BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a system for the non-destructive testing of components. It can be advantageously used, in particular, for testing on large-format components or at locations which are difficult to access.

Welded seams have hitherto also been tested using sleeve solutions with shear waves. There has hitherto not been any finished technology for remaining on the component. In the offshore sector for testing foundation structures in particular, the divers cannot apply sleeves with a diameter of several metres during each test. Therefore, a sensor sleeve, into which special piezoelectric shear wave transducers are laminated, was developed. This can be effected in such a manner that a watertight system solution is obtained which can permanently remain on the respective test object (even underwater).

Offshore foundation structures are currently monitored by means of a visual inspection by divers. In this case, each installation must be inspected visually or with permitted non-destructive testing methods every four years. As a result of vegetation in particular, it is extremely difficult during the visual inspection to be able to reliably detect fine cracks. For non-destructive testing, only a visual inspection and the Alternating Current Focusing technique (ACFM) method have hitherto been permitted. In the case of ACFM, a magnetic crack test is carried out by divers. The method is very time-consuming since the coil sensor must be manually guided over all welded seams. The measured values obtained in this manner can be interpreted only by qualified personnel and cannot be interpreted by the divers. Sharp fillet seams are excluded from a test on account of their geometry. Root passes cannot be tested using the above-mentioned non-destructive testing methods on account of their position inside the pipe. Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV) have developed rapidly in recent years and are nowadays prior art for the inspection of underwater supporting structures, in particular in the oil and gas industry. The market is developing only slowly for offshore wind installations. ROVs are used for a conventional non-destructive test in order to inspect welded seams, for example. For this purpose, the location to be examined is cleaned (sandblasting, brushing and/or high-pressure cleaning) and is then inspected, for example visually, using ultrasonic measurement technology or ACFM. For the last two methods, the sensor head must be placed directly on the location to be examined, which is not possible in fillet seams, in particular. The large number of required measurement locations results in a long testing time.

There are likewise specific requirements imposed on the test for testing pipelines and containers. These requirements generally vary from sector to sector and are carried out as part of reviews. As a result of a continuous monitoring solution, expensive reviews (one example approximately €1 million per day in a coal-fired power plant) could be replaced with data capture and testing during operation.

For non-destructive testing measurements, a number of shear wave testing systems are available but currently cannot be used for permanent monitoring (the measurement system remains on the component). These are sensor sleeves with shear wave transducers, but were not designed to remain on the test object as a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) solution (condition monitoring) and therefore are also not suitable for this purpose. It is possible to dispense with a recurring test as a result of the system remaining on the structure to be examined.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the invention is to specify possibilities for the non-destructive testing of components which can be used to test for defects under difficult conditions, with sufficient measurement accuracy and possibly also permanently.

According to the invention, this object is achieved with a system having the features of the claims.

In the system, two ultrasonic transducers, which form a pair and each have a piezoelectric ceramic plate-shaped element with a rectangular geometry, which are formed on two opposite surfaces each with an electrode, can be fastened to a surface of a component.

The ultrasonic transducers in the pair are arranged at a distance from one another such that there is no direct mechanical contact. According to the invention, the ultrasonic transducers in the pair can be arranged beside one another with a parallel orientation of their central longitudinal axes, wherein the central longitudinal axes should be oriented along a common axis.

In one alternative, the two piezoelectric ceramic plate-shaped elements have a different polarization along their width b. The two ultrasonic transducers in the pair are connected in this case with the same polarity to an electrical voltage source which can be operated in a pulsed manner.

In a second alternative, the two piezoelectric ceramic plate-shaped elements have an identical polarization along their width b. The two ultrasonic transducers in the pair are connected in this case with opposite polarity to an electrical voltage source which can be operated in a pulsed manner.

In this case, the width b should be understood as meaning the longer edge length of one side of the piezoelectric ceramic plate-shaped elements.

The electrical voltage source is designed to apply electrical voltages in the frequency range of 10 kHz to 1 MHz to the two ultrasonic transducers.

