METHOD FOR CONTACTING AN ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER; ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER COMPONENT WITH CONTACTED ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER FOR USE IN AN ULTRASONIC TEST PROBE; ULTRASONIC TEST PROBE AND DEVICE FOR THE NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING OF A TEST OBJECT BY ULTRASOUND

摘要

The invention relates to a method for contacting an ultrasonic transducer (10; 10'; 10") for the non-destructive testing of a test object with a great material thickness by means of ultrasound. In this case, an ultrasonic transducer (10; 10'; 10") is provided that is divided into a plurality of individually activatable transducer segments (11; 11'; 11"; 11"'), wherein these transducer segments (11; 11'; 11"; 11'") are formed as concentric circles or rings, or sections thereof, and several groups of transducer segments (11; 11'; 11"; 11'") can be selectively chosen in such a way that a parallel activation of these transducer segments (11; 11'; 11"; 11'") in each case results in a circular active surface of the ultrasonic transducer (10; 10'; 10"). Furthermore, a printed circuit board (20) is provided on which several conductor paths run (21) that respectively extend between two sides (22; 23) of the printed circuit board (21). In order to form a damping body, the printed circuit board (21) is inserted into this damping body (40) in such a way that first conductor path (21) ends (24; 24',..., 24ⁿ) are exposed on one side (22) of the damping body (40), while associated second ends (25; 25',..., 25ⁿ) are exposed on the other side (23) of the damping body (40). Thus, the ultrasonic transducer (10; 10'; 10") can be connected to the damping body (40) in an orientation in which the printed circuit board (20) extends at an angle α to the ultrasonic transducer (10; 10'; 10") surface to be contacted, which is unequal to 0°, and at least a part of the first conductor path (21) ends (24; 24',...,24ⁿ) is contacted to the transducer segments (11; 11'; 11"; 11"') of the ultrasonic transducer (10; 10'; 10"), and at least a part of the second ends (25; 25',...,25ⁿ) is contacted to means for activating the ultrasonic transducer (10; 10'; 10") via the contacted conductor paths (21).