CALCULATION AND PREPARATION OF SPLIT-COMBINED PROBES FOR ULTRASONIC INSPECTION OF LARGE PARTS.

The results are given of investigations of the acoustic fields of split-combined probes made by numerical methods with the use of a specially developed algorithm. By changing the parameters of the split-combined probe (dimensions and position of its piezoelement, angle of slope, height and material of the prisms) it is possible to obtain different relationships of the sensitivity and width of coverage across the depth. It is shown that to evaluate the structure of the acoustic field of a split-combined probe with piezoelements arbitrary in form it is sufficient to calculate the acoustic field of a split-combined probe with appropriately chosen rectangular piezoelements. The theoretical calculations are confirmed by experimental data.