Ultrasound inspection
AssigneeOntario Power Generation Inc.
InventorsRaymond Ten Grotenhuis, Yadav Verma, Andrew Hong, Alex Sakuta
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device and method for performing ultra-sound scanning of a substantially cylindrical object. The device comprises a cuff adapted to fit around a circumference of the object, an ultrasound probe mounted about the inner circumference of the cuff and positioned to scan the circumference of the object, and one or more data connections providing control information for the ultrasound probe and receiving scanning data from the ultrasound probe. The probe includes one or more sensors to determine its orientation or location, and this data is used to control the operation of the device and to process data from the array.
Claims16
A method for performing ultrasound scanning of a conduit, comprising:
- providing an ultrasound array having a plurality of ultrasound elements arrayed about the circumference of the conduit and at least one sensor providing one or more of the acceleration of the array and position of the array;
- positioning the ultrasound array to project ultrasound signals toward an external surface of the conduit at a first point along the longitudinal axis of the conduit;
- performing a full-matrix-capture scan of the first point along the longitudinal axis of the conduit, comprising:
- transmitting an ultrasound signal from a first ultrasound element in the ultrasound array;
- sensing and recording ultrasound signals received by each other ultrasound element in the ultrasound array;
- and
- repeating the steps of transmitting, sensing and recording, wherein the step of transmitting is performed in turn by each ultrasound element in the ultrasound array other than the first ultrasound element;
- repositioning the ultrasound array at a second point a along the longitudinal axis of the conduit;
- performing a full-matrix-capture scan of the second point along the longitudinal axis of the conduit;
- using data from the at least one sensor to correlate the scan at the first point and the scan at the second point to each other;
- and
- repeating the steps of repositioning and performing a full-matrix-capture scan.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.