Progress in the development and demonstration of a 2D-matrix phased array ultrasonic probe for under-sodium viewing

Optically opaque liquid sodium used in liquid metal fast reactors poses a unique set of challenges for nondestructive evaluation. The opaque nature of the sodium prevents visual examinations of components within this medium, but ultrasonic waves are able to propagate through sodium so an ultrasonic testing (UT) technique can be applied for imaging objects in sodium. A UT sensor used in liquid sodium during a refueling outage must be capable of withstanding the 260°C corrosive environment and must also be able to wet (couple the ultrasonic waves) so that sound can propagate into the sodium. A multi-year iterative design effort, based on earlier work in the 1970s, has set out to improve the design and fabrication processes needed for a UT sensor technology capable of overcoming the temperature and wetting issues associated with this environment. Robust materials and improved fabrication processes have resulted in single-element sensors and two different linear-array sensors that have functioned in liquid sodium. More recent efforts have been focused on improving signal-to-noise ratio and image resolution in the highly attenuating liquid sodium. In order to accomplish this, modeling and simulation tools were used to design a 60-element 2D phased-array sensor operating at 2 MHz that features a separate transmitter and receiver. This design consists of 30 transmit elements and another 30 receive elements, each arranged in a rectangular matrix pattern that is 10 rows tall and 3 wide. The fabrication of this 2D array is currently underway and will be followed by a series of performance tests in water, hot oil, and finally in liquid sodium at 260°C. The performance testing cycle will evaluate multiple characteristics of the sensor that are crucial to performance including: transmit-uniformity, element sensitivity variations, element-to-element energy leakage, sound field dimensions, and spatial resolution. This paper will present a summary of results from the previous UT sensors as well as the results to date on the 2D phased-array sensor fabrication and evaluation.