JP6026245B2 - Ultrasonic inspection method and ultrasonic inspection apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic inspection method and an ultrasonic inspection apparatus. More specifically, the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the phased array probe to the inspection target part of the object to be inspected, and the reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave reflected by the inspection target part is received, and the reflected signal of the received reflected wave is used to transmit the ultrasonic wave. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic inspection method and an ultrasonic inspection apparatus for detecting a defect in an inspection target portion.

  Conventionally, ultrasonic flaw detection has been performed as a method for inspecting a welded portion as an inspection target portion of an object to be inspected. In such a case, for example, a waveform E as shown in FIG. 17 is detected, and it is determined whether or not the echo e1 appearing in the waveform E is a signal caused by a defect (flaw) from the position analysis of the reflection source. However, in the evaluation by amplitude, it is difficult to determine whether the echo e1 appearing in the waveform E is a normal reflection signal due to the shape of the weld or the like or a reflection signal from a defect. Furthermore, there is a problem that the detection accuracy of defects is lowered depending on the material of the object to be inspected, such as nickel-containing or aluminum alloy.

  On the other hand, as one method of ultrasonic flaw detection, for example, an inspection method using a phased array method as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is also known. However, these documents do not show any of the above problems concerning the mode and material of the welded portion.

JP 2004-191111 A JP 2001-343370 A

  In view of such a conventional situation, the present invention provides an ultrasonic inspection method and an ultrasonic inspection apparatus capable of accurately and efficiently detecting a defect or the like even at a location or part where ultrasonic inspection is difficult. For the purpose.

  In order to achieve the above object, the ultrasonic inspection method according to the present invention is characterized in that an ultrasonic wave is transmitted from a phased array probe to an inspection target portion of an object to be inspected and the ultrasonic wave reflected by the inspection target portion is reflected. In the method for receiving a reflected wave and detecting a defect in the inspection target portion based on a reflected signal of the received reflected wave, the object to be inspected stores liquefied natural gas having a base material made of an ultrasonic high attenuation material. A tank, and the inspection target portion is a welded portion obtained by welding the base material with a weld metal made of an ultrasonic high-attenuation material, and the ultrasonic wave is a transverse wave. An array probe is arranged on one side of the sound welded part where the defect does not exist, and a plurality of transverse waves focused on an arbitrary point are transmitted with different refraction angles, and from the reflected signal of the transverse wave reflected by the sound welded part Healthy part And a maximum value of the reflected signal is obtained as a reference value, and in the object to be inspected, the phased array probe is arranged on one side of the weld and a transverse wave that is focused on an arbitrary point is generated. A plurality of transmissions with different refraction angles are made, and inspection part data is created from the reflected signal of the transverse wave reflected by the weld part, and the signal intensity ratio is obtained by dividing the inspection part data by the reference value, and the signal intensity When the ratio is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the defect is determined.

  According to the above configuration, the inspection target portion of the object to be inspected is a tank that stores liquefied natural gas obtained by welding a base material made of an ultrasonic high attenuation material with a weld metal made of an ultrasonic high attenuation material. This is a welded part of this, and is a part where the attenuation of ultrasonic waves is large. The present invention uses a transverse wave for such a portion to be inspected. According to the inventors' experiments, it was found that defects can be detected with higher accuracy in the signal intensity ratio described later by using transverse waves instead of longitudinal waves conventionally used in inspection of welds such as stainless steel welds. It was. A plurality of transverse waves focused on an arbitrary point by the phased array probe are transmitted with different refraction angles, so that the transverse waves are concentrated on an arbitrary point and transmitted, thereby reducing the attenuation of the ultrasonic waves and the bending of the sound. It can suppress and can improve detection accuracy. Further, since a plurality of the focused transverse waves are transmitted with different refraction angles, a wide range can be inspected by one scan. In addition, healthy part data in a healthy test specimen that is equivalent to the inspection target part and does not have defects is created in advance and the maximum value of the reflected signal in the healthy test specimen is obtained as a reference value, and the inspection part in the inspection target part is obtained. Since the signal intensity ratio is obtained by dividing the data by the reference value, the normal reflected signal and the reflected signal caused by the defect can be clearly distinguished, and the inspection accuracy is further improved. Accordingly, it is possible to detect a defect with high accuracy and efficiency even in an inspection target portion where attenuation of ultrasonic waves, which has conventionally been difficult to inspect, is large.

