UT sensor interface for scanning complex environments
AssigneeApplied Impact Robotics, Inc
InventorsFred Melvelle Briggs, IV, Brandon Pollett Wernick, Nathan Alexander Lloyd
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A UT scanner interface may include a main body that includes an inner chamber including a UT scanner facing toward an opening on a bottom side, a couplant injection port, and a fluid evacuation port. During operations, a couplant is injected into the inner chamber via the couplant injection port while couplant and any contaminants may be removed from the inner chamber via the fluid evacuation port.
Claims30
An ultrasonic nondestructive testing (UT) scanner interface for complex environments, comprising:
- a main body comprising:
- an inner chamber open on a bottom side, wherein the main body is configured to hold a UT scanner facing into the inner chamber and toward the opening on the bottom side;
- a couplant injection port configured to receive a couplant pumped under pressure into the inner chamber;
- and
- a fluid evacuation port configured to remove fluid from the inner chamber, wherein the fluid removed from the inner chamber includes at least some of the couplant injected into the inner chamber, wherein the main body is configured to be submerged in a complex environment composed of a primary fluid and contaminants that interfere with UT scanning, wherein the primary fluid is at least partly a liquid, and wherein the couplant includes at least some of the primary fluid.
A method of performing a UT scan in a complex environment, comprising:
- positioning a UT scanner interface that holds a UT scanner over a surface of a target material for inspection, wherein the target material is submerged in the complex environment composed of a primary fluid and contaminants that interfere with UT scanning, wherein the primary fluid is at least partly a liquid, wherein the UT scanner is held in a main body of the UT scanner interface such that the UT scanner faces into an inner chamber of the main body and toward an opening on a bottom side of the inner chamber;
- injecting a couplant under pressure into the inner chamber, wherein the couplant includes at least some of the primary fluid;
- generating an engagement force that biases the UT scanner interface toward the surface of the target material for inspection;
- and
- activating the UT scanner to perform the UT scan of the target material through couplant in the inner chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.