ultrasound testing

All through the late 1980s and 1990s, ultrasound was literally the all-purpose tool. Vibration and infrared (IR) were too expensive for most organizations to afford. Yet, you could purchase an infrared thermometer gun for $100 and an ultrasound instrument kit for between $750 and $7,000 and perform a multitude of applications on motor bearings, gear boxes, pumps for cavitation, leak detection (pressure/vacuum), steam traps and acoustic lubrication (introduced in early 1990s). You could hook up an ultrasound instrument to a vibration analyzer and utilize the contact or magnetic sensor on bearings to easily detect an outer race defect, sometimes missed by earlier vibration boxes unable to go above 20,000 Hz. Into the mid-1990s, ultrasound inspectors added electrical switchgear and substation inspection for arcing, tracking and corona discharge. A new era of ultrasound inspection had begun, dealing with SAFETY.