The ultrasonic inspection system was built upon exist-
ing technology by performing research and development
in the area of powder metallurgy parts inspection
[11,13,14]. However, a new approach based on ultrasound
testing has been used for obtaining internal density maps
in sintered parts (end product).
Ultrasonic technology has proven to be a proper tool for
non-destructive evaluation, since it has been used for flaw
and corrosion detection, thickness gauging, and examina-
tion of welds and material analysis in several industries.
In addition, many commercially available flaw detectors
exist that are capable of detecting and characterizing the
hidden internal defects in engineering materials such as
metals, plastics and composites.
In comparison with X-ray, ultrasound is intrinsically
safe, non-destructive and non-ionizing radiation. More-
over, ultrasonic systems can be left running unattended
for long periods of time having particularly low running
costs.
The inspection system mainly consists of three ele-
ments, as depicted in Fig. 1. The heart of the system is