Methods for ultrasonic inspection of spot and seam resistance welds in metallic sheets and a spot weld examination probe system (SWEPS)

An ultrasonic scanner to open air, non-destructively scan an external surface of a material to generate data to determine characteristics of weldments in the material comprising:

• an ultrasonic transducer to generate and receive ultrasonic signals applied to and received from the external surface of the material;
• a body sized and shaped to hold the ultrasonic transducer and having a nose piece to interface with the external surface of the material to direct signals from the ultrasonic transducer to the surface and to focus ultrasonic signals received from the surface onto the ultrasonic transducer;
• and
• a distance measurement device in contact with the surface of the material to determine travel distance of the body at any point in time as the body is transported across the surface of the material;
• wherein said nose piece is sized to be substantially the same size as an electrode indentation corresponding to the weldment to be measured with the nose piece sliding on high points of the material to maintain the ultrasonic transducer a fixed stand-off distance from the external surface of the material.

A non-destructive, open air measurement system to non-destructively determine characteristics of weldments in a material, without immersion of the material, comprising:

• a scanner including:
• an ultrasonic transducer to generate and receive ultrasonic signals applied to and received from the external surface of the material;
• a body sized and shaped to hold the ultrasonic transducer and having a nose piece to interface with the external surface of the material to direct signals from the ultrasonic transducer to the surface and to focus ultrasonic signals received from the surface onto the ultrasonic transducer;
• and
• a distance measurement device in contact with the surface of the material to determine travel distance of the body at any point in time as the body is transported across the surface of the material;
• wherein said nose piece is sized to be substantially the same size as an electrode indentation corresponding to the weldment to be measured with the nose piece sliding on high points of the material to maintain the ultrasonic transducer a fixed stand-off distance from the external surface of the material;
• and
• a processor coupled to the scanner to:
• trigger the scanner to transmit an ultrasonic signal to the surface of the material;
• receive a signal from the scanner for each ultrasonic signal being received from the material;
• receive signals from the scanner corresponding to the position of the scanner at least whenever the scanner is triggered to send signals to the material and when the scanner receives signals from the material;
• and
• determine characteristics of the weldment from the timing signals and scanner travel distance.