder. The ferromagnetic strip is configured to be coupled to a structure, and the at least one magnet is configured to apply a biasing magnetization to the ferromagnetic strip. The processor is configured to cause a time-varying current to be generated in the at least one flexible sensor coil to induce a time-varying magnetization in said ferromagnetic strip perpendicular to said biasing magnetization to generate shear horizontal-type guided wave energy into said structure, and process reflected shear horizontal-type guided wave energy received by the at least one flexible sensor coil as the probe is moved relative to said structure to generate at least one two-dimensional image of a region of said structure.
17 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A system for non-destructive inspection of a structure, comprising:
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a magnetostrictive scanner probe including a probe body for supporting at least one flexible sensor coil and a position encoder; a ferromagnetic strip configured to be coupled to the structure; at least one magnet for applying a biasing magnetization to the ferromagnetic strip; and a processor configured to cause a time-varying current to be generated in the at least one flexible sensor coil to induce a time-varying magnetization in said ferromagnetic strip perpendicular to said biasing magnetization to generate shear horizontal-type guided wave energy into said structure, and process reflected shear horizontal-type guided wave energy received by the at least one flexible sensor coil as the probe is moved relative to said structure to generate at least one two-dimensional image of a region of said structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for non-destructive inspection of a structure, comprising:
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applying a biasing magnetization to a ferromagnetic strip that is coupled to the structure; moving a scanner probe relative to said structure along said ferromagnetic strip in a first direction, the scanner probe supporting at least one sensor coil and an encoder; applying a time-varying current in the at least one sensor coil to induce a time-varying magnetization in said ferromagnetic strip to generate shear horizontal-type guided wave energy into said structure as the scanner probe is moved relative to the structure, the shear horizontal-type guided wave energy propagating through the structure in a second direction; detecting reflected shear horizontal-type guided wave energy as the probe is moved relative to said structure; and processing the reflected shear horizontal-type guided wave energy and positional data received from the encoder to generate at least one two-dimensional image of a region of said structure. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification