US 4,726,231 AGranted

Arrangement for the ultrasonic examination of objects in local immersion

OwnerHerve Tretout, Philippe Pepininventors

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Abstract

Arrangement for the ultrasonic examination of objects by a local immersion technique, comprising: a source of liquid, a pump fed by said source, a coupling head fed with liquid by said pump and capable of directing towards the object to be examined a jet of the said liquid and a beam of ultrasonic waves which is contained in said jet and is coaxial with this jet, said coupling head comprising: (a) a first tranquilization chamber connected to the outlet of said pump, (b) a second cylindrical tranquilization chamber connected to the said first chamber by at least one channel for the passage of the liquid, (c) an ultrasonic transducer capable of emitting a beam of ultrasonic waves by means of an active surface, which is directed towards the object, said active surface being situated in the second chamber, centered on the axis of said second chamber and perpendicular to this axis, (d) a converging system coaxial with the said second chamber, the shape of which results from a calculation for the purpose of reducing or eliminating turbulence, and the outlet of which is placed at the end of the Fresnel zone relative to the transducer.

Claims18

Dependent claims

An apparatus for the ultrasonic examination of an object by a local immersion technique, comprising:

container means containing a liquid;
a coupling head capable of directing towards an object to be examined a jet of said liquid and a beam of ultrasonic waves which is contained in said jet of liquid and is coaxial with said jet of liquid, said coupling head comprising:
(a) a first tranquilization chamber,
(b) a second cylindrical tranquilization chamber connected to said first chamber by at least one channel for the passage of said liquid, said second cylindrical tranquilization chamber having a width,
(c) an ultrasonic transducer capable of emitting a beam of ultrasonic waves towards said object, said ultrasonic transducer including an active surface which is situated within said second chamber and is centered on the axis of said second chamber, said active surface being perpendicular to said axis,
(d) a converging system coaxial with said second chamber and comprising an inlet connected to said second chamber and of a width L.sub.1, which is at most equal to said width of said second chamber, and an outlet of a width L.sub.2, which is less than the width L.sub.1 and is substantially equal to the width selected for said jet, the shape of said converging system being substantially that which is obtained by a calculation in which a constant value is given to the expression:
Q(xy)=u.sub.1 (x).multidot.y+ . . . +u.sub.n+1 (x)y.sup.2n+1 + . . . (1)
where:
##EQU9## all the derivatives of u.sub.1 (x) being calculated on the basis of Hermite polynomials H.sub.n (x) with
u.sub.1.sup.(n+1) (x)=Z.sup.(n) (x) and
Z.sup.(n) (x)=(-1).sup.n E.sub.n (x)Z(x),
the calculation being undertaken for x=0 to x=1 when y=L.sub.2 /2 after iterations;
and the distance between the active surface of said transducer and said outlet of the converging system being such that said outlet is at the outlet of the Fresnel zone of the ultrasonic wave emitted by the transducer;
a pump means for conveying liquid from said container means to the first tranquilization chamber of said coupling head;
and
means sensitive to the ultrasonic waves reflected, transmitted or diffracted by said object when it is struck by said jet of liquid and said beam of ultrasonic waves.

13 more elements

A coupling head for ultrasonic examination by a local immersion technique, comprising:

(a) a first tranquilization chamber connectable to the outlet of a pump,
(b) a second cylindrical tranquilization chamber connected to said first tranquilization chamber by at least one channel for the passage of liquid, said second cylindrical tranquilization chamber having a width,
(c) an ultrasonic transducer capable of emitting a beam of ultrasonic waves towards an object, said ultrasonic transducer including an active surface which is situated in said second chamber and is centered on the axis of said second chamber, said active surface being perpendicular to said axis,
(d) a converging system coaxial with said second chamber and comprising an inlet connected to said second chamber and of a width L.sub.1, which is at most equal to said width of said second chamber, and an outlet of a width L.sub.2, which is less than the width L.sub.1 and is substantially equal to the width selected for said jet, the shape of said converging system being substantially that which is obtained by a calculation in which a constant value is given to the expression:
Q(xy)=u.sub.1 (x).multidot.y+ . . . +u.sub.n+1 (x)y.sup.2n+1 + . . . (1)
where:
##EQU10## all the derivatives of u.sub.1 (x) being calculated on the basis of Hermite polynomials H.sub.n (x) with
u.sub.1.sup.(n+1)(x)=Z.sup.(n) (x) and
Z.sup.(n) (x)=(-1).sup.n E.sub.n (x)Z(x),
the calculation being undertaken for x=0 to x=1 when y=L.sub.2 /2 after iterations;
and the distance between the active surface of the transducer and the outlet of said converging system being such that said outlet is at the outlet of the Fresnel zone of the ultrasonic wave emitted by the transducer.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.