Imagine an instrument that can easily be used to check the quality of materials fast and accurately. An instrument that is easy to operate and move around with when working. Also, imagine how this equipment can save you time, effort, and money and still leave your test surface as it found it.
Now, imagine you own such an instrument. And without digging too deep into your pockets. Wondering what this instrument is? It is called an ultrasound probe.
Ultrasonic testing is the technique that uses ultrasound to measure the thickness and quality of objects, and the best ultrasonic probes are the most important part of this whole process. In this post, you will learn the applications, and advantages of the ultrasonic probe and also get to know what exactly an ultrasonic probe is. Let’s get to it, shall we?
1. What is an Ultrasonic Probe?
An ultrasonic probe, also known as an ultrasonic transducer is a device that is used to measure the thickness and defects of material. Sound waves travel through a material in a definite pattern and this pattern will only be disrupted in the presence of a material defect.
So, how does an ultrasonic probe measure wall thickness? Here’s how.
The probe is placed on the surface of the item to be tested. This probe sends out the sound waves that are reflected by the object being tested. The time it takes for these waves to bounce back from the object and reach the probe is measured and this is what is used to calculate how thick or thin the object is.
2. What’s the Application of an Ultrasonic Probe?
Ultrasonic probes are used in many different applications. With the most noticeable being nondestructive testing of components. They can be used to evaluate the thickness and density of concrete, metal, or other types of materials in industrial and automotive processes. They can also be used for medical scanning purposes. Some of the applications of the ultrasonic probe are;
- Inspection of the quality of welds in industries.
- For defect scanning in the pipeline industry
- Wall thickness measurement in automotive and aeronautical components
- Used in ultrasound scanning in the medical field.
- Checking the integrity of metals used in infrastructure.
3. What’s the Advantage of an ultrasonic probe?
Different medical and industrial applications require different kinds of ultrasonic probes for analysis. Despite the probes having different uses, the advantages of using them for material checking and scanning are more or less the same. Some of the pros of using ultrasonic probes are as presented here.
- Highly sensitive and can detect small defects in materials
- Testing can be done on only one side of the test item
- Higher accuracy and works with the same efficiency no matter the size of material under analysis.
- Clean method of nondestructive testing and will not affect the environment or the health of a technician.
- Has a high penetrating power and can therefore give more information on the kind and size of the flaw in a material
- Results are obtained in real-time
- It is portable and therefore more areas of testing can be covered within a short time.
Conclusion
Evidently, the importance of ultrasonic probes for quality testing cannot be disregarded. The probes are the most important part of all ultrasonic testing and it is important to choose the right kind of probe for the field of work in order to get good results. Industrial applications for ultrasonic transducers are more common in flaw detection and in wall thickness measurements. Besides this, they are also used in hospitals for doing body scans.
There are numerous kinds of ultrasonic probes and NDT-KITS produces and supplies them all over the globe. Our dedicated support team is available on call and works step by step with the client to ensure they get the best probes for their specific needs.NDT-KITS has provided more than four hundred types of superior quality ultrasonic probes into the market and with the advanced production equipment, and expert engineers, you are assured of a continuous flow of great quality products for our clients.
