Manual No. OM5000
Jan X/04 Ver 1.40
3
3. GENERAL APPLICATIONS
3.1 BASIC MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS
- The basic criterion for gaging suitability is that the
material must be ultrasonically conductive and ultrasonically uniform. Geometrically, the two
surfaces of the sectional thickness to be gaged must be virtually parallel.
3.2 SUITABLE MATERIALS
- A very large number of common industrial materials and products
typically qualify for ultrasonic gaging suitability. Included are metals, plastics, glass, certain
ceramics, many rubber/elastomeric materials, advanced aerospace composites and fiberglass. The
actual gaging range and accuracy depend upon the properties of the specific material involved.
3.3 TYPICAL PRODUCT CONFIGURATIONS
- Some of the common product configurations which
can be gaged with the NovaScope include:
tubing
pipe
sheet
plate
extrusions
billets
rounds
bars
ingots
castings
stampings
graphite composites
Kevlar
TM
composites
fiberglass composites
liners and casings
turbine blades
chem-milled parts
valves
forgings
tires
cladding
heat exchangers
machined parts
light bulbs
bottles
cans
lenses
tanks/drums
pressure vessels
corrosion/erosion
discs
drawn/spun parts
blow-moldings
3.4 GAGING STATIONARY PRODUCTS
- Many products with simple or complex shapes/contours
can be gaged manually with small handheld transducers (contact or delay line types). For gaging
on particularly sharp contours or in very small spots, effective results can be obtained using a
bubbler (or immersion transducer with a finely-focused ultrasonic beam).
A non-contact immersion-type transducer (mounted in a miniature water jet squirter assembly) can
be automatically scan-indexed across a product's surface to collect thickness data with the
NovaScope. The data processed by the NovaScope can be presented as a familiar C-scan or fed
(via rear panel digital or analog outputs) to a computer, recorder/logger or NDT Systems portable
ultrasonic imaging system,
PortaScan
.
3.5 MONITORING IN-MOTION PRODUCTS
- The NovaScope can monitor the sectional thickness
of in-motion products by employing a non-contact water jet squirter/immersion type transducer
mounted in proximity to the product's surface. The product can be presented in a continuous form
(i.e., a web); discreet lengths (i.e., pipe); or as rapidly-indexed small parts (i.e., bottles or forgings).
Various digital and analog outputs of thickness data and alarms are available on the rear panel to
interface with recorders, controllers, loggers or computers. Such system setups permit automatic
thickness monitoring and, in certain situations, process feedback control.