JP2008261889A - Imaging method of internal defect by ultrasonic wave, and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve resolution by imaging of an internal defect by water immersion C scan ultrasonic flaw detection. <P>SOLUTION: By transmitting an ultrasonic converging beam of which the depth position of a focus is set in the inside of an inspection object 1 regardless of the depth where an internal flaw is present to the inspection object from a point convergence type ultrasonic probe 10, a beam path distance of a defect echo is measured at each measuring point and recorded while receiving reflected waves (echo) from the internal defect of the inspection object including reflected waves from the internal defect located farther than the focus; a depth range in which defects may be present is obtained from the total recorded beam path distance; the depth range is divided into three-dimensional minute elements; a distance to the minute element is compared with the measured beam path distance for each of the all the measuring points; when they are coincident with each other in a predetermined range, it is added to a counter of three-dimensional arrangement formed corresponding to the position of the minute element; gradation or color is attached to the position of the minute element according to the value of the counter to display the internal defect of the inspection object. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic flaw detection method, which is a kind of nondestructive inspection method, and provides high resolution images of internal defects that can exist in various shapes of objects such as plates, tubes, and cylinders made of metal, resin, etc. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for imaging internal defects due to ultrasonic waves to be displayed.

  It is a very important technical issue for the manufacturing industry to detect non-destructive internal defects of products of various shapes such as plates, pipes, and cylinders made of metal, resin, etc., and to investigate the properties of the internal defects in detail.

  Its purpose is to inspect the internal quality of the product in detail, to prevent the delivery of products with harmful internal defects to customers, to investigate the problems of manufacturing technology from the nature of internal defects, and to generate internal defects Not to establish manufacturing technology. Typical internal defects include foreign substances, voids, and internal cracks. For example, in the case of steel products, the inclusion of foreign substances is often an oxide of aluminum or calcium, and these are called non-metallic inclusions.

  Among such inspection methods generally called nondestructive inspection methods, the ultrasonic flaw detection method is suitable for inspecting the inside of a product. As described above, the object of inspection is the inclusion of foreign substances, voids, and internal cracks. The detection of these internal defects is called flaw detection.

  The ultrasonic waves used in the ultrasonic flaw detection method are roughly classified into longitudinal waves and transverse waves. Longitudinal waves are close-packed vibrations (also called dense waves) that travel through an object or medium as well as sound waves that travel through air or water. This longitudinal wave is often used when flaw detection is performed by propagating ultrasonic waves perpendicular to the surface of the subject (referred to as vertical flaw detection).

  A shear wave is a propagation of shear strain, and is often used for oblique flaw detection in welds.

  In general, when transmitting ultrasonic waves to a subject, an electric pulse is applied to a piezoelectric vibrator to generate high-frequency pulse vibration, and this vibration is guided to the subject via an appropriate contact medium (such as water or oil). Is done. The reception of the ultrasonic wave is performed in the reverse process of the transmission, and the voltage or current generated by the vibration received by the piezoelectric vibrator is observed with an appropriate electric device. A sensor that embeds a piezoelectric vibrator and oscillates an ultrasonic wave by the received electric pulse is called an ultrasonic transmitter, and a sensor that embeds a piezoelectric vibrator and converts the received vibration into an electric signal is called an ultrasonic receiver. There is no particular difference in structure, and a sensor incorporating a piezoelectric vibrator is generally usable for both transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves. The sensor often uses both transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves. At this time, the sensor is referred to as an ultrasonic transceiver. The names of ultrasonic transmitter, ultrasonic receiver, and ultrasonic transmitter / receiver are the names given from the sensor functions, but the names of the ultrasonic probe and the ultrasonic probe in the sense of an exploration tool. Are often used.

The ultrasonic flaw detection method using an ultrasonic transducer with a piezoelectric vibrator is based on a direct contact method in which an ultrasonic transducer is applied to a subject via oil or the like and a medium such as water is interposed. It is broadly classified into a liquid immersion method for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from a subject (a water immersion method when the medium is water). For the immersion method,
(1) The ultrasonic transmitter / receiver does not contact the subject.
(2) It is easy to maintain the incident intensity of ultrasonic waves on the subject constant.
(3) Measurement can be performed with high spatial resolution by focusing an ultrasonic beam using an acoustic lens or a spherical vibrator.
The liquid immersion method is preferably used when the inside of the subject is to be evaluated in detail with high spatial resolution.

