JP2011039077A - Ultrasonic flaw detector and image processing method of ultrasonic flaw detector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic flaw detector and method which facilitate the display alignment of three-dimensional flaw detection data and three-dimensional shape data, and which can quickly discriminate between a flaw echo and shape echo. <P>SOLUTION: A computer 102A has a position correction function for correcting the relative display positions of the three-dimensional shape data and three-dimensional flaw detection data. The position correction function shifts the display positions of the three-dimensional flaw detection data or three-dimensional shape data by only a norm of an average vector along the average vector obtained from two or more vectors defined by two or more selected points in the three-dimensional flaw detection data and two or more selected points in the three-dimensional shape data which respectively correspond to the points in the detection data, and overlappingly displays the three-dimensional shape data and three-dimensional flaw detection data on a three-dimensional display part 103C. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic flaw detector for performing an ultrasonic flaw detection method which is a kind of nondestructive inspection method, and an image processing method of the ultrasonic flaw detector, and more particularly, ultrasonic flaw detection using an array type ultrasonic sensor. The present invention relates to an image processing method for an apparatus and an ultrasonic flaw detector.

  In recent years, in the ultrasonic flaw detection method that targets various structural materials, there is a flaw detection method that images and inspects the inside of the inspection target with high accuracy in a short time, as represented by the phased array method and the aperture synthesis method. It has been developed (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

  First, the phased array method uses a so-called array-type ultrasonic sensor in which a plurality of piezoelectric vibration elements are arranged, and the wavefronts of ultrasonic waves transmitted from each piezoelectric vibration element interfere to form a composite wavefront and propagate. Therefore, it is possible to control the incident angle of the ultrasonic wave and to focus the ultrasonic wave by delay controlling the ultrasonic transmission timing of each piezoelectric vibration element and shifting each timing. it can.

  In addition, when receiving ultrasonic waves, the reflected ultrasonic waves received by each piezoelectric vibration element are shifted and added to control the reception angle of the ultrasonic waves as in the case of transmission, or the ultrasonic waves are focused and focused. Can be received.

  As the phased array method, a linear scan method that linearly scans a piezoelectric vibrator of a one-dimensional array sensor and a sector scan method that changes the transmission and reception directions of ultrasonic waves in a fan shape are generally known. In addition, when a two-dimensional array sensor in which piezoelectric vibrators are arranged in a grid pattern is used, it is possible to focus on an arbitrary position three-dimensionally, and a scanning method according to an inspection object is possible. In either method, the ultrasonic wave can be scanned at high speed without moving the ultrasonic sensor, or the ultrasonic incident angle and focusing depth position can be arbitrarily controlled without replacing the ultrasonic sensor. Therefore, it is a technology that enables high-speed and high-precision inspection.

  In the aperture synthesis method, when the ultrasonic wave is transmitted and the reflected ultrasonic signal is received so that the wave is widely diffused in the inspection object, the position of the defect serving as the sound source of the received reflected ultrasonic wave is the ultrasonic wave. Is based on the principle that it exists on an arc with the propagation distance of the reflected ultrasonic wave as the radius centered at the position of the piezoelectric vibration element that has transmitted and received. For this reason, the position of the piezoelectric vibration element is sequentially changed to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, and the received waveform at each position is calculated on an electronic computer and widened in an arc shape, so that a defect that becomes an ultrasonic reflection source can be detected. The intersections of the arcs are concentrated at the existing position, and the position of the defect can be specified. The contents of arithmetic processing in the electronic computer are those described in Non-Patent Document 1.

  In these methods using a sensor in which a plurality of piezoelectric vibration elements are arranged, it is possible to three-dimensionally obtain a reflected ultrasonic signal of a defect without moving the sensor. In order to specify the specific reflection position, it is estimated by using a method of estimating from a two-dimensional image of a plurality of reflection intensity distributions that are spatially different, or by displaying a three-dimensional display after converting the reflection intensity distribution into three-dimensional data. To do.

  For example, in the case of a phased array linear scan or sector scan, a plurality of two-dimensional reflection intensity images corresponding to a known scan pitch can be acquired. The direction of appearance can be specified. However, this method has limitations for arbitrary three-dimensional scans other than those described above.

  In such a case, the reflected ultrasonic signals from a plurality of directions are subjected to interpolation processing or the like to generate three-dimensional grid data, and this is displayed as an image by a method such as volume rendering or surface rendering. There is also a method of displaying an image as a three-dimensional point group without converting it into grid-like data. Since both are stored as three-dimensional flaw detection data, the inspector can check the three-dimensional flaw detection data from an arbitrary direction after measurement (for example, see Non-Patent Document 2).

