Prototype of Programmable High Voltage Pulse Generator for Simulator NDT based on Ultrasound Wave

The inspection of the railroad, besides by visually inspection, is done by non-destructive tests (NDT), It is used to evaluate the internal conditions of the railroad tracks which utilize ultrasonic waves (US). The basic of US NDT system consists of High Voltage (HV) pulse generator, an ultrasonic transducer, high speed ADC and digital signal processing. To support education and training for engineering student for US NDT, affordable programmable HV pulse generator is designed and implemented. The pulse generator consists of DC-DC boost converter, programmable pulse width and duty cycle period using microcontroller and switching circuit. First, LTSpice is used for design and evaluation of electronic circuit pulse generator. Then, for testing the implemented system, HV pulse generator is performed. The pulse has an average output voltage around 178.08 V, rise time 108.33 ns, and decay time 3200 ns could be generated for 4 MHz US transducer. In the experiment test, the NDT using our proposed HV pulse generator could be used as NDT simulator for modelling of railway defects.