  Taking the water immersion method (one form of liquid immersion method) shown in FIG. 9 as an example of the prior art, the principle of ultrasonic flaw detection will be briefly described below. In FIG. 9, the subject to be examined is immersed in water, ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the ultrasonic probe 111 to the subject 110 through the water, and reflected waves (echoes) from the surface and the inside of the subject 110 are converted into water. 1 shows a general configuration of a water immersion flaw detection method in which a defect is detected by being received by an ultrasonic probe 111. In this case, the ultrasonic probe 111 is used for both transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves. When the ultrasonic wave generated by the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver is applied to the subject, the ultrasonic wave is reflected on the surface and returns to the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver again through the medium (hereinafter, the reflected wave from the surface of the subject is reflected by the surface echo). Called). On the other hand, at the same time, ultrasonic vibration occurs on the surface of the subject on which the ultrasonic wave is incident, and the vibration propagates into the subject. If there is no defect in the subject, the transmitted ultrasonic vibrations are reflected on the surface on the opposite side of the subject (for example, the back side of the plate if ultrasonic waves are applied to the surface of the plate. Is also referred to as the bottom surface.) Is reflected on the bottom surface, propagates in the object in the opposite direction, returns toward the surface of the object, passes through the medium again, and transmits and receives the ultrasonic wave. Return (hereinafter, this reflected wave is referred to as a bottom echo).

  If there is any defect in the object, the ultrasonic wave incident on the object is reflected by the defect, returns toward the surface of the object, passes through the medium, and returns to the ultrasonic transceiver (hereinafter referred to as defect echo). Called). The timing at which the defect echo returns to the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver is earlier than the bottom echo according to the difference in the length of the propagation path (hereinafter referred to as the beam path). Detecting this defect echo is the basic principle of ultrasonic flaw detection.

  At this time, by using an ultrasonic lens or a spherical vibrator that can focus an ultrasonic beam as a single point as an ultrasonic transmitter / receiver, and performing measurement using a thin portion where the ultrasonic beam is focused, High resolution can be achieved.

  There is a C-scan ultrasonic flaw detection method (see Non-Patent Document 1) as a method of performing two-dimensional scanning on an object with an ultrasonic transceiver that transmits and receives a focused beam and imaging internal defects of the object with high resolution. This flaw detection method is frequently used for detecting internal defects that require high resolution.

  In general, the C scan flaw detection method has a configuration in which a defect echo is extracted by a gate circuit 114 and the amplitude of the defect echo is detected by a peak detector 115 as shown in FIG. It is a dimension map. Thus, the conventional C-scan flaw detection method is characterized in that it uses the amplitude information of the defect echo.

  Hereinafter, problems of the conventional C-scanning flaw detection method will be described with reference to FIG.

  First problem: As shown in the formation state of the focused beam inside the subject shown in FIG. 10, the focused beam has a large beam diameter outside the focal point, and the resolution is lowered outside the focal point. It is difficult to image internal defects present in the z direction in FIG. 10 with uniform resolution.

Second problem: In order to improve the resolution of a defect image at a deep position of the subject in imaging of an internal defect of a very thick material, it is necessary to focus the focused beam at a deep position of the subject. When the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave was set to lambda, near field limit distance X ₀ of the ultrasonic transducer is a flat plate with a diameter D is expressed by the following formula (1).

X ₀ = D ² / (4 · λ) (1)

The near field limit distance is the natural focal point, and is the distance at which the phases of the ultrasonic waves radiated from the individual element points of the transducer are almost aligned and do not cause interference (without focusing with a lens, etc.) Even if they are out of phase.) Therefore, the focus of the focused beam is not set at a position closer to the probe than the near field limit distance X _0, no sufficient focusing effect. Practically, it is said that the focal length F of the focused beam needs to be shorter than X _0/2 .

From the above, in order to set the focus of the focused beam in a deep position of the subject, it is necessary to increase the X _0, in order that it can be seen that it is necessary to increase the diameter of the ultrasonic vibrator. However, in order to electrically drive an ultrasonic transducer and transmit an ultrasonic pulse, the electrical resistance of the ultrasonic transducer must not be too low, and there is a limit to the diameter of the ultrasonic transducer. Exists. Therefore, it is technically difficult to set the focal point of the focused beam at a deep position of a very thick material. For example, a depth of about 80 mm is the limit for imaging internal defects of a steel object using a frequency of 2 MHz. is there. Therefore, it is difficult to visualize an internal defect at a position deeper than this with high resolution.