However, it is difficult to determine only from these three-dimensional flaw detection data whether the peak of the reflection intensity distribution is due to reflection at the end face or boundary surface to be inspected or due to reflection at a defect. In particular, in the case of an inspection object having a complicated shape, a large number of reflected ultrasonic signals (shape echoes) depending on the shape appear, and it is difficult for even an expert to determine. For this reason, software for displaying the three-dimensional shape data to be inspected together with the three-dimensional flaw detection data has been developed. By superimposing and comparing these two data, it becomes easy to discriminate between a shape echo and an echo from a defect (defect echo). In many cases, three-dimensional shape data is read and used separately by a general-purpose CAD (Computer Aided Design) (for example, see Non-Patent Document 2).

JP-A-6-102258

Co-authored by Masamasa Kondo, Yoshimasa Ohashi, and Akirou Mimori Digital Signal Processing Series Volume 12 “Digital Signal Processing in Measurement and Sensors” pp. 143-186 May 20, 1993 Potts, A.; McNab, A .; Reilly, D .; Toft, M., “Presentation and analysis enhancements of the NDT Workbench a software package for ultrasonic NDT data”, REVIEW OF PROGRESS IN QUANTITATIVE NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION; Volume 19, AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 509, pp. 741-748 (2000)

  However, since the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data are normally created in different coordinate systems, the display position must be corrected when they are displayed in a superimposed manner. In addition, it is also necessary to correct the display size due to the difference between the theoretical value and the actually measured value of the sound speed in the inspection object used for displaying the three-dimensional flaw detection data. If these corrections are not performed correctly, the correlation between the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data cannot be confirmed, and the shape echo and the defect echo cannot be identified. Conventionally, an inspector inputs information related to position correction and sound speed correction to the display device, or directly processes correction processing until it becomes identifiable by processing 3D flaw detection data and 3D shape data. However, there was a problem that these operations required a lot of time.

  It is known that the two-dimensional flaw detection data and the two-dimensional shape data are superimposed and displayed (for example, refer to page 6, right column, lines 34 to 40 of Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 does not describe a specific method of superimposition, but there is a description that superimposition is performed by matching the origin coordinates. However, in general, the origin of the two-dimensional flaw detection data and the origin of the two-dimensional shape data are often different, and even if the origin coordinates are simply matched, they cannot be superimposed. Patent Document 1 relates to the superimposition of two-dimensional flaw detection data and shape data. At the time of filing of Patent Document 1, there is no technique for obtaining three-dimensional flaw detection data, and the three-dimensional flaw detection data and shape data are not related. The overlay is not known. Unlike the two-dimensional method, it is necessary to consider the inclination between the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the shape data.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus and an image processing method for the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus that facilitate display alignment of three-dimensional flaw detection data and three-dimensional shape data and can quickly identify defect echoes and shape echoes. There is.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ultrasonic sensor having a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators, a pulser for supplying a transmission signal to each piezoelectric vibrator of the ultrasonic sensor, and each piezoelectric sensor of the ultrasonic sensor. A receiver that inputs a reception signal from a transducer element, a delay control unit that sets a different delay time for each piezoelectric transducer in the transmission signal and the reception signal, and an ultrasonic waveform received by the ultrasonic sensor A data recording unit for recording, a computer for image processing for generating three-dimensional flaw detection data from a waveform recorded by the data recording unit, a data recording unit for recording three-dimensional shape data, the three-dimensional shape data, and the three-dimensional data An ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus having a three-dimensional display unit for displaying three-dimensional flaw detection data, wherein the image processing computer displays the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data on a three-dimensional display unit. The reference point of the displayed three-dimensional flaw detection data and the reference point corresponding to the reference point of the three-dimensional flaw detection data for the displayed three-dimensional shape data are determined as reference points designated by the inspector, As two reference points different from the two reference points, a reference point of the displayed three-dimensional flaw detection data and a reference point corresponding to the reference point of the three-dimensional flaw detection data for the displayed three-dimensional shape data Determined as a reference point designated by the inspector, calculate a plurality of movement vectors from each of the two reference points, move only the average vector obtained from the average of the plurality of movement vectors, and draw at the moved position It is the structure to do.
With this configuration and method, it is possible to easily align the display positions of the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data, and to quickly identify the defect echo and the shape echo.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ultrasonic sensor including a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators, a pulsar for supplying a transmission signal to each piezoelectric vibrator of the ultrasonic sensor, and the ultrasonic sensor. A receiver that inputs a reception signal from each piezoelectric vibrator element, a delay control unit that sets a different delay time for each piezoelectric vibrator in the transmission signal and the reception signal, and an ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic sensor A data recording unit for recording waveforms, a computer for image processing for generating three-dimensional flaw detection data from the waveforms recorded by the data recording unit, a data recording unit for recording three-dimensional shape data, and the three-dimensional shape data An ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus having a three-dimensional display unit for displaying the three-dimensional flaw detection data, wherein the image processing computer records image data of an ultrasonic waveform received by an ultrasonic sensor. A data recording unit for displaying an image of a reflection intensity distribution on a plane parallel to two axes having a coordinate system of the three-dimensional flaw detection data of the data recording unit on a cross-sectional display screen and recording the three-dimensional flaw detection data and three-dimensional shape data The three-dimensional shape data is superimposed and displayed on the display screen, and a plane indicating the position of the plane of the reflection intensity distribution image of the plane is displayed on the display screen together with the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data. is there.
With this configuration and method, it is possible to easily align the display positions of the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data, and to quickly identify the defect echo and the shape echo.

