公开(公告)号：US20180231502A1

公开(公告)日：2018-08-16

申请号：US15893977

申请日：2018-02-12

Applicant: General Electric Company

Inventor： Frank Kahmann ,  Daniel Koers ,  Norbert Ewald Steinhoff ,  Weiwei Zhang

IPC: G01N29/22 ,  G01N29/04 ,  G01N29/09 ,  G01N29/28 ,  G01N29/265

Abstract: An inspection system for determining the efficacy and veracity of a bond-line, comprising: a robotic arm assembly providing a gimbal mount for enabling linear and rotary translation about multiple axes; an ultrasonic transducer affixed to the gimbal mount of the robotic arm assembly and comprising a planar array of transducer elements, each transducer element capable of transmitting and receiving reflected ultrasonic energy indicative of changes in acoustic impedance within the bond-line. The reflected energy of each transducer element provides acquired bond-line data indicative of the efficacy of the bond-line while select transducer elements produce orientation data indicative of the orientation of the planar array relative to the contour of the bonded joint. The bond-line and orientation data are combined to determine whether the direction of the transmitted pulse should be altered to validate the bond-line data.

公开(公告)号：US10782268B2

公开(公告)日：2020-09-22

申请号：US15893977

申请日：2018-02-12

Applicant: General Electric Company

Inventor： Frank Kahmann ,  Daniel Koers ,  Norbert Ewald Steinhoff ,  Weiwei Zhang

IPC: G01N29/22 ,  G01N29/04 ,  G01N29/09 ,  G01N29/265 ,  G01N29/28

Abstract: An inspection system for determining the efficacy and veracity of a bond-line, comprising: a robotic arm assembly providing a gimbal mount for enabling linear and rotary translation about multiple axes; an ultrasonic transducer affixed to the gimbal mount of the robotic arm assembly and comprising a planar array of transducer elements, each transducer element capable of transmitting and receiving reflected ultrasonic energy indicative of changes in acoustic impedance within the bond-line. The reflected energy of each transducer element provides acquired bond-line data indicative of the efficacy of the bond-line while select transducer elements produce orientation data indicative of the orientation of the planar array relative to the contour of the bonded joint. The bond-line and orientation data are combined to determine whether the direction of the transmitted pulse should be altered to validate the bond-line data.