Ultrasonic phased array transducer for the nde inspection of the jet pump riser welds and welded attachments
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsCharles R. BARRETT, Kevin J. FOLEY
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ultrasonic phased array transducer assembly having a single housing in which a plurality of phased array transducer subassemblies are mounted at a skewed angle relative to a leading face of the housing and to each other, with each transducer mounted on composite wedge(s) at different orientations within the housing.
Claims18
1-11. (canceled)
A phased array transducer assembly configured to characterize a structure of a test piece, the phased array transducer assembly comprising a housing comprising an internal cavity, a wedge positioned within the internal cavity, and a phased array subassembly mounted on the wedge.
A method of inspecting welds of a pipe in a boiling water nuclear reactor using a phased array transducer assembly, the method comprising:
- positioning the phased array transducer assembly adjacent to a surface of the pipe such that a face of a housing of the assembly is positioned adjacent to a weld to be inspected;
- generating an ultrasonic beam using a phased array subassembly that is mounted on a wedge of the phased array transducer assembly and oriented at a first angle relative to the face of the housing of the assembly;
- and
- scanning the pipe, such that a range of the ultrasonic beam comprises an area encompassing a weld of the pipe.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.