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US 7,064,330 B2Granted
Infrared defect detection via broad-band acoustics
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorsDavid Raulerson, Zhong Ouyang, Kevin D. Smith
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of detecting defects in structures, comprising the steps of inducing mechanical energy in a structure via the emission of a broad-band acoustic signal, and capturing over a time interval a plurality of images of the structure each of the plurality of images comprised of a plurality of pixels arranged in a plurality of rows and columns each indicative of an intensity of infrared energy emitted by a portion of the structure.
Claims28
The method of detecting defects in structures, comprising the steps of:
- inducing mechanical energy in a structure via the emission of a broad-band acoustic signal;
- capturing over a time interval a plurality of images of said structure each of said plurality of images comprised of a plurality of pixels arranged in a plurality of rows and columns each of said pixels indicative of an intensity of infrared energy emitted by a portion of said structure;
- and
- computing a curve for each of said plurality of pixels forming said plurality of images whereby each curve is computed from each of said intensities recorded at a single pixel position in said plurality of images at each of said different times.
1 more element
The apparatus for detecting defects in structures comprising:
- an acoustic frequency generator adapted to generate a broad-band acoustic energy signal;
- an acoustic energy source adapted to transmit said broad-band acoustic energy signal to said structure, said acoustic energy source comprises a signal carrier for transmitting said broad-band acoustic energy signal and a tip designed to maximize contact with a structure for receiving said transmitted broad-band acoustic energy signal and transmitting said broad-band acoustic energy signal to said structure;
- an optical device for detecting and recording as a plurality of images an amount of infrared energy emitted by said structure at a plurality of locations;
- and
- an image processor for processing said images.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.