In addition to the C-scan flaw detection method described above, there is an aperture synthesis method as a technique aiming at high resolution imaging. The principle of aperture synthesis will be described with reference to an example in which defect imaging is performed by bringing the transducer array shown in FIG. 11 into contact with the surface of the subject 110. An ultrasonic wave is transmitted from each transducer of the transducer array to detect a defect echo, and the beam path of the defective echo in the subject 110 is measured from the time from the transmission of the ultrasonic wave to the reception of the echo. Since the ultrasonic waves transmitted and received from the individual transducers 120p (p = 1, 2,...) Have a spatial spread, the beam path of the echo detected by the transducer 120p is Wp (p = 1, 2, ,..., Of the hollow sphere Sp (p = 1, 2,...) Having a radius Wp, a reflection source exists somewhere in the directivity angle range of the ultrasonic wave transmitted and received by the transducer 120p. . When echoes are detected using all the transducers and the intersection of the hollow spheres Sp is obtained, this intersection becomes a defect image. FIG. 11 shows how a defect image is synthesized from the beam path of echoes detected by the transducers 120 ₆ , 120 ₈ , 120 ₁₀ , 120 ₁₃ , and 120 ₁₅ .

  Further, if the transducer array 120 is scanned in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface (the scanning stroke is Ls), a three-dimensional defect image can be obtained. This method corresponds to obtaining a defect image by transmitting an ultrasonic wave from each point of a transducer having a large size of L × Ls and receiving an echo, where L is the total length of the transducer array. The method has the advantage that high resolution equivalent to defect imaging with a large vibrator can be obtained without restriction of the vibrator diameter due to matching of electrical impedance. As a prior document of this technique, there are Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, and the like.

JP 7-49398 A JP-A-10-142201 Edited by Japan Nondestructive Inspection Association, “Ultrasonic Flaw Test II”, Japan Nondestructive Inspection Association (2000), p. 151-152

  However, in this method, as shown in Patent Document 1, in order to detect defect echoes over a wide range, the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver needs a wide directivity angle, and the ultrasonic beam is focused on a narrow region. This technique has been incompatible with the C-scan flaw detection method.

  Therefore, the following matters have become extremely important issues in imaging internal defects by ultrasonic waves using a focused beam.

  (1) Imaging is performed with uniform resolution regardless of the depth at which internal defects exist.

  (2) Even if the plate thickness is large and the depth of the focused beam does not reach, imaging is performed with high resolution.

  Note that (2) is equivalent to the imaging of an internal defect far away from the focal point in (1), so the problem is summarized in (1).

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to enable imaging with uniform resolution regardless of the depth at which internal defects exist.

  The present invention intervenes water between a water-immersion type ultrasonic probe and a subject, transmits ultrasonic waves toward the subject while scanning the ultrasonic probe relative to the subject, In the method of imaging an internal defect by ultrasonic waves, which receives a reflected wave (echo) from the internal defect of the object and visualizes the internal defect, the depth position of the focal point is determined from the point focusing type ultrasonic probe. Regardless of the existing depth, an ultrasonic focused beam set inside the subject is transmitted to the subject, and a reflected wave (echo) from the internal defect of the subject is transmitted from the internal defect far from the focal point. While receiving the reflected wave, the beam path of the defect echo is measured and recorded at each measurement point, and the depth range where the defect may exist is obtained from the total beam path recorded. Divide the depth range into three-dimensional microelements and measure all points For each, comparing the distance to the microelements and the measured beam path, if they match within a predetermined range, add to the counter of the three-dimensional array provided corresponding to the position of the microelements, The above problem is solved by displaying the internal defects of the subject by adding light or shade to the position of the minute element according to the value of the counter.

