Modeling the Interaction of Multibeam/Multimode Ultrasonic Transducers with Fatigue Cracks in Cladded Reactor Pressure Vessels

The integrity of reactor pressure vessels is primarily affected by the presence of fatigue cracks. The novel SLIC transducers which simultaneously use Shear and Longitudinal waves for materialInspection and flaw Characterization have recently been qualified in conjunction with satellite-pulse flight time measurement techniques on over fifty fatigue cracks in cladded test blocks [1], However, a computer modeling capability to aid the ultrasonic examiner in the interpretation of the data was not available during the 1983–84 qualification trials of the multibeam inspection (SLIC) technology [1]