  An analysis area including a signal from a portion including at least a part of a welded portion is set for each of the healthy portion data and the inspection portion data, and a maximum amplitude value in the analysis area of the healthy portion data is obtained as the reference value. The maximum amplitude value of the reflected signal is obtained for each predetermined section in the analysis area of the inspection unit data, and the signal intensity ratio is obtained for each section by dividing by the reference value. Since the signal in the analysis area is used, inspection can be limited to places such as the weld metal where the occurrence of defects is predicted in the inspection target part and the boundary part (toe part) between the weld part and the base material part. Therefore, defects can be detected more efficiently. In addition, since the signal intensity ratio is obtained using the maximum amplitude value in the analysis area of the healthy part data, the defect can be detected with higher accuracy.

  The phased array probe may be scanned at least on the inspection object in a direction along the weld line of the welded portion, and the signal intensity ratio of the inspection portion data may be displayed as a C scope image. Since scanning is performed along the welded portion to be inspected, a wide range can be inspected more quickly and efficiently. In addition, by displaying the image as a C scope image, the position of the defect can be easily estimated.

  In such a case, it is desirable to display only signals with the signal intensity ratio equal to or higher than a predetermined value as the C scope image. Thereby, only the defect signal is displayed and erroneous determination is prevented.

  A plurality of analysis areas may be provided in the thickness direction of the weld. Thereby, the position of the defect in the depth (plate thickness) direction of the inspection object can be estimated, and the defect can be detected with higher accuracy.

  The phased array probe may have at least 32 transducers, and more preferably 64 transducers. By increasing the number of vibrators excited at the same time, the energy of the ultrasonic wave to be transmitted is increased and the focusing property is improved, so that the reflected signal from the defect is increased and the accuracy is further improved.

  Here, in the welded portion as an inspection target portion composed of an ultrasonic high-attenuation material, the base material contains 6% or more and 10% or less of nickel, and the weld metal contains 55% or more of nickel. The base material may be made of an aluminum alloy, and the weld metal may be made of an aluminum alloy. All of these materials are high-attenuation materials of ultrasonic waves, and defects and the like can be detected with high accuracy and efficiency even in an inspection target portion made of such materials. The welded portion is any one of butt welding, lap welding, and fillet welding, and the butt welding is, for example, butt welding with a back plate.

  The thickness of the base material is 5 mm or more and 70 mm or less. Further, the transverse wave may be reflected once or more in the base material. For example, even when the thickness of the base material is 5 mm or more and less than 20 mm, or when the phased array probe cannot be brought close to the welded portion, the welding is similarly performed by reflecting the transverse wave once or more. The defect of the part can be detected.

In order to achieve the above object, the ultrasonic inspection apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that an ultrasonic wave is transmitted from a phased array probe to an inspection target part of an object to be inspected and the ultrasonic wave reflected by the inspection target part is reflected. In a configuration in which a reflected wave is received and a defect in the inspection target part is detected by a reflected signal of the received reflected wave, the object to be inspected stores liquefied natural gas having a base material made of an ultrasonic high attenuation material. A tank, and the inspection target portion is a welded portion obtained by welding the base material with a weld metal made of an ultrasonic high-attenuation material, and the ultrasonic wave is a transverse wave. An array probe is arranged on one side of the sound welded part where the defect does not exist, and a plurality of transverse waves focused on an arbitrary point are transmitted with different refraction angles, and from the reflected signal of the transverse wave reflected by the sound welded part Healthy part And a maximum value of the reflected signal is obtained as a reference value, and in the object to be inspected, the phased array probe is arranged on one side of the weld and a transverse wave that is focused on an arbitrary point is generated. A plurality of transmissions with different refraction angles are made, and inspection part data is created from the reflected signal of the transverse wave reflected by the weld part, and the signal intensity ratio is obtained by dividing the inspection part data by the reference value, and the signal intensity When the ratio is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the defect is determined.

