JPS58219451A - Ultrasonic flaw detection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make fewer the scanning number of a probe and to prevent it from being affected by geometric echo, noise and the like by a method wherein a multibeam ultrasonic probe for sending a plurality of ultrasonic beam having different angles of refraction toward a body being examined and receiving reflected waves therefrom is moved to a preselected position on the surface of the body being examined and caused to take in an echo corresponding to the position. CONSTITUTION:On the basis of a command of taking in flaw detection data, position data and ultrasonic signals are taken in from a controller 10 and an ultrasonic flaw detector 8, respectively. Ultrasonic beams are successively sent out by a multibeam ultrasonic probe at angles 0, 45, 60, 0, 45, 60, 0... degrees of refraction in order. At each angle in the drawings, JP represents a wave transmitting signal; P1-P4 echoes from the reflecting source of the body being examined; and T1-T4 time equivalent to the distance of each echo. An image display unit 11 receives the ultrasonic signal and the position signal of the probe and generates saw tooth waves 36, 37 in synchronizing with the ultrasonic beams at angles of 0, 45, 60 degrees and then outputs scanning lines indicated by 0, 45, 60 degrees to display the surface 39, bottom surface 40, flaws 41 and so forth on a RT38.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ultrasonic flaw detection system, and more particularly to an ultrasonic flaw detection system used for non-destructively testing defects in industrial materials such as containers and piping.

A conventional ultrasonic flaw detection system uses one probe or a plurality of probes, samples one or more points, inputs an ultrasonic signal, and processes the ultrasonic signal online.

For this reason, when using one probe, the number of probe scans increases, while when using multiple probes, the contact area and scanning range of the probes become large as a result. There is a point. Furthermore, when searching based on a single peak, if shape echoes, noise, etc. occur, there is a risk that defects may not be detected. On the other hand, sampling multiple points requires a large number of samples and has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the computer and memory. Furthermore, when processing online, there is a drawback that scalability is lost when multiple systems are introduced.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides an ultrasonic flaw detection system that requires fewer probe scans, is less susceptible to shape echoes and noise, and is highly expandable. The purpose is to

In order to achieve the above object, the configuration of the present invention transmits a plurality of ultrasound beams having different refraction angles to a subject, receives reflected waves from the subject, and outputs the transmitted and received ultrasound signals. a multi-beam ultrasonic probe for moving the multi-beam ultrasonic probe on the surface of the object; a driving device for moving the multi-beam ultrasonic probe over the surface of the object; a control device that outputs a corresponding position signal; an ultrasonic flaw detector that outputs an excitation signal for transmitting the plurality of ultrasonic signals and amplifies the ultrasonic signal; a data recording computer that inputs the data and stores it in a storage device; and a data recording computer that changes brightness according to a wave height value when displaying the movement trajectory of the multi-beam ultrasound probe using the position signal and the ultrasound signal. The present invention includes a trajectory display device that displays the data stored in the storage device, and a data processing section that processes the data stored in the storage device off-line and outputs at least the flaw detection results as a chart.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.As shown in FIG. Controls the scanning of the ultrasonic probe of the field flaw detection equipment section 1, records using the ultrasonic signal from the probe and the probe position signal,
Trajectory display.

The data recording unit 2 displays images, and is connected offline to the data recording unit 2 to analyze flaw detection data.

Processing 9 Drawing 1. It is composed of a data processing section 3 that performs tabulation and the like.

The on-site flaw detection equipment section 1 is equipped with a multi-beam ultrasonic probe 5. This multi-beam ultrasonic probe 5 is connected to a preamplifier pulser 4 that generates high-voltage pulses at a preset period, and is connected to a probe drive device 7 that is driven and controlled by a position signal from a control device 10. Positioned. The probe driving device 7 is a device that can manually or automatically scan the multi-beam ultrasonic probe 5 over the subject. A drive device is used. Therefore, the multi-beam ultrasound probe 5 is moved over the object 6 by the probe driving device 7.
-b-c-d-e -f-g -h... At the same time, an ultrasonic pulse is applied to the object 6 to detect reflected waves from defects within the object, and the preamplifier pulse generator Send to 4. Note that 9 is an A scope monitor, and 16 is a display device.

