Applications of flexible ultrasonic transducer array for defect detection at 150 °C

In this study, the feasibility of using a one dimensional 16-element flexible ultrasonic transducer (FUT) array for nondestructive testing at 150 °C is demonstrated. The FUT arrays were made by a sol-gel sprayed piezoelectric film technology; a PZT composite film was sprayed on a titanium foil of 75 μm thickness. Since the FUT array is flexible, it was attached to a steel pipe with an outer diameter of 89 mm and a wall thickness of 6.5 mm at 150 °C. Using the ultrasonic pulse-echo mode, pipe thickness measurements could be performed. Moreover, using the ultrasonic pulse-echo and pitch-catch modes of each element of FUT array, the defect detection was performed on an Al alloy block of 30 mm thickness with a side-drilled hole (SDH) of φ3 mm at 150 °C. In addition, a post-processing algorithm based on the total focusing method was used to process the full matrix of these A-scan signals of each single transmitter and multi-receivers, and then the phase-array image was obtained to indicate this defect- SDH. Both results show the capability of FUT array being operated at 150 °C for the corrosion and defect detections.