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Reconstructing the Image of Reflectors at Base-Metal–Weld Interface Using Ultrasonic Antenna Arrays

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Abstract

We propose an effective method of replacing the zonal focusing with an antenna array. This method is traditionally used in automated ultrasonic testing of welded joints with narrow preparation to detect defects at the fusion boundary. It is based on applying the multischeme digital antenna focusing (DFA) technology and allows obtaining and analyzing high-quality images of reflectors. The proposed method is less sensitive to the accuracy of positioning the antenna array relative to the weld axis and to changes in the thickness of the test object, compared to the zonal focusing performed using the technology of phased antenna arrays (PAAs). It makes it possible to evaluate the height of defects not by the amplitude but by the size of reflectors’ flare.

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Notes

  1. The use of color to explain figures is available only in the electronic English-language version of this article or in the printed Russian-language edition of the journal “Defektoskopiya.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ECHO+ Scientific Production Association, 123458, Moscow, Russia

    A. E. Bazulin, E. G. Bazulin, A. Kh. Vopilkin & D. S. Tikhonov

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  1. A. E. Bazulin
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  2. E. G. Bazulin
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  3. A. Kh. Vopilkin
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  4. D. S. Tikhonov
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Correspondence to E. G. Bazulin.

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Bazulin, A.E., Bazulin, E.G., Vopilkin, A.K. et al. Reconstructing the Image of Reflectors at Base-Metal–Weld Interface Using Ultrasonic Antenna Arrays. Russ J Nondestruct Test 57, 739–752 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1061830921090023

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