The data recording section 2 includes an ultrasonic flaw detector 8. Control device 10, image display device 11. X-Y recorder 12° data recording computer 13. Futsupi Disc 14. It is equipped with a probe trajectory display device 15 and a data typewriter 17. The ultrasonic flaw detector 8 inputs an ultrasonic signal from the multi-beam ultrasonic probe 5 that has passed through the preamplifier pulser 4, amplifies this ultrasonic signal, converts it from analog to digital, and sends it to a data recording computer. 131'1 force. Further, the ultrasonic flaw detector 8 simultaneously outputs the ultrasonic signal as an analog signal, and this analog signal is input to the A-scope monitor 9 of the on-site flaw detection equipment 1 and displayed as a waveform. Therefore, it becomes possible to monitor the waveform at the flaw detection site. The control device 10 remotely controls the probe driving device 7 and outputs a position signal of the multi-beam ultrasound probe 5 and a digital signal of the position. The image display device 11 displays cross-sectional images, planar images, etc. of the object in real time using the ultrasonic signal output from the ultrasonic flaw detector 8 and the probe position signal output from the control device 10. do. Similar to the image display device 11, the X-Y recorder 12 inputs the ultrasonic signal output from the ultrasonic flaw detector 8 and the device signal constituted by the control device 10, and outputs the position signal on the Y-axis and Y-axis. In addition, the ultrasonic signal is added to two axes and displayed. The display by the X-Y recorder 12 is essentially a bottom echo display, but this display can be used to check the bottom shape or the acoustic coupling state of the multi-beam ultrasound probe. Become.

Further, the data recording computer 13 inputs the ultrasonic signal and the probe position signal, and stores the wave height value, path length, probe position signal, etc. in a storage device such as a floppy disk 14. The probe trajectory display device 15 displays the trajectory of the ultrasound probe 5, and when the peak value of the echo exceeds a predetermined level, displays the trajectory by changing the brightness. The trajectory of the ultrasonic probe is also displayed at the flaw detection site using the display device 16.
It can be observed if necessary. Note that the commands from the data recording computer 13 are sent to the data typewriter 17.
It is done well.

The data processing section 3 includes a data processing computer 18, a magnetic disk 199, a paper tape reader 20°, a data typewriter 21. Printer plotter 22° floppy disk 2
It consists of 3. Then, the flaw detection data is input from the floppy disk 14 of the data recording section 2 to the floppy disk 23 via a storage medium (by offline processing) and analyzed.

After being processed, it is output to the printer/plotter 22 as a chart.

FIG. 2 shows the software configuration of the ultrasonic flaw detection system of the above embodiment. In the figure, I'tM8/PMS50
is a management program that executes each program of the data recording system and controls input/output. The console control 51 controls the condition setting 52. Flaw detection control 53
．． The ROM check 54, RM8 depack routine 55, etc. are started, and this is done using the data typewriter 17. Condition setting 52 is for registering various data before starting flaw detection, such as the date, welding number, diameter of the pipe to be inspected,
Conditions such as wall thickness, ultrasonic probe scanning mode, scanning range, scan pitch, scanning start point, and ultrasonic probe to be used are set. The flaw detection control 53 also controls the start, interruption, and control of flaw detection.
Restart, end, import flaw detection data 56. Scanning trajectory display 57
．． Controls flaw detection data recording 58, etc.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the software of the above embodiment. First, the flaw detection system of this embodiment is activated by a start command, and in step 60, conditions necessary for ultrasonic flaw detection are set.

After the condition setting is completed, flaw detection data is captured in step 61. The flaw detection data includes the probe position.

