Phase-Based Ultrasonic Inspection Using Compressed A-Scan Signals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Capturing time-series A-scan data for phased-array ultrasound testing (PAUT) or Total Focusing Method (TFM) applications generates considerable volumes of data, which is cumbersome to transfer, store, and limits the count of transducer elements used for acoustic testing.
Innovation Solution
A phase-based approach using binarization or quantization techniques to compress time-series signal data, allowing for the generation and reconstruction of instantaneous phase signals without requiring amplitude information, facilitating simplified acoustic transceiver configurations and higher channel counts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If full amplitude and time resolution A-scan data is captured for PAUT or TFM applications, then measurement precision and image quality are improved, but data volume increases significantly making transfer and storage cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the phase information from the full A-scan data while discarding the amplitude information. By taking out only the necessary phase components and representing them as temporal data indicative of edge transitions, the system reduces data volume significantly while maintaining sufficient information for image reconstruction and inspection purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a compressed representation or copy of the phase information from the original A-scan data. This phase-based representation serves as a simplified copy that contains the essential temporal transition information needed for reconstruction, eliminating the need to store and transmit the full original amplitude-time data.
2Measurement precision
If full amplitude and time resolution data is captured, then inspection accuracy is improved, but device complexity and data transfer requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the temporal transition information from the full A-scan data, removing the complex amplitude components. This extraction reduces the data transfer burden and simplifies device requirements while preserving the time resolution necessary for accurate inspection through the temporal edge transition data.
3Measurement precision
If higher channel counts are used to improve spatial resolution, then inspection quality is improved, but data volume and transfer requirements increase proportionally
Solution Approach 1:
By extracting only phase information and representing it as temporal edge transition data, the patent enables the use of higher channel counts for improved spatial resolution without the proportional increase in data volume that would occur with full A-scan data from each channel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the data representation parameter from full amplitude-time data to phase-only temporal transition data. This parameter change allows the system to handle higher channel counts efficiently, as each channel contributes only phase information rather than complete waveform data.
Data Source
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AI summary
A phase-based approach can be used for one or more of acquisition, storage, or subsequent analysis, e.g., A-scan reconstruction or Total Focusing Method imaging, in support of acoustic inspection. For example, binarization or other quantization technique can be used to compress a data volume associated with time-series signal acquisition. A representation of phase information from the time-series signal can be generated, such as by processing the binarized or otherwise quantized time-series signal. Using the representation of the phase information, a phase summation technique can be used to perform one or more of A-scan reconstruction, such as for pulse-echo A-scan inspection, or a TFM imaging technique can be used, as illustrative examples. In such a phase summation approach, time-series representations of phase data can be summed, such as where each time-series can be delayed (or phase rotated) by an appropriate delay value and then aggregated.