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily align the display positions of three-dimensional flaw detection data and three-dimensional shape data, and to quickly identify defect echoes and shape echoes.

1 is a system block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic flaw detector according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the position correction method of 3D flaw detection data and 3D shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the position correction method of 3D flaw detection data and 3D shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the position correction method of 3D flaw detection data and 3D shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the dimension correction method of 3D flaw detection data and 3D shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the dimension correction method of the three-dimensional flaw detection data by the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention, and three-dimensional shape data. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the production method of the three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the production method of the three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the production method of the three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the distance measuring method of arbitrary two points by the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a system block diagram which shows the other structure of the ultrasonic flaw detector by one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of an ultrasonic flaw detector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the configuration of the ultrasonic flaw detector according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a system block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic flaw detector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an array type ultrasonic sensor 101 that makes an ultrasonic wave incident on an inspection object 100, a transmission / reception unit 102, and a display unit 103 that displays a received signal and a flaw detection image. Yes.

  As shown in the figure, the array type ultrasonic sensor 101 basically includes a plurality of piezoelectric vibration elements 104 that generate and receive ultrasonic waves. The array-type ultrasonic sensor 101 is installed on the flaw detection surface of the inspection object 100, and then generates an ultrasonic wave 105 by a drive signal supplied from the transmission / reception unit 102, and propagates this into the inspection object 100. The received wave is input to the transmission / reception unit 102 by detecting the reflected wave appearing in FIG.

  The transmission / reception unit 102 transmits and receives ultrasonic waves by the array type ultrasonic sensor 101. The transmission / reception unit 102 includes a computer 102A, a delay time control unit 102B, a pulsar 102C, a receiver 102D, a data recording unit 102E, a mouse 102F, and a keyboard 102G. The pulsar 102C supplies a drive signal to the array type ultrasonic sensor 101, whereby the receiver 102D processes the reception signal input from the array type ultrasonic sensor 101.

  The computer 102A basically includes a CPU 102A1, a RAM 102A2, and a ROM 102A3. A program for controlling the CPU 102A1 is written in the ROM 102A3. The CPU 102A1 performs arithmetic processing while reading necessary external data from the data recording unit 102E according to this program, or sending / receiving data to / from the RAM 102A2, and processing the processed data as necessary. Output to the recording unit 102E.

  The CPU 102A1 controls the delay time control unit 102B, the pulsar 102C, and the receiver 102D so that necessary operations can be obtained. The delay time control unit 102B controls both the timing of the drive signal output from the pulsar 102C and the input timing of the received signal by the receiver 102D, thereby obtaining the operation of the array type ultrasonic sensor 101 by the phased array method.

  The operation of the array-type ultrasonic sensor 101 by the phased array method here refers to an operation of transmitting and receiving the ultrasonic wave by controlling the focal depth and the incident angle 106 of the ultrasonic wave 105, and thereby receiving from the receiver 102 </ b> D. A reception signal is supplied to the data recording unit 102E. Therefore, the data recording unit 102E processes the supplied received signal and records it as recorded data, and simultaneously sends the data to the computer 102A. As a result, the computer 102A synthesizes the waveform obtained by each piezoelectric vibration element according to the delay time, performs an appropriate interpolation process on the waveform for each incident angle of each ultrasonic wave, and produces a two-dimensional square called a pixel. A pixel-format two-dimensional flaw detection data in units of grids or a voxel-type three-dimensional flaw detection data in units of three-dimensional cubic lattices called voxels is created, and an operation is performed to display the image on the display unit 103. .

  The display unit 103 includes a two-dimensional display screen 103B that displays two-dimensional flaw detection data, a three-dimensional display screen 103C that displays three-dimensional flaw detection data, and a waveform display screen 103A that displays a waveform signal of each piezoelectric vibrator. ing. Although only one display unit 103 is shown in FIG. 1, the waveform display screen 103A, the two-dimensional display screen 103B, and the three-dimensional display screen 103C are displayed by being shared by a plurality of display units. It may be.

  Three-dimensional flaw detection data is displayed on a three-dimensional display screen 103C on the display unit 103. At this time, an arbitrary display size can be displayed by an input using the mouse 102F or the keyboard 102G connected to the computer 102A. The inspector can input numerical values from the keyboard 102G for the enlargement ratio for changing the display size. Also, the display color and transparency can be arbitrarily changed by input from the mouse 102F and the keyboard 102G. The display color can be changed according to the reflection intensity. In this case, a plurality of display color patterns are prepared and can be selected by the inspector according to the application.