  In the present invention, water is interposed between the water immersion type ultrasonic probe and the subject, and the ultrasonic probe is transmitted to the subject while scanning the ultrasonic probe relative to the subject. In the imaging device for an internal defect by an ultrasonic wave that receives the reflected wave (echo) from the internal defect of the object and visualizes the internal defect, the depth position of the focal point of the ultrasonic focused beam is determined based on the internal defect. A point-focusing ultrasonic probe set inside the subject regardless of the existing depth, and a reflected wave (echo) from an internal defect of the subject of the ultrasonic focused beam transmitted from the point-focusing ultrasonic probe , Receiving means including a reflected wave from an internal defect far from the focal point, beam path length measuring means for measuring and recording the beam path of the defect echo at each measurement point, and recording from the beam path length measuring means Enter the total beam path A depth range in which a defect may exist is obtained from the entire beam path, the depth range is divided into three-dimensional microelements, and the distance to the microelement and the beam for each of all measurement points. The path length is compared, and when they match within a predetermined range, defect image synthesis means for adding to the counter of the three-dimensional array provided corresponding to the position of the microelement, and the microelement according to the value of the counter It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic internal defect imaging apparatus characterized by comprising defect image display means for displaying an internal defect of a subject with a shade or color at a position.

According to the present invention, in the imaging of internal defects by ultrasonic waves using a focused beam,
(1) Imaging is performed with uniform resolution regardless of the depth at which internal defects exist.
(2) Even if the plate thickness is large and the depth of the focused beam does not reach, imaging is performed with high resolution.
It becomes possible.

  In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, an ultrasonic focused beam from a point focusing type ultrasonic probe transmitted using a spherical vibrator or an acoustic lens has a direction (beam) perpendicular to the center of the spherical vibrator or the acoustic lens. Focusing on the fact that not only waves parallel to the central axis of the beam but also waves directed in a direction not parallel to the central axis of the beam are densely included over a certain angular range. It is based on the discovery that it is possible to combine an aperture synthesis method with an ultrasound focused beam that is considered unsuitable. (Generally, in order to perform aperture synthesis, it is necessary to transmit a wave diffusing over a wide directivity angle from an ultrasonic transceiver.)

  According to the present invention, in the quality evaluation of a product in which internal defects such as inclusion of foreign substances, voids, internal cracks, etc. may exist, the internal quality of the product is inspected in detail, and the consumer of the product having harmful internal defects Can be prevented, and the problems of the manufacturing technology can be investigated from the nature of the internal defects to establish a manufacturing technology that does not cause internal defects.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a subject to be examined. In this example, the subject 1 is a stationary subject, the internal defect is imaged using the immersion method, and the medium is water. Reference numeral 10 denotes an ultrasonic probe that transmits and receives a focused beam. The ultrasonic probe 10 transmits an ultrasonic focused beam to a subject by an electric pulse of a fixed period from a transmission circuit 11 and also reflects reflected waves (echoes) from the surface and the inside of the subject. ). The received signal is amplified by the receiving amplifier 12 to an appropriate level convenient for later signal processing. The ultrasonic probe 10 is two-dimensionally scanned (xy scan) with respect to the subject 1 by an appropriate scanning unit, and its position is detected by an x-direction position detection unit 21 and a y-direction position detection unit 22, and a defect image synthesizing apparatus. 14.

The defect echo beam path measurement circuit 13 determines the difference in reception timing between the surface echo 51 and the defect echo 52, that is, the beam path of the defect echo 52 in the subject 1 (hereinafter, in the subject 1, the beam path of the defect echo is omitted. Or simply referred to as beam path). As the beam path length, either the propagation time of ultrasonic waves or the propagation distance of ultrasonic waves multiplied by the speed of sound may be used. Each measured beam path is sent to the defect image synthesizer 14 and recorded in association with the position P _{i, j} (i: position in the x direction, j: position in the y direction) of the ultrasonic probe 10 at this time. Is done.

FIG. 3 shows a method of synthesizing a defect image by this method. In FIG. 3, the surface of the subject 1 is set in a virtual three-dimensional space, and the depth range in which defects inside the object 1 may exist is three-dimensionally indicated by the microelements Pf _{k, l, m} (k: x direction). , L: position in the y direction, m: position in the Z direction), and further from the beam path length W _{i, j of} the defect echo measured at the position P _{i, j} It shows a state where minute elements that can be reflection sources are extracted. In the figure, the hatched elements indicate the minute elements whose distance from P _{i, j} is W _{i, j} among the minute elements at the smallest depth. The procedure for synthesizing the defect image in the present embodiment is as follows.

Defect image synthesis procedure 1
(1) The ultrasonic probe 10 is scanned at a predetermined pitch, the defect echo beam path measurement circuit 13 measures the beam path W _{i, j} of the defect echo from the ultrasonic transmission / reception signal at each position P _{i, j} , and the defect The image is recorded in the image synthesizer 14.

