JP2013130445A - Ultrasonic flaw detection head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately perform ultrasonic flaw detection inspection even on a portion where a liquid-state contact medium is not available.SOLUTION: A probe 12 transmitting/receiving ultrasonic waves US is supported by a probe support 11. A tire 15 is rotated while being supported by the probe support 11. A space between the probe 12 and the tire 15 is filled with a liquid-state contact medium 16. An inner-circumferential tire 15a of the tire 15 is formed from a tire material, and an outer-circumferential tire 15b thereof is formed from a dry couplant. Since the outer-circumferential tire 15b of the dry couplant is brought into contact with an object to be inspected 2, an additional contact medium is not required.

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic flaw detection head, and is devised so that ultrasonic flaw detection can be performed accurately and efficiently even at a site where a liquid contact medium cannot be used.

In order to inspect the soundness of piping and equipment, ultrasonic flaw detection is performed to measure wall thickness and detect defects. In order to perform an ultrasonic flaw detection inspection, an ultrasonic flaw detection head is brought into contact with the surface of a subject (piping, equipment, etc.) to propagate the ultrasonic waves to the subject.
At this time, a contact medium is used to reliably propagate the ultrasonic wave to the subject. In general, a liquid contact medium such as water, glycerin, or castor oil is used as the contact medium.

  On the other hand, some subjects cannot use a liquid contact medium. In order to ultrasonically inspect such a part, a gel or solid dryer plant is used instead of a liquid contact medium. The dryer plant is formed of a resin such as an ultrasonic gel material or a rubber material.

  FIG. 8 shows a state in which an ultrasonic flaw detection inspection is performed using the dryer plant 1. As shown in the figure, a planar dryer plant 1 is placed on the surface of the subject 2, and the ultrasonic testing head 3 is scanned along the surface of the dryer plant 1 to perform ultrasonic testing. ing.

  As an ultrasonic flaw detection head, there is a rotary ultrasonic flaw detection head. In the rotary ultrasonic testing head, a tire is rotatably provided with respect to a probe support provided with a probe, and the tire rotates around the probe support as a rotation center. The space between the probe support and the tire is filled with a liquid contact medium (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

In such a rotary ultrasonic testing head, when the probe support provided with the probe is scanned and moved in a state where the tire is in contact with the surface of the subject, the tire becomes the surface of the subject. Rotate while touching and perform ultrasonic flaw detection.
In this case, a liquid contact medium is applied to the surface of the subject in advance, and a liquid contact medium is interposed between the subject and the rotating tire at the time of examination.

JP-A-62-288565 JP 2004-144561 A

  By the way, the dryer plant is made of a rubber-like or gel-like substance to transmit ultrasonic waves, and is a material that sticks to the subject. For this reason, the dryer plant has a large coefficient of static friction, and unlike the case of using a general liquid cassette, it is difficult to smoothly scan the ultrasonic flaw detection head on the dryer plant placed on the subject. .

  An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic flaw detection head that can accurately and efficiently perform ultrasonic flaw detection even in a region where a liquid contact medium cannot be used.

The configuration of the present invention for solving the above problems is as follows.
Ultrasonic flaw detection comprising: a probe; a tire that rotates about a support portion that supports the probe; and a liquid contact medium filled in a space between the probe and the tire. In the head
The tire is characterized in that at least a portion on the outer peripheral side is made of a dry plant material.

The configuration of the present invention is as follows.
A probe, a pair of rotating rollers spaced apart from each other with the probe interposed therebetween, and an endless belt wound around the pair of rotating rollers in a state of being spanned between the pair of rotating rollers And an ultrasonic flaw detection head having a liquid contact medium filled in a space between the probe disposed in the inner space of the endless belt and the endless belt,
The endless belt is characterized in that at least a part on the outer peripheral side is formed of a dry plant material.

The configuration of the present invention is as follows.
An ultrasonic sensor unit having a probe and a dryer plant plate in close contact with the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface of the probe;
A scanner mechanism for sequentially bringing the dryer plant plate of the ultrasonic sensor unit into close contact with a plurality of different positions on the surface of the subject by moving the ultrasonic sensor unit;
It is characterized by comprising.

  According to the present invention, since a dry planter material is incorporated in the ultrasonic flaw detection head itself, ultrasonic flaw inspection can be performed even at a site where a liquid contact medium cannot be used.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an ultrasonic flaw detection head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an ultrasonic flaw detection head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The block diagram which shows the ultrasonic testing head which concerns on Example 1 of this invention with a scanning state. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The block diagram which shows the ultrasonic testing head which concerns on Example 1 of this invention with a scanning state. Sectional drawing which shows the ultrasonic testing head which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an ultrasonic flaw detection head according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the ultrasonic flaw detection head which concerns on Example 3 of this invention. The block diagram which shows a prior art.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on examples.