  These three-dimensional drawing algorithms are included in libraries such as OpenGL (registered trademark) and DirectX (registered trademark), which are industry standard graphics application programming interfaces (graphics API) for graphics applications, for example. If these graphics APIs are used in a program to give necessary information such as the shape, viewpoint, and display position of an object to be displayed, an arbitrary color, transparency, It is possible to easily draw a three-dimensional shape with a size.

Further, on the 3D display screen 103C, 3D shape data representing the shape of the inspection object 100 is displayed simultaneously with the 3D flaw detection data. The three-dimensional shape data is read from outside the computer 102A. In addition, the examiner can create the image on the three-dimensional display screen 103C using the mouse 102F or the keyboard 102G. Details of the creation operation will be described later with reference to FIG.
In particular, when CAD (Computer Aided Design) data of the inspection object 100 exists, it can be read and displayed. The format of the CAD data is a data format that can be input / output by commercially available CAD software. For example, an STL (STereoLithography) format that can be read and output by many CAD software is used. The STL format represents the surface of an object as a set of a large number of triangles, and the surface normal vector of these triangles and the coordinate values of three vertices are written in the STL file. Displaying the three-dimensional shape data 202 from the STL format file using the graphics API can be easily realized by drawing a plurality of triangles.

  In addition, a plurality of three-dimensional shape data can be simultaneously displayed on the three-dimensional display screen 103C. The selected 3D shape data is input from a mouse 102F or a keyboard 102G connected to the computer 102A, independently of the 3D flaw detection data, at an arbitrary viewpoint, at an arbitrary position and at an arbitrary size. Can be displayed.

  Further, the inspector can arbitrarily change the display color and the transparency independently of the three-dimensional flaw detection data by inputting using the mouse 102F and the keyboard 102G. Thereby, even if the three-dimensional shape data and the three-dimensional flaw detection data overlap, it is possible to make a display that is easy for the examiner to see. Further, display / non-display of the three-dimensional shape data can be switched as necessary.

  Normally, since the coordinate systems of the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data are different, both are displayed at completely different positions in the initial state in which these are displayed in an overlapping manner. Even when the initial information such as the ultrasonic incident position is given, the position and dimensions for the display need to be corrected due to, for example, the fact that the sound velocity in the inspection object is slightly different between the actually measured value and the theoretical value.

  As already described, since the 3D flaw detection data and the 3D shape data can be displayed independently at any position and in any display size, the inspector performs trial and error on the 3D flaw detection data and 3D shape data. Can be adjusted so as to have a desired relative position and display size. However, since this operation takes time and labor, the operation becomes very easy if the position correction function and the dimension correction function described below are used.

Next, the position correction method for the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the position correction method for 3D flaw detection data and 3D shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. 3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams of a method for correcting the position of the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The position correction method is a function for setting the relative positions of the three-dimensional shape data and the three-dimensional flaw detection data to a desired state in which they overlap each other.

  In step S1 of FIG. 2, the inspector specifies a reference point. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the 3D flaw detection data 201 is translated so that the coordinates of an arbitrary point 201A in the 3D flaw detection data 201 coincide with the coordinates of an arbitrary point 202A in the 3D shape data 202. In order to do this, the examiner first selects the reference point 201A and the reference point 202A while viewing the three-dimensional display screen 103C with the mouse 102F.

  The selection of points on the 3D display screen 103C is performed as follows. First, the mouse 102F is clicked on the 3D display screen 103C on the 3D flaw detection data 201 to be the first reference point, and then dragged in an oblique direction, a rectangular area is selected. The points included in the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 drawn in the rectangular area are read into the RAM 102A2 of the computer with the respective identification numbers. The identification numbers are assigned in order of increasing absolute values of data points (in order of increasing strength to decreasing size) in the flaw detection data included in the rectangular area.

  In step S2 of FIG. 2, when there are a plurality of points included in the minute region, the CPU 102A1 displays the first point among the plurality of points as a candidate point on the 3D display screen 103C.

  Then, in step S3, the candidate points are instructed by the inspector with the input of the mouse 102F or the keyboard 102G. If the candidate points are not the desired data points, the process returns to step S2 to display the next candidate points in the order of the identification numbers. The color changes sequentially on the display.

  When a desired point is displayed as a candidate, in step S4, the examiner determines a point by inputting with the mouse 102F or the keyboard 102G.