  According to the features of the ultrasonic inspection method and the ultrasonic inspection apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to detect defects and the like accurately and efficiently even at locations and parts where ultrasonic inspection is difficult.

  Other objects, configurations, and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following embodiments of the present invention.

It is a block diagram of the ultrasonic inspection apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is an expanded sectional view near an inspection object part. It is a block diagram of a phased array flaw detector. It is a figure explaining transmission / reception of the ultrasonic wave in a phased array probe. It is a figure explaining focusing and steering. An example of the flaw detection result in a mock test piece is shown, (a) shows a longitudinal wave and (b) shows a case of a transverse wave. It is a figure which shows the simulation test piece of FIG. An example of the flaw detection result in the mock test piece is shown. (A) shows a case where 32 vibrators are excited simultaneously, and (b) shows a case where 64 vibrators are excited simultaneously. It is a figure which shows the simulation test piece of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows a defect evaluation procedure. It is explanatory drawing explaining the setting of an analysis area. It is explanatory drawing explaining acquisition of healthy part data. It is a C scope image of inspection part data which shows an example of the flaw detection result in the analysis area in a mock test piece. It is the figure which normalized the inspection part data with the standard value, and made C scope image. FIG. 15 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. It is a figure which shows the test object part in other embodiment of this invention, (a) shows butt welding with a back metal plate, (b) shows lap welding, (c) shows fillet welding. It is a figure which shows an example of the received signal of the conventional ultrasonic flaw detection.

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings as appropriate.
The inspection target portion 101 of the object 100 to be inspected by the ultrasonic inspection method according to the present invention is a welded portion of a tank that stores liquefied natural gas (hereinafter referred to as “LNG tank”). The LNG tank 100 as an object to be inspected is composed of a plate-shaped steel material 102 made of a metal material as a base material. Moreover, the welding part 101 as a test object part is a butt welding part as shown, for example in FIG. 1, 2, and butt | matches the steel materials 102 and 102 and welded with the weld metal. And the defect D1 in the weld metal part 101a and the defect D2 of the boundary part (toe part) 101b of the weld metal part 101a and the steel material 102 are detected.

  In this embodiment, the steel material 102 is nickel steel containing 9% nickel. This nickel steel is an ultrasonic high attenuation material. In addition, as the weld metal for welding the nickel steel 102, for example, a metal containing 55% or more of nickel is used, and this weld metal is also an ultrasonic high attenuation material. In this embodiment, the weld metal part 101a of the weld part 101 contains about 70% of nickel. In addition, the weld metal should just contain 55% or more of nickel, and the material (nickel independent) containing 100% of nickel may be sufficient as it. As described above, the inspection target portion 101 of the object 100 to be inspected according to the present invention has a large attenuation of ultrasonic waves due to the material of each member, and is a part that is difficult to perform high-precision inspection by normal ultrasonic inspection. .

  Furthermore, the plate thickness T of the nickel steel 102 is, for example, 5 mm or more and 70 mm or less, and 20 mm in this embodiment. In the above ground type LNG tank, the thickness is formed from the upper part to the lower part, and the plate thickness varies depending on the part. As the plate thickness increases, the attenuation and distortion of ultrasonic waves and the bending of sound tend to occur.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ultrasonic inspection apparatus 1 according to the present invention generally includes a phased array probe 2 and a phased array flaw detector 3. The phased array probe 2 is moved by the moving means 5 along the weld line L direction of the welded portion 101. The phased array flaw detector 3 includes a monitor 4 as display means for displaying a later-described C scope image and the like, and input means 6 such as a keyboard and a mouse. The moving means 5 has a position detector 51 for detecting the scanning position, and is connected to the phased array flaw detector 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the phased array probe 2 includes a transducer group 20 having a plurality of transducers 21. The timing at which each transducer 21 is excited by a phased array flaw detector 3 described later is electronically controlled. As a result, as shown in the figure, the welding portion 101 is scanned in a sector shape by transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves while changing the refraction angle θ of the ultrasonic waves within an angle range of the refraction angle θ1 to θ2 (sector scan). can do. In the present embodiment, the vibrators 21 have a rectangular shape and are arranged in a line in a direction substantially orthogonal to the moving direction (the welding line L direction).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the phased array flaw detector 3 generally includes a measurement control unit 31, a plurality of pulsar / receivers 32, and a multiplexer 33. The measurement control unit 31 includes a control unit 31a that controls transmission / reception of ultrasonic waves, an image generation unit 31b that generates a scanning image such as a C scope image from the received reflection signal, and various data such as the received reflection signal and scanning image. And a calculation unit 31d for processing and calculating a setting of an analysis area, a maximum value of a reflection signal, and the like, which will be described later. The pulser / receiver 32 is connected to the transducer 21 of the phased array probe 2 via the multiplexer 33.