  1 and 2 show a rotary ultrasonic testing head H1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II in FIG. 2, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the probe support 11 of the ultrasonic testing head H <b> 1 has a hollow rod shape and supports the probe 12.
The probe 12 includes a transducer 12 a and an ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 12 b is exposed to the outside of the probe support 11. The lead wire 12c of the probe 12 is disposed in the internal space of the probe support 11, and is connected to an external ultrasonic flaw detector (not shown).

  On one end side (right side in FIG. 2) of the probe support 11, a ring plate-shaped end plate 14a is rotatably provided via a bearing portion 13a having a sealing function. On the other end side (left side in FIG. 2) of the probe support 11, a ring plate-like end plate 14b is rotatably provided via a bearing portion 13b having a sealing function. That is, the end plates 14a and 14b are opposed to each other with an interval between them with the probe 12 in between.

The tire 15 is attached to the peripheral portions of the end plates 13a and 13b, and is disposed over the entire circumferential direction of the end plates 13a and 13b in a state of straddling the space sandwiched between the end plates 13a and 13b.
The tire 15 includes an inner peripheral tire 15a and an outer peripheral tire 15b. The inner peripheral tire 15a is formed of a tire material (rubber or the like), and the outer peripheral tire 15b is formed of a dry plant material (resin such as an ultrasonic gel material or rubber material).

The outer peripheral tire 15b is bonded to the outer periphery of the inner peripheral tire 15a with a general organic adhesive or the like. Since this adhesive has a thin adhesive layer, there is almost no adverse effect even if there is a slight difference in impedance or attenuation. However, as the adhesive, an adhesive containing a component that changes the material of the inner peripheral tire 15a and the outer peripheral tire 15b is not used.
The outer peripheral tire 15b may be formed by applying a dry plant material on the outer peripheral surface of the inner peripheral tire 15a.

  A space surrounded by the contact support 11, the end plates 14 a and 14 b, and the tire 15 is filled with a liquid contact medium 16. For this reason, the contact 12 is disposed in the liquid contact medium 16.

  Eventually, in the ultrasonic testing head H1 of the first embodiment, the tire 15 rotates around the probe support 11 that supports the probe 12, and the liquid between the contact 12 and the tire 15 is liquid. The contact medium 16 is filled, and the outer peripheral portion of the tire 15 is an outer peripheral tire 15b made of a dry plant material.

  When performing the ultrasonic flaw detection inspection of the subject 2 with the ultrasonic flaw detection head H <b> 1 having the above-described configuration, the ultrasonic wave US is emitted from the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 12 b of the probe 12 and the outer periphery of the tire 15. In a state where the side tire 15b is in contact with the surface of the subject 2, the probe support 11 provided with the probe 12 is scanned and moved.

  Then, the tire 15 rotates while the outer peripheral tire 15 b, that is, the dry plant material is in contact with the surface of the subject 2. Then, during the rotational movement of the tire 15, the ultrasonic wave US emitted from the probe 12 enters the subject 2 via the contact medium 16 and the tire 15, and a reflected echo (reflection) generated in the subject 2. (Ultrasonic wave) is received by the probe 12 via the tire 15 and the contact medium 16 and can be subjected to ultrasonic flaw detection.

As a result, the ultrasonic flaw detection inspection can be performed without providing a liquid contact medium between the tire 15 of the ultrasonic flaw detection head H1 and the subject 2.
Therefore, even in a site where a liquid contact medium such as water cannot be used, such as in a nuclear facility, an ultrasonic flaw detection inspection can be performed by applying the ultrasonic flaw detection head H1 having the above configuration. Moreover, since the ultrasonic wave can be transmitted to and received from the subject 2 with sufficient intensity and the outer tire 15b, which is a dry plant material, is rotating, the subject of the tire 15 (outer tire 15b) is rotating. The friction coefficient with respect to 2 is small, and smooth scanning on the subject 2 becomes possible.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the scanning movement of the ultrasonic testing head H1 can be performed by grasping and moving the contact support 11 of the ultrasonic testing head H1 with the hand of the operator. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 20 denotes an ultrasonic flaw detector.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, the contact support 11 of the ultrasonic testing head H <b> 1 is attached to the scanning tool 31 that scans and moves based on the control of the scanning control device 30, and the ultrasonic testing head is operated by the operation of the scanning tool 31. The scanning movement of H1 can also be performed.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a general ultrasonic sensor is incorporated as the probe (ultrasonic sensor) 12, but a phased array ultrasonic sensor may be incorporated instead.
Since the tire 15 makes line contact with the subject 2, when a phased array ultrasonic sensor is incorporated as the probe (ultrasonic sensor) 12, the ultrasonic beam is focused near the contact surface, thereby efficiently. Ultrasonic waves can be transmitted to and received from the subject 2.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tire 15 is composed of an inner peripheral tire 15a made of a tire material (rubber etc.) and an outer peripheral tire 15b made of a dry plant material. You may comprise 15 whole by dry plant plant material.
That is, it is only necessary that at least a portion on the outer peripheral side of the tire 15 is formed of a dry plant plant material.

