Synthetic aperture probe and ultrasonic testing

Application of synthetic aperture probes to ultrasonic testing is discussed using as an illustration the dry-contact between two metal surfaces. Synthetic aperture concept uses the motion of the realistic probe over a target region to provide finer spatial resolution than conventional realistic transducer. Typically, the larger the aperture, the higher the image resolution is. We compared results, obtained applying synthetic aperture procedure to standard spherically focused probe with goal to synthesize the large aperture, and results, obtained using novel cylindrically focused transducer with real large aperture. Obtained experimental results confirmed efficiency of synthetic aperture concept in time domain and frequency domain.