Next, transmission / reception of ultrasonic waves in the phased array probe 2 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 4A, at the time of transmission, first, the control measurement unit 31 transmits a trigger signal TS to the pulser / receiver 32 and simultaneously performs a delay pattern sequence necessary for generating an ultrasonic beam. . Then, the pulse train PS according to the delay pattern is input to the transducer 21 of the phased array probe 2 via the multiplexer 33. Therefore, the vibrators 21a to 21e are excited at the timings of the respective pulse signals.

  In the example of the figure, the vibrators indicated by reference numerals 21a and 21e located on the end side of the phased array probe 2 are first excited, and then the reference numerals 21b and 21b located closer to the center than the vibrators 21a and 21e. The vibrator indicated by 21d is excited. Further, the vibrator 21c located further on the center side is finally excited. Thereby, wavefronts Sa to Se are generated by the vibrators 21a to 21e, respectively. A combined wavefront S formed by combining these wavefronts Sa to Se propagates toward the focal point F arbitrarily determined by the inspected object 100 as the incident wave We.

  Here, in the case of focusing as shown in FIG. 5A, when the trigger signal TS from the control measurement unit 31 is input to the pulser / receiver 32, a delay pattern de1 as shown in FIG. 5 is generated. In this delay pattern de1, the delay time t is set shorter for the transducers 21a and 21e located on the end side. As a result, the wavefronts generated from the transducers 21a to 21e form a combined wavefront that converges at the focal point F. Thereby, it can be set as the ultrasonic beam which focuses the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the phased array probe 2 to a certain point (focal point F).

  In the case of steering as shown in FIG. 5B, the delay pattern de2 has a longer delay time t for the vibrator 21e on one side. Thereby, the refraction angle θ of the ultrasonic wave can be set to an arbitrary angle. As described above, by performing focusing and steering in combination, defects can be detected with high accuracy over a wide range and the detection sensitivity is improved even in a portion where ultrasonic inspection is difficult, such as the welded portion 101 described above. In particular, even a defect in the weld metal part 101a having a high nickel content can be clearly detected.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, when the reflected wave Wr is received, the reflected echo ES received by each transducer 21 is received by the pulser / receiver 32 and then digitized by the control measurement unit 31. At the same time, it is measured as one RF waveform signal by delay processing and integration processing. Based on the RF waveform signal, an image such as a C scope image is generated and output to the monitor 4.

  Here, a transverse wave is used for the ultrasonic wave in the present invention. FIG. 6 shows the flaw detection results in the welded portion 201 of the simulated test piece 200 shown in FIG. 7, where FIG. 6 (a) shows the results for longitudinal waves and FIG. 6 (b) shows the results for transverse waves. A simulated test piece 200 shown in FIG. 7 is formed by welding a 20 mm thick nickel steel 202 containing 9% nickel with a weld metal containing 55% or more nickel. In addition, a simulated defect (slit) d1 having a depth of 2 mm was formed at substantially the center on the back side of the weld metal portion 201a.

