IS THERE REALLY ANY VALUE TO MULTIPLE ANGLE MANUAL INSPECTION?

Phased array technology has crept into a wide range of traditional ultrasonic applications. Recent advances in battery powered computers, displays, and a low power consumption component has allowed increasingly smaller ultrasonic testing equipment to be built. GE Inspection Technologies explores the Physics behind an increase in probability of detection when single angle manual ultrasonic inspections are replaced by multiple angle inspection techniques. Choice of angle for any inspection includes assumptions about the orientation of defects. Multiple angle inspection with manual Phased Array has been claimed to minimize missed defects as their orientation to the beam becomes more oblique. An exploration of the science behind these claims is made. The addition of real time imaging on battery powered field portable equipment supplies the user an understandable representation of the multi angle result. But: is there any real increase in probability of detection (POD)?