Feasibility study of ultrasonic guided wave inspection of fuel cell plate welds

梅赛德斯-奔驰燃料电池（MBFC）是梅赛德斯-奔驰加拿大公司的一个部门，负责戴姆勒目前燃料电池堆的全球生产。单个燃料电池板由两块薄钢板激光焊接在一起制成。激光焊接工艺用于将两块钢板固定在一起，并密封两块钢板之间的通道。然而，MBFC目前无法以非破坏性方式检查焊缝。本项目的目的是使用超声波技术来表征和评估焊接。该项目将评估从焊缝发射和反射的超声导波能量与其条件（密封、未密封和部分密封）之间的相关性。由于板很薄，需要采用高频，因此需要开发换能器。

Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell (MBFC) is a division of Mercedes-Benz Canada and is responsible for Daimler'sglobal production of current fuel cell stacks. An individual fuel cell plate is made of two thin steel plates laserwelded together. The laser welding process is used to hold the two steel plates together as well as to sealchannels between the plates. However, MBFC is currently unable to inspect the welds in a non-destructivemanner. The aim of this project is to characterize and assess weld using ultrasonic techniques. The proposedproject will evaluate the correlation between the ultrasonic guided wave energy transmitted and reflected froma weld to its condition (sealed, unsealed, and partially sealed). As the plates are thin, high frequency will needto be employed and therefore transducers will need to be developed.