Originally published on February 21, 2017
As the use of phased array ultrasonic technology for industrial inspection applications becomes increasingly widespread, Olympus has adapted to meet our customers’ needs. We’ve continued to expand our manufacturing and engineering resources to develop custom phased array (PA) and custom conventional ultrasonic (UT) transducers for challenging applications.
Customized Ultrasonic Transducers and Probes, Personalized Service
Designed and manufactured in the US, each custom probe is produced by our experts working directly with our customers and our engineering teams to find solutions to customer inspection problems and requests. To date, we’ve designed and manufactured custom ultrasonic transducers and phased array probes for the aerospace, power generation, and petrochemical industries in applications including manufacturing, renewable energy, and research. Our custom probes and transducers come in many varieties, including immersion, matrix, contact, and integrated wedge versions. If you have parts or components with complex geometries, we can also custom design probes and wedges to fit many area and size constraints. |  |
See a summary of our various types of ultrasonic transducers and phased array probes in “Eight Simple Questions,” our handy infographic.
Example of a Challenging Case from the Power Generation Industry
Boiling water reactor (BWR) nozzles and components can degrade over time, stemming from general corrosion to fatigue cycling. In a BWR, there are multiple nozzles that must be inspected. The nozzle types include feedwater, core spray, recirculation, main steam, and drain.
Cracks in the nozzle sections can result in loss of integrity and radiological contamination, causing unscheduled generator shutdown or even a catastrophic failure. Nozzle inspections are complicated due to their austenitic and dissimilar welds, poor accessibility, high temperature, and radioactive dosage.
Meeting Highly Specific Inspection Requirements with a Unique Probe Solution
Our customer supplied us with several specifications for the probe, including how the probe needed to attach to the holder as well as the acoustic requirements. We integrated these specifications into the probe’s design to create a spring-loaded phased array probe and fixture to perform simultaneous pitch-catch circumferential and axial inside diameter inspections in a BWR nozzle.
We also completed a similar probe design using conventional ultrasound instead of phased array for a time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD) application. Tailoring our probe offerings provides a streamlined approach that enables us to meet our customer’s high expectations.
Probe Solutions That Meet Your Specifications and Exceed Your Expectations
Our core mission is to serve our customers whether it’s through off-the-shelf instruments and probes to custom-made solutions.
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