(2) From the total beam path W _{i, j} recorded in the defect image synthesizer 14, a depth range in which a defect may exist is obtained, and a minute element is set in this depth range to obtain a three-dimensional Addresses Pf _{k, l, m} are attached.

(3) For each probe position P _{i, j} , the distance from Pf _{k, l, m} is obtained, compared with the measured beam path W _{i, j,} and if they match within a predetermined error range, Pf _{k , L, m} is added to the counter C _{k, l, m} . The counters C _{k, l, and m} are three-dimensional arrays. When the depth direction position is fixed (the value of m is fixed), a two-dimensional array is obtained. FIG. 4 further shows a part thereof.

  The numbers input in FIG. 4 indicate how many times the array elements are matched in the comparison step.

(4) After performing the above calculation for all the probe positions, if m is fixed to a specific value, and the contents of C _{k, l, m} are displayed in shades or colors according to the count value, etc. A two-dimensional defect image (C scope with limited depth position) is obtained. When a two-dimensional defect image is created by changing the value of m, a change in the defect shape in the depth direction can be observed.

  Denoted at 15 is a defect image display device, which displays the two-dimensional defect image created as described above, with a color or shade depending on the count value.

  The display of the defect image is not limited to the above. The defect image may be displayed three-dimensionally without fixing m, or a tomographic image like a B scope may be displayed by fixing the value of k or l. Also good.

Example 1
FIG. 5 (a) shows a micro defect at a position of a depth of 80 mm of a steel test piece having a thickness of 120 mm, a frequency of 2 MHz, a vibrator diameter: 50.8 mm, an underwater focal length: 406 mm, using the apparatus of the above embodiment. The results of measurement with a focusing probe set at a depth of 60 mm and a focal point set are shown. For comparison, FIG. 5C shows a defect image by conventional C-scan flaw detection under the same conditions. Since the depth of the minute defect is far from the focal point of the ultrasonic beam, the defect image by the conventional C-scan flaw is blurred, but the fine structure of the defect is clear in the apparatus of this embodiment. Can be visualized. In other words, it can be understood that the apparatus of this embodiment can solve the reduction in resolution other than the focus, which is a problem in the conventional C-scan flaw detection.

(Embodiment 2)
Furthermore, according to the defect image synthesis procedure 2 described below, the sharpness of the defect image can be further improved.

Defect image synthesis procedure 2
(1) The beam path of the defect echo detected at each position P _{i, j} by the defect echo beam path measurement circuit 13 from the ultrasonic transmission / reception signal at each position P _{i, j} by scanning the ultrasonic probe 10 at a predetermined pitch. _{Wi, j} is measured and recorded in the defect image synthesizer 14.

(2) A range of a depth where a defect may exist is obtained from the beam path W _{i, j} recorded in the defect image synthesizing apparatus 14, and a minute element is set in the range of the depth to obtain a three-dimensional address. Add Pf _{k, l, m} .

(3) For each probe position P _{i, j} , the distance to Pf _{k, l, m} is obtained, compared with the measured beam path W _{i, j,} and if they match within a predetermined error range, from the calculated or experimental value of the directivity of the sound beam, the _{Pf k, l,} incident intensity _{I k} of the ultrasonic wave in _{m, l,} seeking _{m, Pf k, l,} the counter _{C k} provided in _{m, l , M} is incremented by increments I _{k, l, m} . Also in this procedure 2, the counters C _{k, l, and m} are three-dimensional arrays, and when the depth direction position is fixed (the value of m is fixed), a two-dimensional array is obtained. FIG. 6 shows a part of the extracted part.

The numbers input in FIG. 6 are the combined values of the ultrasonic incident intensities I _{k, l, and m} when there is a match in the comparison process, and are different from the contents in FIG. (FIGS. 4 and 6 are count values obtained using the same data, and the method of addition to the counter is changed according to the procedure).

(4) After performing the above calculation for all the probe positions, if m is fixed to a specific value, and the contents of C _{k, l, m} are displayed in shades or colors according to the count value, etc. A two-dimensional defect image (C scope with limited depth position) is obtained. When a two-dimensional defect image is created by changing the value of m, a change in the defect shape in the depth direction can be observed.

(Example 2)
FIG. 5B shows a defect image according to the procedure 2. It can be seen that the defect image is sharper than the defect image in FIG.

