Adaptive, High-Resolution Ultrasound Phased Array Imaging for use in the Inspection of Laser Brazed Joints in the Automotive Sector
type: CreativeWork
description: The inspection of welded and brazed joints has been performed in several industries using ultrasonic phased array. In the automotive sector, many of the current standards for brazed joint inspection do not apply due to the high variations in surface geometry and limited accessibility to the inspection region. As the automotive industry looks to integrate laser brazing into the production process, the need to determine the size and geometry of the joint, as well as the presence of any defects, is desirable to ensure product quality and reduce costs. Currently, the use of destructive techniques, such as cross-sectioning, is employed in the inspection process, with the ultimate desire being the shift to non-destructive methods. With this in mind, ultrasonic techniques have been investigated as a possible testing method. Ultrasound techniques have evolved over the decades, starting from a single element and eventually moving to phased array techniques. Recently, the investigation of the full matrix capture method has become popular in the field of ultrasound imaging. This technique, which separates the data acquisition process from the image formation process poses a viable solution to the inspection of laser brazed joints due to the ability to compensate for varying surfaces in post-processing.In this work, we make use of this technique, deriving the image formation process as an inverse problem for an arbitrary set of ultrasonic emitters and receivers. From this, the image formation process becomes equivalent to solving the inhomogeneous Helmholtz equation. By approximating the solutions to such an equation using the ray series expansion, an estimation of the solutions can be found in a time-efficient manner. When these solutions are found, the inverse process can be rewritten as a weighted, time-delayed summation of the acquired ultrasonic data. In current work, further approximations to this image formation process are often made; however, in the inspection of the l…
abstract: The inspection of welded and brazed joints has been performed in several industries using ultrasonic phased array. In the automotive sector, many of the current standards for brazed joint inspection do not apply due to the high variations in surface geometry and limited accessibility to the inspection region. As the automotive industry looks to integrate laser brazing into the production process, the need to determine the size and geometry of the joint, as well as the presence of any defects, is desirable to ensure product quality and reduce costs. Currently, the use of destructive techniques, such as cross-sectioning, is employed in the inspection process, with the ultimate desire being the shift to non-destructive methods. With this in mind, ultrasonic techniques have been investigated as a possible testing method. Ultrasound techniques have evolved over the decades, starting from a single element and eventually moving to phased array techniques. Recently, the investigation of the full matrix capture method has become popular in the field of ultrasound imaging. This technique, which separates the data acquisition process from the image formation process poses a viable solution to the inspection of laser brazed joints due to the ability to compensate for varying surfaces in post-processing.In this work, we make use of this technique, deriving the image formation process as an inverse problem for an arbitrary set of ultrasonic emitters and receivers. From this, the image formation process becomes equivalent to solving the inhomogeneous Helmholtz equation. By approximating the solutions to such an equation using the ray series expansion, an estimation of the solutions can be found in a time-efficient manner. When these solutions are found, the inverse process can be rewritten as a weighted, time-delayed summation of the acquired ultrasonic data. In current work, further approximations to this image formation process are often made; however, in the inspection of the l…
author: Ouellette, Andrew
language: en_CA
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
date published: 2020-03-12
date modified: 2026-07-27T22:04:50Z
provider: University of Windsor
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Windsor

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14776/9173