Microcontroller based Control System for Ultrasound NDT in Wood

AbstractThis work presents a microcontrolled system for transmission, acquisition and processing of ultrasound signals developed for the nondestructive testing (NDT) of wood samples. The developed system is able to generate high amplitude pulses (up to 500 Vpp) to excite an ultrasonic transducer and, after the ultrasound waves have propagated through the wood sample, the signal is received, amplified and then acquired using the microcontroller. The system was implemented with the TMDXDOCKH52C1 Concerto Experimenter Kit - F28M35H52C1 microcontroller (Texas Instruments) and a pair of ultrasound transducers (GE 67038, 50kHz central frequency). Tests showed that the developed prototype meets the NDT application requirements. The data provided by the system can be used to determine the velocity, attenuation and other parameters of the ultrasound waves in wood samples for material characterization