February 2011

Phased Array Calibrations

Prepared by:
Tom Marshall
January 2011 1

Why do we do calibrations ?

They make measurements meaningful !

Inspection procedures insist on calibrations

Demonstrates equipment is working

Compensation for wedge wear

Compensation for equipment variation

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Before you start

Calibration block material should be same as real part

Calibrate on targets representative of what you want to measure

Practice each calibration ! More practice makes it look easy

Calibrate with same focus setup as the inspection will need

Do the calibrations in this order..

Velocity calibration

Aim is to allow veo to measure depths accurately

We need reference echoes from two different path lengths

Very important that material is a good match

Big reflectors work well: Step or dual radius block are good

Demonstration..

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Velocity Calibration

Dual Radius

For Sectorial Scan

Calibration

2 large reflectors to
cover all focal laws

Note:
For L-Scan use a
step wedge/V1

Wedge delay calibration

Aim is to compensate for wedge wear and velocity errors

Also compensates for angulation errors in wedge

A test block with a single side drilled hole

V1 or Navships test block. Avoid edges or other holes.

Demonstration..
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Wedge Delay Calibration

Sensitivity calibration

Aim is to achieve equal sensitivity for all angles and focal laws

Greater attenuation at higher beam angles in material and probe

Compensate for beam spread by choosing a small target

Large target will compensate for angle only, be careful.

Demonstration..

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TCG calibration

Aim is to achieve equal sensitivity with depth in material

Essential for amplitude based defect sizing

Also essential for amplitude C-Scans

DAC not appropriate for S/L/C Scan evaluation, only A-Scan

Calibrate on ~5 holes over the thickness range of the test

Demonstration ..

TCG Calibration

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Encoder calibration

Aim is to ensure recorded lengths are accurate

Essential for accurate sizing using encoded scans

Calibrate over a longer distance for better accuracy

Simple to perform

Demonstration ..
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