  FIG. 7 shows the result of creating a two-dimensional defect image by changing the value of m and observing the change of the defect shape in the depth direction. Procedure 2 was used for the synthesis procedure of the defect image. 7 (a) to 7 (f) show that a micro-defect located at a position of about 60 mm in depth of a steel test piece having a thickness of 160 mm has a frequency of 2 MHz and a vibrator diameter: 50. The result of measuring by setting a focus at a position of 40 mm depth using a focusing probe of 8 mm and underwater focal length: 406 mm is shown. For comparison, FIG. 8 shows a defect image by conventional C-scan flaw detection under the same conditions. It can be seen that the conventional C-scan flaw detection has a reflection surface at a position that varies depending on the depth, and the three-dimensional shape of the defect can be easily grasped by the method of the present invention.

  As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable not only to the case where the subject is a steel plate, but also to a cylindrical body such as a roll or a steel pipe. It is apparent that the present invention can be applied even if the material is not steel but resin, other metals, or completely different materials. Further, the subject need not be limited to a stationary object, and can naturally be applied to a moving object. Of course, the medium in which the subject is immersed may be water, oil, or the like.

1 is a block diagram including a partial cross-sectional view showing an apparatus according to a configuration of the present invention. The figure which shows the focused beam used for this invention The perspective view which shows the synthesis method of the defect image of this invention Chart showing examples of count values The figure which shows the example of the effect of this invention compared with a prior art example Chart showing an example of count values by an addition method different from FIG. The figure which shows an example of the measurement result by this invention method The figure which shows an example of the defect picture by the prior art Block diagram including a partial cross-sectional view showing a device according to the configuration of the prior art A perspective view for explaining the problems of the prior art Cross-sectional view for explaining the principle of the conventional aperture synthesis method

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,110 ... Subject 10, 111 ... Ultrasonic probe 11, 112 ... Transmission circuit 12, 113 ... Reception amplifier 13 ... Defect echo beam path measurement circuit 14 ... Defect image synthesizer 15 ... Defect image display device 21 ... Position in x direction Detection means 22 ... y-direction position detection means 51 ... Surface echo 52 ... Defect echo 114 ... Gate circuit 115 ... Peak detector 120 ... Vibrator array

Claims (2)

While interposing water between the water immersion type ultrasonic probe and the subject, the ultrasonic probe is transmitted to the subject while scanning the ultrasonic probe relative to the subject, and the inside of the subject In the imaging method of the internal defect by the ultrasonic wave that receives the reflected wave (echo) from the defect and visualizes the internal defect,
From the point-focusing type ultrasonic probe, an ultrasonic focused beam in which the depth position of the focal point is set inside the subject regardless of the depth at which the internal defect exists is transmitted to the subject, and the internal defect of the subject is While receiving the reflected wave (echo) including the reflected wave from the internal defect beyond the focal point,
At each measurement point, the beam path of the defect echo is measured and recorded,
Determining the depth range where defects may exist from the total beam path recorded, and dividing the depth range into three-dimensional microelements;
For each of all the measurement points, when the distance to the microelement and the measured beam path are compared within a predetermined range, a counter of a three-dimensional array provided corresponding to the position of the microelement Add,
A method for imaging an internal defect by ultrasonic waves, wherein the internal defect of the subject is displayed by adding a shade or color to the position of the minute element according to the value of the counter. While interposing water between the water immersion type ultrasonic probe and the subject, the ultrasonic probe is transmitted to the subject while scanning the ultrasonic probe relative to the subject, and the inside of the subject In the imaging device of internal defects by ultrasonic waves that receive reflected waves (echoes) from defects and image internal defects,
A point-focusing ultrasonic probe in which the focal depth of the ultrasonic focused beam is set inside the subject regardless of the depth of the internal defect;
Means for receiving the reflected wave (echo) from the internal defect of the subject of the ultrasonic focused beam transmitted from the point-focusing type ultrasonic probe, including the reflected wave from the internal defect far from the focal point;
At each measurement point, a beam path measuring means for measuring and recording the beam path of the defect echo, and
The total beam path recorded from the beam path measuring means is input, a depth range in which a defect may exist is obtained from the total beam path, and the depth range is divided into three-dimensional microelements, A defect that is added to the counter of the three-dimensional array provided corresponding to the position of the minute element when the distance to the minute element and the beam path length are compared for each of all the measurement points and they match within a predetermined range. Image synthesis means;
A defect image display means for displaying the internal defect of the subject by adding a shade or color to the position of the microelement according to the value of the counter;
An internal defect imaging apparatus using ultrasonic waves.