Although there are wave height values, path lengths, etc., a trajectory is displayed in step 62 using signals of the probe position and wave height values. This trajectory display is performed in synchronization with the movement of the ultrasound probe,
The flaw detection data at the position where the locus is displayed is recorded in step 63 and stored on a floppy disk. After the entire flaw detection range has been scanned and storage of the flaw detection data has been completed, the flaw detection ends.

Next, the multi-beam ultrasound probe 5 will be explained.

This multi-beam ultrasonic probe injects an ultrasonic beam with refraction angles of θ°, 45°, and 60° into the object to be inspected, such as a welded part. It is possible. As shown in FIG. 4, three vibrating elements 25, 26, and 27 for generating ultrasonic waves are fixed to a square 24 having a polygonal cross section for propagating ultrasonic waves. These vibration elements 25 to 27 are divided into two parts, a wave transmitter and a wave receiver, so that vibrations during wave transmission do not affect wave reception.

Here, an ultrasonic beam 28 with a refraction angle of θ° is transmitted from the vibration element 25, an ultrasonic beam with a refraction angle of 45° is transmitted from the vibration element 26, and an ultrasound beam with a refraction angle of 60° is transmitted from the vibration element 27. An ultrasonic beam 30 is transmitted. High-voltage electric pulses are applied to these vibration elements in time series from the preamplifier balsa 4, so that they sequentially transmit ultrasonic waves and receive echoes from the object to be detected.

An example of the operation of this embodiment will be described below. First, position data from the control device 10 and an ultrasonic signal from the ultrasonic flaw detector 8 are acquired in response to a flaw detection data acquisition command. An example of the ultrasonic signal in this case is shown in FIG. The ultrasound beam is transmitted from the multi-beam ultrasound probe at refraction angles of 0', 45°,
60°#0'145°, 60°, 0°... At each angle in the figure, JP is a transmitted signal, Pt l
ps sPa, P4 is the echo from the reflection source of the subject, TI.

Tx, Ts, and T4 represent times corresponding to the path of each echo. Here, the reason why echoes are captured at four points at the refractive angle is that if more than four points, the processing time will be too long, and if less than three points, defects cannot be detected sufficiently.

These flaw detection data are recorded on the shift disk 14 by the computer 13. FIG. 6 shows a list of storage formats on a floppy disk. In the figure, X and Y are position coordinates for ultrasonic flaw detection, PK* Pa + Pa +
P4 is the echo peak value, TI.

TI t Ta and T4 represent the time corresponding to the path length of each echo, and 0°, 45°, and 60° each represent the refraction angle of the ultrasound beam applied to the subject. And, these island exploration data are respectively X with respect to the refraction angle O0.

Y + P 1 r T s T P z + T a
...P4tT4, X, Y, P for refraction angle 45°,
,'r,...T4, XHY*P for refraction angle 60°
They are recorded in the order of l+Tt...T4.

Next, the relationship between trajectory display and flaw detection data is shown in Figure 7 (11). In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the scanning distance of the ultrasonic probe, and t represents the unit length in the scanning direction.

As shown in the figure, there is a refraction angle of 0° within each unit length.

The locus is displayed when flaw detection data of 60,003 points at 45° is captured. In Fig. 7, the import order is 0', 4
5', 60°0IIIt K: ii[L 7'c
The order of F and F is irrelevant to this embodiment; for example, 45°, 6
0'.

The locus is also displayed when captured in the order of 0°.

The display on the trajectory display CRT screen is determined by the condition settings, and is as shown in FIG. 8, for example. In the figure, 31 is C
RT, 32 is a display range, 33 is a probe position display mark in the X-axis direction, and 34 is a Y-axis probe position display mark. Now, when the probe is scanned, as shown in FIG. 9, if the distance amplitude correction (DAC) exceeds 100%, the brightness is changed and displayed as shown by reference numeral 35. At this point, by returning the flaw detector display mark to the position shown in the above figure, changing the cane, and performing the flaw detection again, uniform brightness can be achieved as shown in FIG. 10, and the flaw detection is completed.

