A practical approach to build an ultrasonic immersion test setup

Ultrasonic evaluation enables nondestructive defect detection and material characterization in situ and ex situ. Contact ultrasound is used for field inspections due to its portability, although it lacks resolution. Immersion testing offers higher resolution: however, these systems are more expensive and tend to be bulky. The need to balance higher resolution with portability and accessibility presents a significant gap for field testing and academic research. Our project introduces an economical and practical immersion setup. We modified a commercial 3D printer kit by incorporating plexiglass into the aluminum rails and sealing it with silicone paste to ensure watertight integrity. The original servo motors from the printer were repurposed to maneuver a custom transducer holder for precise transducer movement control. This setup achieved a resolution of 500 µm in step size for pulse-echo data collection. Constructed for about $2000 in less than a couple of days, this system exemplifies frugal engineering by delivering ultrasonic evaluations at a fraction of the cost and complexity of conventional systems. This portable setup can serve as an additional step for on-field inspections, providing greater resolution. Beyond industrial applications, it holds potential for enhancing ultrasonic education and workforce development in NDE.