ULTRASONIC INSPECTION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND SEARCH UNIT DESIGN EXAMPLES OF PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Ultrasonic testing is a relatively new branch of science and industry. The development of ultrasonic testing started in the late 1920s. At the beginning, the fundamentals of this method were borrowed from basic physics, geometrical and wave optics, acoustics and seismology. Later it became clear that some of these theories and calculation methods could not always explain the phenomena observed in many specific cases of ultrasonic testing. Without knowing the nuances of the ultrasonic wave propagation in the test object it is impossible to design effective inspection technique and search units for it realization.

This book clarifies the theoretical differences of ultrasonics from the other wave propagation theories presenting both basics of physics in the wave propagation, elementary mathematic and advanced practical applications. Almost every specific technique presented in this book is proofed by actual experimental data and examples of calculations.

Dr. Mark Brook received his doctoral degree from Leningrad Waterway Transportation Institute. He was working as associate professor and was in charge of Nondestructive Testing Laboratory in the same institute. He is the author of many articles and the book Nondestructive Testing in Shipbuilding and Ship Repair.

In the USA since 1979, he has worked for Combustion Engineering, ABB and Westinghouse Electric Company as a consultant in the research and development of ultrasonic nondestructive testing. He is also the author of four US patents and several articles. He has taken part in numerous projects for developing techniques and designing search units for ultrasonic inspection of complex test objects, mostly for Nuclear Power Plants.

This book is based in part on lectures given by Dr. Brook to engineers at the NDE Products & Technology Department of Westinghouse Electric Company.