Ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation with spatial combination of Wigner–Ville Transforms

Abstract This paper introduces a novel ultrasonic signal combination technique to be applied in detection systems based on multiple transducers. The technique uses a spatial combination approach that considers the specimen inspection from several apertures located in different planes. Information received from transducers is fused in a common integrated pattern with a signal to noise ratio (SNR) improvement. The result of the combination is a high quality image of the inspected material obtained from simple A-scans. The method is based on digital signal processing techniques, more concretely time–frequency analysis. Combination is performed by means of the Wigner–Ville Transform preserving temporal and frequencial information. Temporal techniques for combination are presented and the results obtained from both techniques are compared using the SNR.