P-scan 3D / UltraSIM - History

Research within the area of ultrasonic inspection of objects with complex geometry started at the FORCE Technology more than ten years ago with the development of the first version of the 3D ultrasonic simulation software, UltraSIM. For gaining practical knowledge about design of robot manipulators for NDE of complex geometry objects, a small 5-axis articulated robot was designed and manufactured.

Since the FORCE Technology developed this 3D inspection system, it has been continuously developed and the UltraSIM concept is now available in the widely used 3D robot simulation system ROBCAD as a number of individual modules, e.g. simulation of ultrasound propagation, transducer/robot path generation, ultrasonic data 3D reconstruction, real-time on-line robot control, etc. In addition, a 6-axis articulated robot has been designed and manufactured as one of the main components of the inspection system.The control system for the robot has been integrated closely with the advanced P-scan System 4, ultrasonic inspection system, enabling a fully portable and flexible 3D inspection system. The complete system has been successfully used for field inspection of several nozzle welds of various size in nuclear environments.