  Next, in step S5 of FIG. 2, it is determined whether there is another reference point. Here, since it is also necessary to select the first reference point included in the three-dimensional shape data 202, the processing corresponding to the first reference point 201A in the flaw detection data 201 of FIG. The first reference point 202A in the dimensional shape data 202 is selected and determined. For example, when the three-dimensional shape data 202 is in the STL format, the selected point is one of the vertices of a triangle constituting the three-dimensional shape data 202. An algorithm for reading the identification number and position information of the selected point into the RAM 102A2 has already been realized by a graphics API such as OpenGL, and can be easily realized by using a function provided there.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since at least two reference points are used in the flaw detection data 201 and the three-dimensional shape data 202, the three-dimensional shape data corresponding to the second reference point 201B in the flaw detection data 201 is used. A second reference point 202B at 202 is selected and determined.

Here, the reference points to be selected are, for example, an ultrasonic incident point 201B on the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 and a sensor installation point (ultrasonic incident position) 202B on the three-dimensional shape data 202, or a point 201A. Causes on the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 include a peak point of a known shape echo and its surrounding points, a point on the end face of the three-dimensional shape data 202 such as a point 202A, and the like. In addition, for example, the reference point 201C and the reference point 201D on the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 and the reference point 202C and the reference point 202D on the three-dimensional shape data 202 as shown in FIG. it can. As the number of reference points increases, the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data can be matched more.
Corresponding reference point combinations are automatically set as reference point 201A and reference point 202A, reference point 201B and reference point 202B, reference point 201C and reference point 202C, and reference point 201D and reference point 202D. . At this time, the selected reference point is displayed with a different color on the three-dimensional display screen 103C.

  Next, in step S6 in FIG. 2, the CPU 102A1 calculates a movement vector of the three-dimensional flaw detection data from the plurality of reference points. Here, there are N combinations of points on the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 and corresponding points on the three-dimensional shape data 202, and the coordinates of the i-th combination point are (Xi1, Yi1, Zi1), (Xi2, If Yi2, Zi2), the movement vector is the average of the movement vectors obtained from each combination, and is obtained by the following equation (1).

  Next, in step S7, the CPU 102A1 moves the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 in parallel and rotationally by the movement vector based on the equation (1), and redraws it at the moved position as shown in FIG. Note that the three-dimensional shape data 202 may be moved.

Next, a method for correcting the dimensions of the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the dimension correction method for three-dimensional flaw detection data and three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a dimension correction method for three-dimensional flaw detection data and three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  When the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 and the three-dimensional shape data 202 are not sufficiently matched only by the position correction function described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the dimension correction function is used.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the distance between the reference point 201B and the reference point 201D in the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201, and the corresponding distance between the reference point 202B and the reference point 202D in the three-dimensional shape data 202 A case where it is desired to change the display dimension of the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 so that the two coincide with each other.

  The processing contents in steps S11 to S15 in FIG. 5 are the same as those in steps S1 to S5 in FIG.

  Therefore, in steps S11 to S15 in FIG. 5, the inspector selects the two points in the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 and the two points in the three-dimensional shape data 202 on the three-dimensional display screen 103C with the mouse 102F. To do.

  The order of selection within the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 and the three-dimensional shape data 202 may be arbitrary. At this time, the selected reference point is displayed with a different color on the three-dimensional display screen 103C. The reference points to be selected are, for example, the ultrasonic incident point 201B on the 3D flaw detection data 201 and the sensor installation point 202B on the 3D shape data 202, or the cause on the 3D flaw detection data 201 such as the reference point 201D. Are the peak point of the known shape echo and its surrounding points, the point on the end face of the three-dimensional shape data 202 such as the reference point 202D, and the like.

  Next, in step S16, the CPU 102A1 calculates the enlargement ratio of the three-dimensional flaw detection data from these reference points. For example, the coordinates of the point 201B are (X1B, Y1B, Z1B), the coordinates of the point 201D are (X1D, Y1D, Z1D), the coordinates of the point 202B are (X2B, Y2B, Z2B), and the coordinates of the point 202D are (X2D, Y2D, Z2D), the enlargement ratio is obtained by the following equation (2).

  Next, in step S <b> 17, the CPU 102 </ b> A <b> 1 redraws the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 with the dimensions corrected by the enlargement ratio represented by the equation (2). Conversely, the three-dimensional shape data 202 may be corrected and displayed again after being corrected with a reduction ratio that is the reciprocal of the enlargement ratio in Expression (2).

Next, a method for creating three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a method for creating three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector according to one embodiment of the present invention. 8 and 9 are explanatory diagrams of a method for creating three-dimensional shape data by the ultrasonic flaw detector according to one embodiment of the present invention.

  As described above, the 3D shape data 202 is not read from the outside of the computer 102A, but can be created on the computer 102A while the inspector views the 3D display screen 103C by operating the mouse 102F or the keyboard 102G. it can.

  In step S21 of FIG. 7, the inspector selects a basic figure to be displayed on the operation screen. Basic figures include, for example, a plane, a cubic body, a rectangular parallelepiped, a sphere, a cone, and a cylinder.

