It would not be an overstatement to describe Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing as one of the great technological advances of recent centuries. In a world now dominated by industries that constantly push the frontiers of scientific capability, complex structures and reliance on new and traditional materials, a non destructive testing (NDT) process that probes and scrutinises to exacting tolerances is as an essential a tool as the materials it tests.
A simple definition for Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing is ‘an electronic method of generating, receiving and displaying an ultrasound signal’. The process uses a conventional probe cut into many segments, which are individually ‘excited’. It does not change the physics of ultrasonics but can be accurately manipulated to provide precise data about the materials under test. Sophisticated technology allows multiple elements to steer, angle, multi-focus and scan beams using a single transducer assembly.
The principles of ultrasonic technology have been known for many years but it is only in the last 50 or so that knowledge been harnessed to great and diverse effect where surface and depth of any description needs to be tested and inspected.
Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing is also extensively utilised in the food processing, medical, biological, agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors for the same purposes as every other division– the gathering of vital data essential for product performance, health & safety, research and development.