Since the present invention uses offline processing, the flaw detection results are not displayed through digital processing at the data recording stage (12). For this reason, an image display device 11 for ultrasonic flaw detection is provided to display the flaw detection results in real time. This image display device 11 is a display device for a multi-beam ultrasound probe, and displays ultrasound signals.

By inputting the probe position signal and synchronizing with the ultrasonic beams at θ°, 45°, and 60°, the sawtooth wave 36.3 shown in Fig. 11 is generated.
7 and 0° in Figure 12.

The scanning lines shown at 45° and 60° are output, and the surface 39. is displayed on the CRT 38. Bottom surface 40. Defects 41, etc. are displayed. This display can finally be displayed by superimposing the outline 39, 40 of the object 6 and the echo 41 from the defect as shown in FIG. Note that the display in FIG. 13 is called a cross-sectional display because it corresponds to a cross section of the subject, but this image display device is a flat display.

It is also possible to display from the side.

Generally, in automatic flaw detection, a chart type recorder is used to record bottom echoes as a means of confirming the operating state of the automatic flaw detection. In the present invention, the X-Y recorder 12 (13) is used to record bottom echoes, position signals from the control device 10 are input to the X and Y axes of the X-Y recorder, and ultrasonic signals are transmitted when the pen is raised. It is input to the lowering axis and displayed in two stages: recording and non-recording, and the recording level can be set using DAC%. For example, by setting the bottom echo recording level to around 20% of the DAC, it is indicated that the bottom echo intensity is at least higher than the recording level while the bottom echo is being recorded. FIG. 14 shows a display example of the X-Y recorder. In the figure, a portion 42 indicates that no bottom echo was received.

As explained above, according to the present invention, since a multi-beam ultrasonic probe is employed, flaw detection can be performed three times in one scan, and the number of scans can be reduced. Furthermore, since multiple peak echoes are captured, defective echoes can always be captured.

Furthermore, because of the off-line connection, the data processing device is one set, and the on-site flaw detection equipment and data recording equipment can be installed in multiple units, such as one set for pressure vessels and two sets for piping, making it highly expandable. Furthermore, (14) the trajectory of the probe, the echo distribution above DAC%, the cross-sectional image of the object, the bottom echo, etc. are displayed in real time, which has the excellent effect of making it easier to identify defects. can get.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the software of the above embodiment, Fig. 3 is a flow chart of the software, and Fig. 4 is a multi-beam ultrasonic probe. 5 is a diagram showing the ultrasonic signal in the above embodiment, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the storage format of the ultrasound signal, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the ultrasonic signal in the above embodiment. Diagrams showing the relationship between trajectory display and flaw detection data, Figures 8 to 10 are CR
A diagram showing an example of trajectory display on T, FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a sawtooth wave for an image display device, and FIGS. 12 and 13 are
FIG. 14 is a line diagram showing an example of a cross-sectional image display. FIG. 14 is a line diagram showing an example of bottom echo display. 3... Data processing unit, 5... Multi-beam ultrasonic probe, 7... Ultrasonic probe drive device, 8... Ultrasonic flaw detector, 10... Control device, 11. ...Ultrasonic flaw detection imaging clothes (15) Display device, 12...

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A multi-beam ultrasound probe that transmits a plurality of ultrasound beams having different refraction angles to a subject, receives reflected waves from the subject, and outputs the transmitted and received ultrasound signals; a drive device that moves the multi-beam ultrasound probe on the surface of the subject; a control device that moves the multi-beam ultrasound probe to a predetermined position and outputs a position signal corresponding to the position; an ultrasonic transducer that outputs an excitation signal for transmitting the plurality of ultrasonic signals and amplifies the ultrasonic signals; and data that inputs the position signal and the ultrasonic signal and stores them in a storage device. a recording computer; a trajectory display device that displays the movement trajectory of the multi-beam ultrasound probe by changing the brightness according to the wave height value when displaying the movement trajectory of the multi-beam ultrasound probe using the position signal and the ultrasound signal; An ultrasonic flaw detection system including a data processing unit that processes data stored in a storage device off-line and outputs at least flaw detection results as a graph.