  Conventionally, longitudinal waves are generally used in inspection of welds such as stainless steel welds. However, according to experiments by the inventors, as shown in FIG. 6, the signal from the simulated defect d1 becomes clearer in the transverse wave (FIG. 5B) than in the longitudinal wave (FIG. 6A), which will be described later. It was found that the defect could be detected clearly even with the signal intensity ratio. Therefore, the inspection accuracy can be further improved by using a transverse wave instead of a longitudinal wave.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the phased array probe 2 having 64 transducers is used. FIG. 8 shows a flaw detection result in the welded portion 301 of the simulation test piece 300 shown in FIG. 9, where FIG. 8A shows the case where 32 vibrators are excited simultaneously, and FIG. 8B shows the 64 vibrators. The case where is simultaneously excited is shown. Note that the simulated test piece 300 shown in FIG. 9 has the same configuration as the simulated test piece 200 described above. The simulated defects d2 to 4 are formed on the surface 300a side of the simulated test piece 300 with a width of 10 mm in the weld line L direction. The depths of the simulated defects d2 to d4 are 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, and 2.0 mm. Then, the phased array probe 2 was scanned along the weld line L direction of the welded portion 301 on the simulation test piece 300 to obtain the C scope image of FIG. In this example, the transverse wave is reflected once by the back surface 302b of the base material 302.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the case of 64 transducers (FIG. (B)) detects defects more clearly than the case of 32 transducers (FIG. (A)). I understand that. This is because if the number of vibrators excited at the same time is large, the ultrasonic intensity and the focusing property with respect to the focal point are further improved, and the reflected signal from the defect is also increased. Therefore, for example, it is desirable to simultaneously excite a larger number of vibrators to a portion where the attenuation of the ultrasonic wave is larger, such as the weld metal portion 101a, thereby further improving the inspection accuracy. The horizontal axis “distance from the incident point (mm)” in FIG. 8 indicates that the phased array probe 2 and the mounting position are the reference (0) as shown in FIG. The distance between the phased array probe 2 and the welded portion 301 is defined as a minus (−) on the side closer to the side and a plus (+) on the side away from the side.

Next, the defect detection procedure of the welded part 101 will be described with reference to FIGS. The “distance from the incident point (mm)” in FIGS.
First, the test conditions such as the sector scan start angle θ1, end angle θ2, and angle pitch are set in the phased array flaw detector 3 via the input means 6 (step S1: test condition setting). The refraction angle θ, which is an angle from the start angle θ1 to the end angle θ2, is set in accordance with a portion to be evaluated in the inspection target portion 101 as a target. In addition, the focal length, sensitivity, sound speed, and the like are set according to the inspection target unit 101. In this example, as shown in FIGS. 9, 11, and 12, the sector scan range Q (refraction angle) is set so as to include a boundary portion (stopped portion) with the base material 302 on both sides of the welded portion 301. Further, the focal length is set so that the transverse wave is focused on the upper portion of the welded portion 301 by being reflected once by the back surface 302 b of the base material 302. Note that the front surface 300 a, the back surface 300 b, and the welded portion 301 indicated by broken lines in FIG. 11 are given schematically in order to show the positional relationship between the reflected signal and each part of the simulation test piece 300.

  Next, an analysis area A for analyzing reflected signals in healthy part data and inspection part data described later is set (step S2: analysis area setting). The analysis area A is set so as to include a reflection signal of a portion to be evaluated of the inspection target portion 101 at a predetermined scanning position. The analysis area A is appropriately set according to the aspect of the inspection target part 101 and the part to be evaluated. In this example, as shown in FIGS. 9, 11, and 12, with a width Aw that exceeds the boundary portion (stop portion) between the base material 302 and the welded portion 301 on the left side of the drawing and the right boundary portion (stop portion), In addition, the height Ah is set to about half the plate thickness of the base material 302 in the thickness direction from the upper surface of the test piece 300.

  Next, in the sound test body, the phased array probe 2 to which the position detector 51 of the moving means 5 is attached is arranged on one side of the welded portion of the sound test body, and is moved in the weld line L direction of the sound welded portion. . Then, focusing is performed so as to converge at an arbitrary point at each predetermined scanning position, and steering is performed for each angular pitch within the angle range of the start angle θ1 to the end angle θ2, and a transverse wave is transmitted. Healthy part data is created by the control measurement unit 31 based on the received reflection signal (step S3: healthy part data creation). The healthy part data is obtained as a cross-sectional image (sector scan) or a C scope image as shown in FIG. 11, for example. In the case of a C-scope image, an analysis gate is provided in the range of the height Ah (depth) of the set analysis area A with respect to the sector scan at each scanning position, and is created using only the reflected signal within the range.