  Next, in step S22, the inspector inputs the dimensions of the basic figure. An arbitrary numerical value can be input as the dimension.

  In step S23, the CPU 102A1 draws the selected basic figure at the initial position on the three-dimensional display screen 103C. The initial position may be anywhere.

  After the drawing, the relative positions and dimensions of the basic figure and the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 are adjusted to a desired state by the above-described position correction function and dimension correction function. By sequentially repeating these operations for a plurality of basic figures, the outer shape of the inspection object 100 can be formed to some extent. Of course, it is possible to draw only representative portions such as the flaw detection surface, bottom surface, and side surface to be inspected.

  The graphics API such as OpenGL has a function of drawing a figure such as a plane, a cube, a rectangular parallelepiped, a sphere, a cone, and a cylinder, and therefore these figures can be easily realized by using the graphics API. .

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, the three-dimensional display screen 103 </ b> C reflects on a plane parallel to the two axes of the coordinate system of the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201, for example, an XY plane, a YZ plane, and a ZX plane. The cross-section display screen 304 for displaying the intensity distribution is provided. The cross-section display screen 304 includes a screen 301A, a screen 302A, and a screen 303A for displaying the reflection intensity distribution on the XY plane, the YZ plane, and the ZX plane. is there. At this time, as shown in FIG. 9, planes 301B, 302B, and 303B indicating the positions of these planes are displayed together with the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 and the three-dimensional shape data 202 on the three-dimensional display screen 103C. This makes it easier for the inspector to check which section is displayed.

  In addition, since a plane showing a cut surface at an arbitrary position of the 3D flaw detection data is displayed on the 3D display unit together with the 3D flaw detection data, the 3D flaw detection data is compared with the 3D shape data to obtain a shape echo. The operation of discriminating the defect echo is performed efficiently, and the position of the defect with respect to the inspection object can be easily and quickly specified.

  For example, when the three-dimensional flaw detection data is in the voxel format, the data structure is equally spaced along the X, Y, and Z axes, so that the value of X can be specified by specifying it in units of voxels. The reflection intensity distribution in the YZ plane, that is, the distribution of voxel values can be easily obtained. Similarly, the reflection intensity distribution on the Z-X plane by designating the Y value and the XY plane by designating the Z value can be easily obtained. The planes 301B, 302B, and 303B as shown in FIG. 9 can be easily displayed by using a plane drawing function of a graphics API such as OpenGL.

Next, a distance measuring method between any two points by the ultrasonic flaw detector according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a method for measuring the distance between any two points by the ultrasonic flaw detector according to one embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 8, on the cross-section display screen 304, the inspector designates any two points, for example, the point 305A and the point 305B, with the mouse 102F connected to the computer 102A, and the distance 306 between the two points is displayed on the cross-section display screen. It is displayed in the vicinity of a designated point such as the position of 306 on 304. The method for specifying the points 305A and 305B is the same as the method for specifying the points of the three-dimensional flaw detection data and the three-dimensional shape data using the graphics API such as OpenGL described above.

  In step S31 in FIG. 10, the examiner clicks the position of the point 305A on the screen 301A with the mouse 102F.

  Then, in step S32, the CPU 102A1 reads, into the RAM 102A2 of the computer, the point closest to the clicked coordinate among the pixels included in the minute area having a certain area including the clicked point.

  Similarly, in steps S33 and S34, a point 305B is selected and its coordinates are read.

  Next, in step S35, the CPU 102A1 calculates a distance from the coordinates of the two selected points, and displays it on the screen in step S36.

  These processes are the same on the screen 302A or 303A in FIG.

Next, another configuration of the ultrasonic flaw detector according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 11 is a system block diagram showing another configuration of the ultrasonic flaw detector according to one embodiment of the present invention.

  The example shown in FIG. 1 shows a case where the three-dimensional flaw detection data is obtained by the phased array method, but the present invention is applicable to a method other than the phased array, for example, the three-dimensional flaw detection data obtained by the aperture synthesis method. Is also applicable.

  FIG. 11 shows the configuration of an ultrasonic flaw detector by the aperture synthesis method.

  The ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus of this example includes an array type ultrasonic sensor 101 that makes an ultrasonic wave incident on an inspection target 100, a transmission / reception unit 102, and a display unit 103 that displays a received signal and a flaw detection image. .

  As shown in the figure, the array type ultrasonic sensor 101 basically includes a plurality of piezoelectric vibration elements 104 that generate and receive ultrasonic waves. The array-type ultrasonic sensor 101 is installed on the flaw detection surface of the inspection object 100, and then generates an ultrasonic wave 105B by a drive signal supplied from the transmission / reception unit 102, and propagates the ultrasonic wave 105B into the inspection object 100. The received wave is input to the transmission / reception unit 102 by detecting the reflected wave appearing in FIG.