  5 and 6 show a rotary ultrasonic testing head H2 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 6, and FIG. 6 is a plan view.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the support frame 50 of the ultrasonic inspection head H2 includes three transverse beams 51a, 51b, 51c and two coupled to both ends of the transverse beams 51a, 51b, 51c. It is the structure which became the character of "day" which consists of the vertical beams 51d and 51e.

  The probe 52 includes a transducer 52a and is connected to a lead wire (not shown). The probe 52 is supported by a lateral beam 51b. In the present embodiment, the probe 52 is attached at an angle so that the ultrasonic wave US emitted from the probe 52 is obliquely incident on the surface of the subject 2 in order to perform the oblique flaw detection inspection.

  The columnar rotation roller 53 is rotatably supported by the horizontal beam 51a, and the columnar rotation roller 54 is rotatably supported by the horizontal beam 51c.

The endless belt 55 is wound around the rotating rollers 53 and 54 in a state of being bridged between the rotating roller 53 and the rotating roller 54. The endless belt 55 is configured by adhering the outer peripheral endless belt 55b to the outer periphery of the inner peripheral endless belt 55a. The inner peripheral side endless belt 55a is formed of a tire material (rubber or the like), and the outer peripheral side endless belt 55b is formed of a dry plant material (a resin such as an ultrasonic gel material or a rubber material).
The outer peripheral endless belt 55b may be formed by applying a dry plant material to the outer peripheral surface of the inner peripheral endless belt 55a.

An open surface on one end side (the right side in FIG. 6) of the endless belt 55 is closed with a seal plate 56a. The seal plate 56a is supported by the transverse beams 51a, 51b, and 51c and has a function of sealing while making sliding contact with one end side of the endless belt 55 that rotates.
The open surface of the other end side (the left side in FIG. 6) of the endless belt 55 is closed with a seal plate 56b. The seal plate 56b is supported by the transverse beams 51a, 51b, and 51c and has a function of sealing while being in sliding contact with the other end of the endless belt 55 that rotates.

  A space surrounded by the endless belt 55 and the seal plates 56a and 56b is filled with a liquid contact medium 57. Therefore, the contact 52 is disposed in the liquid contact medium 57.

  Eventually, in the ultrasonic testing head H2 of the second embodiment, the pair of rotating rollers 53 and 54 are disposed apart from each other with the contact 52 interposed therebetween, and the endless belt 55 is wound around the pair of rotating rollers 53 and 54. The space between the contact 52 and the endless belt 55 disposed in the inner space of the endless belt 55 is filled with a liquid contact medium 57, and the outer end of the endless belt 55 is formed of a dry plant plant member. It is a belt 55b.

  When performing the ultrasonic flaw detection inspection of the subject 2 with the ultrasonic flaw detection head H2 having the above-described configuration, the ultrasonic wave US is emitted from the probe 52, and the outer peripheral endless belt 55b of the endless belt 55 is moved. In a state where the surface of the subject 2 is in contact (surface contact), the support frame 51 including the probe 52 is scanned and moved.

  Then, the rotation rollers 53 and 54 rotate, and the endless belt 55 rotates while the outer circumferential endless belt 55b of the endless belt 55, that is, the dry plant material comes into contact (surface contact) with the surface of the subject 2. Then, during the rotational movement of the endless belt 55, the ultrasonic wave US obliquely emitted from the probe 52 enters the subject 2 via the contact medium 57 and the endless belt 55, and is generated in the subject 2. The reflected echo (reflected ultrasonic wave) is received by the probe 52 via the endless belt 55 and the contact medium 57, and can be subjected to ultrasonic flaw inspection (diagonal flaw inspection).

As a result, an ultrasonic flaw detection inspection can be performed without providing a liquid contact medium between the endless belt 55 of the ultrasonic flaw detection head H2 and the subject 2.
Therefore, even in a site where a liquid contact medium such as water cannot be used, such as in a nuclear facility, an ultrasonic flaw inspection (diagonal flaw inspection) can be performed by applying the ultrasonic flaw detection head H2 having the above configuration. Can do. Moreover, since the outer peripheral endless belt 55b, which is a dry plant material, is capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves with sufficient intensity and rotating, the endless belt 55 (outer peripheral endless belt 55b). The friction coefficient with respect to the subject 2 is small, and smooth scanning on the subject 2 becomes possible.
Furthermore, since the endless belt 55 is in surface contact with the subject 2, even if the ultrasonic wave US is obliquely incident, the ultrasonic wave US is reliably incident on the subject 2 with sufficient intensity, so that a highly accurate oblique flaw inspection Can do.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a general ultrasonic sensor is incorporated as the probe (ultrasonic sensor) 52, but a phased array ultrasonic sensor may be incorporated instead.
In the phased array ultrasonic sensor, the incident point changes (moves) when the refraction angle is changed.
Since the endless belt 55 is in surface contact with the subject 2 and has a large contact area, ultrasonic waves can be appropriately incident into the subject 2.