  And in the above-mentioned healthy part data, the maximum amplitude value of the reflected signal in the analysis area A in the healthy part K is obtained as a reference value. As shown in FIG. 12, the maximum amplitude value of the reflected signal is obtained in each section a of each scanning position in the healthy part K of the analysis area A, and those maximum values are set as reference values (step S4: Standard value calculation). The sound portion data and the reference value are stored in the storage portion 31c of the phased array flaw detector 3. This reference value is the maximum reflected signal in a sound weld. That is, the difference between the defect and the soundness becomes clear by using this reference value.

  The sound test body may be a known sound portion of the object to be inspected, or may be separately manufactured. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the portion between the simulated defects d2 and d3 is regarded as a healthy portion K (sound welded portion), and only the relevant portion is scanned to create healthy portion data. Moreover, the creation of the sound portion data does not necessarily have to be moved along the weld line direction of the sound weld portion, and it is not necessary to have the same movement distance as that when the inspection portion data described later is created. For example, scan data obtained by sector scanning only at a predetermined position in the healthy part K (sound welded part) can be used as the healthy part data.

  Next, the phased array probe 2 to which the position detector 51 of the moving means 5 is attached is moved in the weld line L direction of the welded portion 101 of the device under test 100. Then, at each predetermined scanning position, focusing is performed so that the beam converges to an arbitrary point in a direction substantially orthogonal to the moving direction, and steering is performed for each angular pitch within the angle range of the start angle θ1 to the end angle θ2 to generate a transverse wave. Send. Inspection unit data is created by the control measurement unit 31 from the received reflection signal (step S5: inspection unit data creation). Similarly to the healthy part data, this inspection part data is also created as a C scope image as shown in FIG. 13, for example, using only the reflected signal within the set depth Ah of the analysis area A.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 12, in the inspection part data, the maximum amplitude value of the reflected signal is obtained in each section of each scanning position of the analysis area A in the welded part 101 (scanning range) (step S6: maximum value calculation). ). The obtained maximum amplitude value is divided by the reference value obtained in advance in the previous reference value calculation step S4 to calculate the signal intensity ratio for each section (step S7: signal intensity ratio calculation). If the signal intensity ratio is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it is determined as a defect. In the determination, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, it is possible to display and determine the signal intensity ratio obtained by dividing the inspection unit data by the reference value as a C scope image. However, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to display only a reflected signal that is equal to or greater than the threshold value as a C scope image. Thereby, a defect can be determined more clearly.

Finally, reference is made to the possibilities of other embodiments of the invention. In the following embodiments, members similar to those in the above embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals.
In the said embodiment, the nickel steel which contains 9% of nickel was used for the steel material 102 which comprises the to-be-inspected object 100. FIG. However, the material is not limited to this material. For example, nickel steel containing 7% nickel may be used. Further, the base material may be made of a metal material such as stainless steel and may contain 6% or more and 10% or less of nickel. Furthermore, for example, the test object 100 can be applied to a welded portion 101 in which a base material 102 made of an aluminum alloy having a thickness of 5 mm to 70 mm is welded with an aluminum alloy. In addition, it is applicable also to the high attenuation | damping material of the ultrasonic wave equivalent to nickel steel or aluminum alloy.

  In the above-described embodiment, the butt welding portion has been described as an example of the inspection target portion 101 of the object 100 to be inspected. However, the butt welding portion is not limited thereto, but butt welding with a back plate as shown in FIGS. It is also possible to apply to each welded portion of lap welding and fillet welding.

