Space Optimized Plane Wave Imaging for Fast Ultrasonic Inspection with Small Active Aperture: Simulation and Experiment

Abstract

Plane wave imaging (PWI) is attracting more attention in industrial nondestructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E). To further improve imaging quality and reduce reconstruction time in ultrasonic imaging with a limited active aperture, an optimized PWI algorithm was proposed for rapid ultrasonic inspection, with the comparison of the total focusing method (TFM). The effective area of plane waves and the space weighting factor were defined in order to balance the amplitude of the imaging area. Experiments were carried out to contrast the image quality, with great agreement to the simulation results. Compared with TFM imaging, the space-optimized PWI algorithm demonstrated a wider dynamic detection range and a higher defects amplitude, where the maximum defect amplitude attenuation declined by 6.7 dB and average attenuation on 12 defects decreased by 3.1 dB. In addition, the effects of plane wave numbers on attenuation and reconstruction time were focused on, achieving more than 10 times reduction of reconstruction times over TFM.

Application of Ultrasonic Intelligent Imaging in L-Selectin Regulating Embryo Implantation in Mongolian Sheep Endometrium

“…Sui et al believed that after embryo transfer, pregnancy diagnosis should be made as soon as possible to determine the sheep without pregnancy, and timely measures should be taken to make them pregnant, which is of great significance for protecting the fetus, reducing empty pregnancy, shortening the litter interval of ewes, and improving the reproductive rate of sheep [ 6 ]. Pillarisetti et al believe that in practice, the most commonly used pregnancy identification method is to test the estrus of rams to observe whether the transplanted sheep return to estrus.…”

Short Range Pipe Guided Wave Testing Using SH0 Plane Wave Imaging for Improved Quantification Accuracy

“…Lately, Plane Wave Imaging (PWI) has been the subject of increasing research interest [11][12][13][14][15]. The technique reconstructs the region of interest from signals backscattered after insonification of the inspected area with the plane waves sent at a chosen range of angles.…”

Numerical analysis of the phased array imaging with a stacked plate buffer

“…The beam forming and focusing are possible by adjusting the delay given to the vibrating elements, and new technologies have also been developed, such as a full matrix capture (FMC), which collects a very large number of waveforms by switching the vibrating elements, and a total focusing method (TFM), which is the imaging algorithm using the large number of waveforms collected by the FMC. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] However, when considering the installation of a phased array probe in plant piping to monitor crack propagation during operation, the high temperature resistance of the phased array probes becomes important when the piping is subjected to high temperatures. For example, in new nuclear power plants that use liquid sodium as a coolant, the temperature of the piping can reach several hundred degrees Celsius, while a typical phased array probe can only maintain its functionality up to about 60 °C.…”