Probe (Search Unit) — Definition & NDT Use

On the job, Probe sits between the procedure and the indication — its calibration record, serial number, and condition all flow into the inspection report and the audit trail. A piezoelectric element converts the electrical pulse into a mechanical wave at the chosen frequency, transmits it into the part through couplant, and then converts the returning echo back into a voltage that the flaw detector digitises and displays on the screen. Frequency selection is a deliberate trade-off: higher MHz buys resolution and small-flaw sensitivity but loses penetration in coarse-grained or attenuative material, while lower MHz reaches deeper at the cost of resolution. The magnetising current creates a field that runs continuous through the part; at a discontinuity the lines of flux squeeze around the gap and break the surface as a leakage field, where dry powder or wet-suspension particles cluster and outline the flaw to the inspector's eye. As the alternating coil approaches the conductive surface it drives circulating eddy currents; any change in the part — a crack, a thickness change, a permeability shift — perturbs those currents and registers as a phase-and-amplitude shift on the impedance plane. Calibration certificates, condition logs, and traceable serial numbers are what make the difference between an instrument that shows a number and an instrument whose number stands up in court or in front of an auditor.

The instrument's inspection scope is set by its OEM specification, its current calibration certificate, and any customer-specific qualifications that have been logged against it; a Probe that is in calibration but unqualified for a customer's procedure is still off the job.

A frequent finding in audits is a probe marked "in-cal" on the spreadsheet but with a current condition (damaged cable, missing cap) that would have invalidated the calibration if checked physically.