At least one of the two ultrasonic transducers in the pair or at least one further ultrasonic transducer arranged at a known distance from the two ultrasonic transducers is designed to detect ultrasonic waves reflected by defects on the component and/or shear waves simultaneously emitted by the two ultrasonic transducers in the pair, and to transmit the detected ultrasonic waves to an electronic evaluation and control unit. In this case, the electronic evaluation unit is designed to evaluate the detected ultrasonic waves with respect to their amplitude and/or their temporal sequence.

The invention can be used to provide novel shear wave transducers for testing structures using guided shear waves, which, in contrast to known solutions, provide the following possibilities. Inexpensive and also automatable production is therefore possible. There is a potential for long-term monitoring technologies.

Accordingly designed and arranged ultrasonic transducers can be used to achieve higher amplitudes of the emitted guided shear waves, which results in improved efficiency and an expansion of the possible range of uses.

The ultrasonic transducers in the pair can be very flat. The maximum thickness of the piezoelectric ceramic plate-shaped elements (dp) can be kept at ≤1 mm. The electrodes which can be used also increase the overall thickness only insignificantly. As a result of the low thickness of the ceramic material, an adaptation to the respective component surface can be achieved by means of elastic bending, with the result that the ultrasonic transducers in the pair can also rest in a flat manner in the case of uneven surfaces and, as a result, it becomes possible to couple the emitted shear waves into the component in a more efficient manner along its surface as guided shear waves.

The ratio of the width b to the length l of the piezoelectric ceramic plate-shaped elements b to l should be at least 3 to 1.

The centre or area centroid spacing of the piezoelectric ceramic plate-shaped elements of the ultrasonic transducers in the pair should be an odd integer multiple of half the wavelength λ of the emitted ultrasonic waves.

If the two ultrasonic transducers in a pair are activated, shear waves are emitted in the direction perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis of the ultrasonic transducers. The waves propagate in this direction in a divergent manner.

The ultrasonic transducers used in the invention are suitable, on account of the low component height, for being able to still carry out tests even at a distance of several metres, but nevertheless generate sufficiently high amplitudes. A fundamental advantage is the low installation space requirement and the flexibility. This makes it possible to apply networks with a large number of distributed ultrasonic transducers to the component surface without having to make structural changes to the latter. More than one pair of ultrasonic transducers for emitting the shear waves may also be part of the system.

The invention also makes it possible to retrofit existing components, which is of great advantage, for example, when used for unexpectedly occurring weak points or fault accumulations. The combination of a larger number of such sensors and actuators to form complex networks is likewise advantageous.

By means of the ultrasonic transducer pairs, their effect is superimposed during emission, with the result that the amplitudes of the emitted shear waves can be increased without complicated electronic individual connection of the individual transducers. In this case, the distance between the two ultrasonic transducers should be selected in such a manner that no direct transmission of force can take place between them.

The advantage of this invention is that non-destructive testing methods can now be used in a cost-effective manner as monitoring. This increases the safety of the examined components.

The ultrasonic transducers can be fixed to the component surface by means of an elastically deformable material.

For this purpose, the ultrasonic transducers can be embedded or laminated in an elastically deformable material. The ultrasonic transducers can be fastened to the respective component using elastically deformable material in the form of a sleeve which causes less characteristic impedance, for example in the offshore sector, when it is permanently fitted to the respective structure. They also find space under installations/coverings/enclosures for pipeline monitoring without the need to adapt the geometry.

The invention can be used, for example, in the offshore monitoring of underwater welded seams (crack detection), pipeline monitoring (crack detection, even under an insulation/covering/enclosure), in container monitoring for cracks and corrosion, even under an insulation/covering/enclosure.

When using the system, either pulse echo measurements can be carried out using at least one pair of ultrasonic transducers or transmission/reception measurements can be carried out between at least one pair of ultrasonic transducers and a further ultrasonic transducer which is arranged at a known distance from the respective pair. In order to determine damage, the wave components scattered at a defect can be detected in reflection or transmission and evaluated.

Burst signals which have a temporally limited length and a relatively narrow frequency spectrum are usually used to emit shear waves. The temporal length should be kept in the range of 5 μs to 1 ms. Detection can be carried out in the pauses in between in which no shear waves are emitted.