  The individual piezoelectric vibration elements 104 of the array-type ultrasonic sensor 101 are sequentially driven at a required timing by a drive signal emitted from the drive signal control unit via the pulser, and the reflected waves of the ultrasonic waves generated from the piezoelectric vibration element 104 are reflected. Is received two-dimensionally by the plurality of piezoelectric vibrating elements 104, and the received signal is input to the receiver 102 </ b> D of the transmission / reception unit 102.

  That is, each piezoelectric vibration element 104 of the array-type ultrasonic sensor 101 receives reflected waves corresponding to the total number of piezoelectric vibration elements 104.

  Signals input to the receiver 102D are sequentially recorded as recorded data in the data recording unit 102E, and using the recorded data, the computer 102A performs a three-dimensional imaging process on the waveform obtained by each piezoelectric vibration element 104 by aperture synthesis. Are displayed on the display unit 103.

  The computer 102A basically includes a CPU 102A1, a RAM 102A2, and a ROM 102A3. A program for controlling the CPU 102A1 is written in the ROM 102A3, and the CPU 102A1 reads external data required from the data recording unit 102E according to this program, or exchanges data with the RAM 102A2. The arithmetic processing is performed, and the processed data is output to the data recording unit 102E as necessary.

  A method for displaying and processing the three-dimensional flaw detection data 201 generated by aperture synthesis by the computer 102A together with the three-dimensional shape data 202 is the same as the method described with reference to FIGS.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the 3D flaw detection data is illuminated with the 3D shape data by providing a position correction function for correcting the relative display position of the 3D shape data and the 3D flaw detection data. In addition, the work of discriminating between the shape echo and the defect echo is efficiently performed, and the position of the defect with respect to the inspection object can be easily and quickly specified.

  Also, by providing a dimension correction function for correcting the relative display dimensions of the three-dimensional shape data and the three-dimensional flaw detection data, the three-dimensional flaw detection data is compared with the three-dimensional shape data to determine whether it is a shape echo or a defect echo. The work is efficiently performed, and the position of the defect with respect to the inspection object can be easily and quickly specified.

  In addition, by displaying the positions of data points in the specified range within the three-dimensional flaw detection data on the three-dimensional display unit in descending order of the absolute value of the data points, it is easy to specify coordinates for correction. An operation of efficiently determining the shape echo or the defect echo by comparing the three-dimensional flaw detection data with the three-dimensional shape data is performed, and the position of the defect with respect to the inspection object can be easily and quickly specified.

  In addition, by providing a data creation means for creating 3D shape data, the work of efficiently determining whether the shape echo or the defect echo by comparing the 3D flaw detection data with the 3D shape data is possible. Can be easily and quickly identified.

In addition, since a plane showing a cut surface at an arbitrary position of the 3D flaw detection data is displayed on the 3D display unit together with the 3D flaw detection data, the 3D flaw detection data is compared with the 3D shape data to obtain a shape echo. The operation of discriminating the defect echo is performed efficiently, and the position of the defect with respect to the inspection object can be easily and quickly specified.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Inspection object 101 ... Array type ultrasonic sensor 102 ... Transmission / reception part 102A ... Computer 102A1 ... CPU
102A2 ... RAM
102A3 ... ROM
102B ... Delay time control unit 102C ... Pulser 102D ... Receiver 102E ... Data recording unit 102F ... Mouse 102G ... Keyboard 103 ... Display unit 103A ... Waveform display unit 103B ... Two-dimensional display screen 103C ... Three-dimensional display screen 104 ... Piezoelectric vibration element 105 , 105B ... ultrasonic wave 106 ... incident angle 201 ... three-dimensional flaw detection data 201A, 201B, 201C, 201D ... data point 202 ... three-dimensional shape data 202A, 202B, 202C, 202D ... data point 203 ... coordinate system 204 ... designated three-dimensional Area 204A, 204B, 204C ... Selection candidate point 301A ... ZX plane display screen 302A ... YZ plane display screen 303A ... XY plane display screen 304 ... Section display screens 305A, 305B ... Point 306 ... Distance between two points Display 307 ... external shape 308 ... arbitrary plane

Claims (8)

