Efficient optimization of single and multiple element tranducers for the inspection of complex-shaped components

Ultrasonic inspection of components of complex geometry often suffers from loss of sensitivity, beam distortions and beam misorientations if the transducer is not perfectly matched to the specimen. A procedure is presented which allows to optimize single and multiple element transducers where-depending on the specific inspection configuration under concern-the shape of the piezoelement is determined to ensure a proper focusing of the beam field in the range of interest. The method is based on delay time calculation for multiple element transducers and employs a superposition technique for beam field calculation. The procedure is exemplified for a standard pipe inspection problem.