Three-dimensional ultrasonic imaging employing a time-domain synthetic aperture focusing technique

An ultrasonic nondestructive testing (NDT) imaging system is presented. The algorithm uses a synthetic aperture focusing technique to generate three-dimensional (3-D) images of hidden flaws in aluminum samples. The graphics software, developed in the C programming language, is capable of displaying 3-D images on the screen of a personal computer. Image zooming allows the inspection of localized areas. A 80386-based host computer is used to speed up the algorithmic computations and to improve the overall system speed. The generated images are of high definition, thus demonstrating the success of such a PC-based system.<
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