An ultrasonic sensor including a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators, a pulsar for supplying a transmission signal to each piezoelectric vibrator of the ultrasonic sensor, a receiver for inputting a reception signal from each piezoelectric vibrator element of the ultrasonic sensor, A delay control unit that sets a different delay time for each piezoelectric vibrator in the transmission signal and the reception signal, a data recording unit that records an ultrasonic waveform received by the ultrasonic sensor, and a data recording unit A computer for image processing that generates 3D flaw detection data from the recorded waveform, a data recording unit that records 3D shape data, a 3D display unit that displays the 3D shape data and the 3D flaw detection data; An ultrasonic flaw detector comprising:
The image processing computer is:
Displaying the 3D flaw detection data and the 3D shape data on a 3D display unit;
Determining the reference point of the displayed three-dimensional flaw detection data and the reference point corresponding to the reference point of the three-dimensional flaw detection data for the displayed three-dimensional shape data as a reference point designated by the inspector;
As two reference points different from the two reference points, a reference point of the displayed three-dimensional flaw detection data and a reference point corresponding to the reference point of the three-dimensional flaw detection data for the displayed three-dimensional shape data Determined as a designated reference point from the inspector,
Calculating a plurality of movement vectors from each of the two reference points;
An ultrasonic flaw detector having a configuration in which an average vector obtained from an average of the plurality of movement vectors is moved and drawn at a position after the movement. The ultrasonic flaw detector according to claim 1,
The image processing computer is:
When the inspector designates a reference point by a rectangular area when receiving the reference point, if there are a plurality of points included in the minute area, a point having a high intensity among these plural points is selected as a candidate point. The ultrasonic flaw detector is configured to receive a candidate point designated by the inspector as a reference point and display it on a three-dimensional display screen. The ultrasonic flaw detector according to claim 2,
The image processing computer is:
When the candidate point is not a desired data point, the next candidate point is displayed on the screen by changing the color in descending order of intensity, and the candidate point designated by the inspector is received as a reference point. An ultrasonic flaw detector characterized by that. An image processing method for an ultrasonic flaw detector,
3D flaw detection data of a data recording unit that records image data of an ultrasonic waveform received by an ultrasonic sensor and 3D shape data of a data recording unit that records 3D shape data are displayed on a display screen,
Determining the reference point of the displayed three-dimensional flaw detection data and the reference point corresponding to the reference point of the three-dimensional flaw detection data for the displayed three-dimensional shape data as a reference point designated by the inspector;
As two reference points different from the two reference points, a reference point of the displayed three-dimensional flaw detection data and a reference point corresponding to the reference point of the three-dimensional flaw detection data for the displayed three-dimensional shape data Determined as a designated reference point from the inspector,
Calculating a plurality of movement vectors from each of the two reference points;
An image processing method for an ultrasonic flaw detector, wherein the image is moved by an average vector obtained from an average of the plurality of movement vectors and drawn at a position after the movement. In the image processing method of the ultrasonic flaw detector according to claim 4,
When the inspector designates a reference point by a rectangular area when receiving the reference point, if there are a plurality of points included in the minute area, a point having a high intensity among these plural points is selected as a candidate point. An image processing method for an ultrasonic flaw detector, characterized in that a three-dimensional display screen is displayed and candidate points designated by an inspector are received as reference points. In the image processing method of the ultrasonic flaw detector according to claim 5,
When the candidate point is not a desired data point, the next candidate point is displayed on the screen in the order of increasing intensity, and the candidate point designated by the inspector is received as a reference point. An image processing method for an ultrasonic flaw detector. An ultrasonic sensor including a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators, a pulsar for supplying a transmission signal to each piezoelectric vibrator of the ultrasonic sensor, a receiver for inputting a reception signal from each piezoelectric vibrator element of the ultrasonic sensor, A delay control unit that sets a different delay time for each of the piezoelectric vibrators in the transmission signal and the reception signal, a data recording unit that records an ultrasonic waveform received by the ultrasonic sensor, and a data recording unit A computer for image processing that generates 3D flaw detection data from the recorded waveform, a data recording unit that records 3D shape data, a 3D display unit that displays the 3D shape data and the 3D flaw detection data, An ultrasonic flaw detector comprising:
The image processing computer is:
An image of the reflection intensity distribution on a plane parallel to the two axes of the coordinate system of the three-dimensional flaw detection data of the data recording unit that records the image data of the ultrasonic waveform received by the ultrasonic sensor is displayed on the cross-sectional display screen,
The 3D flaw detection data and the 3D shape data of the data recording unit for recording the 3D shape data are displayed superimposed on a display screen,
An ultrasonic flaw detector having a configuration in which a plane indicating a plane position of an image of the reflection intensity distribution on the plane is displayed on the display screen together with three-dimensional flaw detection data and three-dimensional shape data. An image processing method for an ultrasonic flaw detector,
An image of the reflection intensity distribution on a plane parallel to the two axes of the coordinate system of the three-dimensional flaw detection data of the data recording unit that records the image data of the ultrasonic waveform received by the ultrasonic sensor is displayed on the cross-sectional display screen,
The 3D flaw detection data and the 3D shape data of the data recording unit for recording the 3D shape data are displayed superimposed on a display screen,
An image processing method for an ultrasonic flaw detector, wherein a plane indicating a position of a plane of an image of the reflection intensity distribution of the plane is displayed on the display screen together with three-dimensional flaw detection data and three-dimensional shape data.

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