Nondestructive testing has been practiced for decades, with techniques using ultrasonics, eddy currents, X-rays, dye penetrants and magnetic particles all playing an important role.

Ultrasonics continues to provide value to the NDT industry. Many different applications benefit from the use of ultrasonic inspection, including flaw detection and evaluation, dimensional measurements and material characterization.

The following products provide a sample of the ultrasonic products available today.

Olympus NDT (www.olympus-ims.com/en/38dl-plus/) introduces the hand-held 38DL Plus ultrasonic thickness gage. This instrument is compatible with the complete range of Olympus dual element and single element transducers, making it an all-in-one solution for most thickness gage applications. Applications can range from wall thinning measurements of corroded pipes using dual element probes to precise thickness measurements of thin or multilayer materials using single element transducers. Ultrasonic thickness measurements are accurate, reliable and repeatable, and instant readings can be achieved from one side of a material, making it unnecessary to destroy the part.

The Olympus 38DL Plus also is built for use in a wide range of weather conditions and difficult inspection environments. Its sealed case is designed to meet IP67 requirements to withstand the rigors of wet or dusty environments while the transflective color LCD with full VGA resolution provides superior readability in bright sunlight or complete darkness.

Weighing only 2.2 pounds, the USM Go is the lightest and most portable ultrasonic flaw detector available from GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies (www.geinspectiontechnologies.com). The USM Go is designed for ease of prolonged operation in the harshest inspection environments in the oil and gas, aerospace, power generation and automotive industries. It offers pressure-responsive joystick control and ergonomic design, and features data display resolution on a screen with a large pixel count.

The USM Go is dust- and water-proof to IP67 certification standards and proven to withstand shock and vibration. With its unique flip facility, the USM Go can be operated with both the left-hand and the right-hand using the navigation joystick and the familiar function keys. The instrument’s 800 by 480 pixel display affords extremely high resolution while the optimized aspect ratio ensures better echo separation. The display screen can be easily viewed in handheld or mounted position and has been sized for optimal ergonomic use.

Inspection data can be downloaded easily through the USM Go’s USB connectivity and the 2GB memory card, which can be expanded by the addition of a 2GB standard SD card. Reports are in jpeg or BMP format, eliminating the need for special reading software.

Automated Inspection Systems Inc. (www.ais4ndt.com) introduces its dual axis magnetic wheel crawler, the RoboScanner Automated UT Crawler, for high speed corrosion mapping and weld examination. With an onboard controller and user interface, the RoboScanner easily connects to any conventional automated ultrasonic (UT) data system without the need for a PC or laptop computer. Its versatile design will scan two-inch diameter pipes up to large tanks and vessels.

Operators can perform high speed and high resolution corrosion mapping using the RoboScanner’s new airless bubbler technology. With full wave form recording every 0.02 inch, large area C scans can be acquired at rates up to 120 square inches per second reliably and efficiently.

Attach any pair of time-of-flight diffraction probes or phased array transducers to the RoboScanner arm and instantly transform cumbersome manual scanner weld examinations to fully automated inspections. The unit is plug compatible with all conventional automated UT data systems.

Danatronics (www.danatronics.com) offers an ultrasonic thickness gage with high resolution color waveform display, the EHC-09 Wave. The Wave is available in three models: EHC-09 C, EHC-09 CW and EHC-09DL CW. The Wave is now available with delay line and pencil probes ideal for hard to reach areas, radiused parts, thin materials and high temperature applications. Versions 1.9 and higher now support the use of angle beam transducers to display the sound path components of detected echoes. The Wave also support multiple on screen languages including English, Italian, Spanish, French, Czech, Finnish and German.

For a limited time, order an EHC-09DLCW with live color A/B-Scan, a 100,000 reading datalogger, echo to echo, a protective pouch, a DKS537 transducer with potted cable, USB cable, data xl interface program, couplant, manual and transport case and receive a free EHC-09B.

Bercli Nondestructive Testing (www.bercli.net) provides standard and highly customized M2M phased array systems, as well as CIVA simulation software for ultrasound, radiography and eddy current modeling. CIVA NDT simulation modules are integrated into all of M2M’s ultrasonic and eddy current systems, which range from highly portable handheld units to massively parallel fully automated systems for maximum speed and reproducibility. Smart 2-D flexible phased array can be used for automated inspection of a complex part. Smart probes include transducers to measure displacement of the probe face when pressed into contact with the contoured surface. The measured probe displacement is directly fed into the M2M system, where the focal laws are adjusted in real time to maintain the desired beam orientation and focal spot without having to know the complex shape of the part. In reception, image reconstruction accounts for the complex geometry, allowing for accurate visual displays designed for ease of interpretation.