Ultrasonic arrays for quantitative nondestructive testing an engineering approach

The Ultrasonic Pulse-Echo inspection method is extremely capable of detecting cracks that limit the structural integrity of loaded technical components and systems. However, the applied principles of ultrasonic material testing do not in general allow the characterization of flaws and the required measurement of crack dimensions. Appropriate wave field data sampling at the scanned surface with the subsequent field reconstruction improves both the resolution and the contrast sensitivity of inspection results. We use arrays with elements adapted for the inspection task with an optimized arrangement and element apertures of point source character. First results have been received applying linear arrays that are promising for the quantitative assessment of flaws by high-resolved high contrast imaging of inspection results in real-time.