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2012
Conference Paper
Titel
Real-time 3D-simulation tool for ultrasonic transducers used in aeroengine component inspections
Abstract
Beam field modeling using the superposition of Gaussian beams (GB) is highly efficient due to the low computation times. Thus, respective simulations allow for a fast evaluation of even complex inspection situations. In this contribution, we present a 3D simulation code based on the GB method, addressing the simulation of circular and rectangular, flat and focused transducers. In view of the simulation of phased array beam fields, the calculation of the proper time delays for planar or curved surfaces is performed using Fermats principle. In our approach, only a small number of GBs is required to synthesize the transducer beam field so that the resulting three-dimensional data fields can be calculated in real time. The coefficients characterizing the beams are specifically determined for each transducer or transducer element under concern using the lateral field profile data obtained at the near-field length or in the focal point. These reference profiles can be determined in experiments or by exact simulation techniques, such as the point source superposition technique (GPSS) used in our study. To visualize the 3D datasets we have used an efficient software (MeVisLab) which provides various techniques and views for beam field representations according to the users preferences. We illustrate the efficiency of our approach by simulations of (monochromatic) beam fields with emphasis on various disc geometries of interest in turbine engine component inspection using commercial transducers and immersion technique.