  In the above embodiment, the phased array probe 2 is a linear array probe in which 64 transducers 21 are arranged in a line. However, the present invention is not limited to this, as long as it has at least 32 vibrators and can be excited simultaneously, and preferably has 64 vibrators or more. If there are many vibrators excited simultaneously, the output and convergence of the transverse wave can be further improved, and defects can be detected with higher accuracy. Further, the probe is not limited to a linear array probe, and may be a probe arranged in a matrix. In the linear array probe, line focusing is performed, but in the matrix array probe, point focusing is performed, and the focusing performance is further improved. Moreover, since it arrange | positions at matrix form, the proximity | contact limit distance with respect to the welding part 101 can be shortened, and it is also possible to focus a transverse wave close to the welding part 101. FIG. Further, the vibrator may be curved.

  In the above embodiment, the transverse wave is reflected once by the base material 102. However, the reflection is not limited to once, and may be reflected a plurality of times as long as the reflected signal can be clearly detected in consideration of attenuation of the ultrasonic wave. Of course, it is also possible to directly propagate (directly irradiate) the inspection object portion 101 as shown in FIG. 7 without reflecting the transverse wave in the base material 102. The presence / absence of reflection and the number of reflections may be appropriately set according to the thickness of the base material 102, the proximity limit distance of the phased array probe 2, the location to be evaluated, and the like.

  In the above embodiment, only one analysis area A is set, but a plurality of analysis areas A may be set. For example, by setting a plurality of analysis areas A in the plate thickness T direction of the object 100, the position of the defect in the plate thickness T direction can be estimated. Also, the size of the analysis area A is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be set as appropriate according to the location to be evaluated. For example, different analysis areas may be set for the weld metal portion 101a and the toe portion 101b. Furthermore, the range of the analysis area for the sound portion data and the analysis area for the inspection portion data may be different. In such a case, the analysis area of the examination part data may be further limited to the vicinity of the part to be evaluated and smaller than the analysis area of the healthy part data. Thereby, it can test | inspect more efficiently.

  Further, the frequency of the transverse wave may be appropriately set according to the materials of the welded part 101 and the base material 102 and the location to be evaluated. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the nickel content of the weld metal part 101 a is greater than that of the base material 102. Therefore, when detecting the defect D1 in the weld metal part 101a, it is good to inspect using the transverse wave of a low frequency rather than the case of the toe part 101b. In the case of an aluminum alloy, the frequency may be adjusted according to the thickness of the base material 102. Similarly, the refraction angle θ of the phased array probe 2 may be appropriately set according to the materials of the welded portion 101 and the base material 102 and the location to be evaluated.

  In the above embodiment, the phased array probe 2 is moved and scanned in the direction of the weld line L of the welded portion 101 of the device under test 100. However, you may scan in the direction substantially orthogonal to the weld line L. However, the above embodiment is superior in terms of inspection efficiency.

  In the present invention, in addition to the case where the signal intensity ratio is obtained by dividing the inspection section data by the reference value as in the above embodiment, the signal intensity ratio is substantially obtained by dividing the inspection section data by the reference value. , A mode in which a defect is determined when the signal intensity ratio is equal to or greater than a predetermined value is included. For example, a mode is also included in which a signal intensity ratio is obtained by dividing a reference value by inspection unit data, and a defect is determined when the signal intensity ratio is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

  The present invention can be used, for example, as an ultrasonic inspection method and an ultrasonic inspection apparatus for inspecting a welded portion of an LNG tank or the like.

1: Ultrasonic inspection device, 2: Phased array probe, 3: Phased array flaw detector, 4: Monitor (display means), 5: Moving means, 6: Input means, 20: Transducer group, 21: Transducer , 31: control means, 31a: control unit, 31b: image generation unit, 31c: storage unit, 31d: calculation unit, 32: pulser / receiver, 33: multiplexer, 51: position detector, 100: object under test (LNG) Tank), 100a: front surface, 100b: back surface, 101: inspection target part (butt welded part), 101a: weld metal part, 101b: toe part, 102: base material (nickel steel), 103: back sheet metal, 200: Mock test piece, 200a: front surface, 200b: back surface, 201: weld, 202: base material, 202a: front surface, 202b: back surface, 300: mock test piece, 300a: front surface, 300b: back surface, 301: 302, base material, 302a: front surface, 302b: back surface, D, D1, D2: defect, d1-4: simulated defect, de: delay pattern, E, waveform, e1: echo, ES: reflection echo, F : Focus, K: healthy part, L: weld line (moving direction), P: incident point, PS: pulse train, Q: sector scan range, S: composite wavefront, T: plate thickness, t: delay time, TS: trigger Signal, Sa to Se: Wavefront, We: Incident wave, Wr: Reflected wave, θ: Refraction angle

