Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
125 words
A method of testing a welded joint comprising base metal and a weld bonded to said base metal at an interface, said method comprising the steps of causing an ultrasonic sound beam to be incident on said interface at an oblique angle to said joint, receiving echoes generated by reflectors in said joint in response to said beam, and deriving information regarding the size and nature of such reflectors from the amplitude of said echoes, the improvement residing in that the frequency of said sound beam is below an upper frequency limit at which sound has in said base material a wavelength which equals the largest peak-to-valley distance of said interface in any area thereof on which said sound beam is incident at a time.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
125 words
A method of testing a welded joint comprising base metal and a weld bonded to said base metal at an interface, said method comprising the steps of causing an ultrasonic sound beam to be incident on said interface at an oblique angle to said joint, receiving echoes generated by reflectors in said joint in response to said beam, and deriving information regarding the size and nature of such reflectors from the amplitude of said echoes, the improvement residing in that the frequency of said sound beam is below an upper frequency limit at which sound has in said base material a wavelength which equals the largest peak-to-valley distance of said interface in any area thereof on which said sound beam is incident at a time.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
19 words
The improvement set forth in claim 1 when applied to a welded joint which said joint comprises austenitic steel.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
22 words
The improvement set forth in claim 1 in a method in which said ultrasonic sound beam is constituted by longitudinal sound waves.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
The improvement set forth in claim 1, in which the frequency of said sound is lower than one-half of said upper frequency limit.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
128 words
In a seam weld comprising base metal and a weld bonded to said base metal at an interface, said seam weld being adapted to be tested by a method comprising the steps of causing an ultrasonic sound beam at a conventional frequency below a predetermined upper frequency limit, to be incident on said interface at an oblique angle to said joint in response to said beam, and deriving information regarding the size and nature of such reflectors from the amplitude of said echoes, the improvement residing in that the largest peak-to-valley distance of said interface in any area thereof on which said sound beam is incident at a time is not in excess of the wavelength of sound in said base material at said predetermined upper frequency limit.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
128 words
In a seam weld comprising base metal and a weld bonded to said base metal at an interface, said seam weld being adapted to be tested by a method comprising the steps of causing an ultrasonic sound beam at a conventional frequency below a predetermined upper frequency limit, to be incident on said interface at an oblique angle to said joint in response to said beam, and deriving information regarding the size and nature of such reflectors from the amplitude of said echoes, the improvement residing in that the largest peak-to-valley distance of said interface in any area thereof on which said sound beam is incident at a time is not in excess of the wavelength of sound in said base material at said predetermined upper frequency limit.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
147 words
In a method of making and testing a welded joint comprising base metal and a weld bonded to said base metal at an interface, wherein an ultrasonic sound beam is caused to be incident on said interface at an oblique angle to said joint, echoes generated by reflectors in said joint in response to said beam are received, and information regarding the size and nature of such reflectors is derived from the amplitude of said echoes, the improvement residing in that said interface is formed to have in any area thereof on which said sound beam is incident at a time a peak-to-valley distance which is not in excess of a predetermined maximum and the frequency of said sound beam is below an upper frequency limit at which sound has in said base material a wavelength which is not in excess of said predetermined maximum peak-to-valley distance.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
147 words
In a method of making and testing a welded joint comprising base metal and a weld bonded to said base metal at an interface, wherein an ultrasonic sound beam is caused to be incident on said interface at an oblique angle to said joint, echoes generated by reflectors in said joint in response to said beam are received, and information regarding the size and nature of such reflectors is derived from the amplitude of said echoes, the improvement residing in that said interface is formed to have in any area thereof on which said sound beam is incident at a time a peak-to-valley distance which is not in excess of a predetermined maximum and the frequency of said sound beam is below an upper frequency limit at which sound has in said base material a wavelength which is not in excess of said predetermined maximum peak-to-valley distance.