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Methods and systems for detecting defects in welded structures utilizing pattern matching

  • US 8,256,296 B2
  • Filed: 08/03/2009
  • Issued: 09/04/2012
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2009
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for determining if a defect is present in a weld from ultrasonic response signals collected from a plurality of measurement locations along a weld, the method comprising:

  • filtering an ultrasonic response signal from each of the measurement locations to produce a filtered response signal for each of the measurement locations;

    calculating an ultrasonic energy for each of the measurement locations with the corresponding filtered response signal;

    comparing the ultrasonic energy for each measurement location to the ultrasonic energy of adjacent measurement locations to identify potential defect locations, wherein, when the ultrasonic energy of a measurement location is less than the ultrasonic energy of the adjacent measurement locations, the measurement location is a potential defect location; and

    analyzing fluctuations in the ultrasonic energy at measurement locations neighboring the potential defect locations to determine if a defect is present in the weld, wherein fluctuations in the ultrasonic energy are analyzed by comparing the ultrasonic energy of a potential defect location to the ultrasonic energy of a plurality of measurement locations on each side of the potential defect location, wherein, when the ultrasonic energy increases monotonically over the plurality of measurement locations on each side of the potential defect location, the potential defect location comprises a defect.

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