5 and 6, the endless belt 55 includes an inner peripheral endless belt 55a made of a tire material (rubber or the like) and an outer peripheral endless belt 55b made of a dry plant material. However, the entire endless belt 55 may be made of a dry plant material.
That is, it is only necessary that at least the outer peripheral side portion of the endless belt 55 is formed of the dry plant material.

FIG. 7 shows a scanner-type ultrasonic testing head H3 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
The ultrasonic flaw detection head H3 includes a scanner mechanism 60 and an ultrasonic sensor unit 70.

  The scanner mechanism 60 includes a horizontal beam 61 and a vertical beam 62 as main members. The vertical beam 62 can scan and move in the horizontal direction (X direction) along the horizontal beam 61 and can move up and down in the vertical direction (Y direction) with respect to the horizontal beam 61.

The ultrasonic sensor unit 70 includes a probe 71 and a dryer plant plate 72 made of a dryer plant material. The probe 71 has a vibrator 71a, and a dryer plant plate 72 is bonded to the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 71b.
The sonic sensor unit 70 is disposed at the lower end of the vertical beam 62.

When performing the ultrasonic flaw detection inspection of the subject 2 with the ultrasonic flaw detection head H3 configured as described above, the ultrasonic wave US is emitted from the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface 71b of the probe 71 and The ultrasonic US is output.
Then, for example, the vertical beam 62 is moved to the position P1 and then moved downward. Then, the dryer plant plate 72 is brought into close contact with the surface of the subject 2 and an ultrasonic flaw detection inspection is performed at the position P1.
Thereafter, the vertical beam 62 is moved upward to move the dryer plant plate 72 away from the surface of the subject 2 and moved from the position P1 in the horizontal direction to the position P2. Then, the vertical beam 62 at the position P2 is moved downward, the dryer plant plate 72 is brought into close contact with the surface of the subject 2, and an ultrasonic flaw detection inspection at the position P2 is performed.

  Thereafter, similarly, ultrasonic flaw detection is performed at positions P3 and P4. As described above, the ultrasonic flaw inspection is performed by scanning at the positions P1 to P4 at a constant scan pitch.

  In this embodiment, the ultrasonic sensor unit 70 provided with the dryer plant plate 72 is moved in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction by the scanner mechanism 60, and the dryer is fixed at the constant scan pitch positions P1, P2, P3, and P4. Since the ultrasonic inspection is performed by bringing the plant plate 72 into close contact with the surface of the subject 2, the dryer plant plate 72 does not slide along the surface of the subject 2. Therefore, even if the dryer plant plate 72 has a high viscosity, an ultrasonic flaw detection can be performed smoothly.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Probe support body 12 Probe 13a, 13b Bearing part 14a14b End plate 15 Tire 15a Inner peripheral side tire 15b Outer peripheral side tire 16 Contact medium 51 Support frame body 52 Probe 53, 54 Rotating roller 55 Endless belt 55a In Peripheral side endless belt 55b Peripheral side endless belts 56a, 56b Seal plate 57 Contact medium 60 Scanner mechanism 70 Ultrasonic sensor unit 71 Probe 72 Dryer plant plate H1, H2, H3 Ultrasonic flaw detection head US Ultrasonic

Claims (3)

Ultrasonic flaw detection comprising: a probe; a tire that rotates about a support portion that supports the probe; and a liquid contact medium filled in a space between the probe and the tire. In the head
The ultrasonic flaw detection head according to claim 1, wherein at least an outer peripheral portion of the tire is formed of a dry plant material. A probe, a pair of rotating rollers spaced apart from each other with the probe interposed therebetween, and an endless belt wound around the pair of rotating rollers in a state of being spanned between the pair of rotating rollers And an ultrasonic flaw detection head having a liquid contact medium filled in a space between the probe disposed in the inner space of the endless belt and the endless belt,
An ultrasonic flaw detection head, wherein the endless belt is formed of a dry plant material at least on the outer peripheral side. An ultrasonic sensor unit having a probe and a dryer plant plate in close contact with the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface of the probe;
A scanner mechanism for sequentially bringing the dryer plant plate of the ultrasonic sensor unit into close contact with a plurality of different positions on the surface of the subject by moving the ultrasonic sensor unit;
An ultrasonic flaw detection head comprising:

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