Claims (14)

The ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the phased array probe to the inspection target part of the object to be inspected, the reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave reflected by the inspection target part is received, and the reflected wave of the received reflected wave is used to transmit the ultrasonic wave of the inspection target part. An ultrasonic inspection method for detecting defects, comprising:
The object to be inspected is a tank for storing liquefied natural gas having a base material made of an ultrasonic high attenuation material,
The inspection object part is a welded part welded with a weld metal made of an ultrasonic high-attenuation material,
The ultrasonic wave is a transverse wave,
In advance, in the sound test body, the phased array probe is arranged on one side of the sound welded portion where the defect does not exist, and a plurality of transverse waves focused at arbitrary points are transmitted with different refraction angles, and the sound welding is performed. The sound part data is created from the reflected signal of the transverse wave reflected by the part and the maximum value of the reflected signal is obtained as a reference value,
In the object to be inspected, the phased array probe is arranged on one side of the welded portion, and a plurality of transverse waves focused at an arbitrary point are transmitted with different refraction angles, and reflected by the welded portion. Create inspection data from the signal,
Divide the inspection section data by the reference value to obtain a signal strength ratio,
An ultrasonic inspection method for determining a defect when the signal intensity ratio is a predetermined value or more. An analysis area including a signal from a portion including at least a part of a welded portion is set for each of the healthy portion data and the inspection portion data, and a maximum amplitude value in the analysis area of the healthy portion data is obtained as the reference value. 2. The ultrasonic wave according to claim 1, wherein a maximum amplitude value of the reflected signal is obtained for each predetermined section in the analysis area of the inspection unit data, and the signal intensity ratio is obtained for each section by dividing by the reference value. Inspection method. The phased array probe is scanned by moving the phased array probe on at least the inspection object along a weld line of the welded portion, and the signal intensity ratio of the inspection portion data is displayed as a C scope image. Or the ultrasonic inspection method of 2. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 4, wherein only a signal having the signal intensity ratio equal to or greater than a predetermined value is displayed as the C scope image. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the analysis areas are provided in a thickness direction of the welded portion. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the phased array probe has at least 32 transducers. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 6, wherein the phased array probe has 64 or more transducers. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the base material contains 6% to 10% of nickel, and the weld metal contains 55% or more of nickel. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the base material is made of an aluminum alloy, and the weld metal is made of an aluminum alloy. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the welded portion is any one of butt welding, lap welding, and fillet welding. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 10, wherein the butt welding is butt welding with a back plate. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the base material is not less than 5 mm and not more than 70 mm. The ultrasonic inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the transverse wave is reflected at least once in the base material. The ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the phased array probe to the inspection target part of the object to be inspected, the reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave reflected by the inspection target part is received, and the reflected wave of the received reflected wave is used to transmit the ultrasonic wave of the inspection target part. An ultrasonic inspection apparatus for detecting defects,
The object to be inspected is a tank for storing liquefied natural gas having a base material made of an ultrasonic high attenuation material,
The inspection object part is a welded part welded with a weld metal made of an ultrasonic high-attenuation material,
The ultrasonic wave is a transverse wave,
In advance, in the sound test body, the phased array probe is arranged on one side of the sound welded portion where the defect does not exist, and a plurality of transverse waves focused at arbitrary points are transmitted with different refraction angles, and the sound welding is performed. The sound part data is created from the reflected signal of the transverse wave reflected by the part and the maximum value of the reflected signal is obtained as a reference value,
In the object to be inspected, the phased array probe is arranged on one side of the welded portion, and a plurality of transverse waves focused at an arbitrary point are transmitted with different refraction angles, and reflected by the welded portion. Create inspection data from the signal,
Divide the inspection section data by the reference value to obtain a signal strength ratio,
An ultrasonic inspection apparatus that determines the defect when the signal intensity ratio is a predetermined value or more.