5/22/2016

IntroductiontoUltrasonicTesting

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BasicPrinciplesofUltrasonicTesting

Introductionto
UltrasonicTesting

UltrasonicTesting(UT)useshighfrequencysoundenergytoconduct
examinationsandmakemeasurements.Ultrasonicinspectioncanbeused
forflawdetection/evaluation,dimensionalmeasurements,material
characterization,andmore.Toillustratethegeneralinspectionprinciple,a
typicalpulse/echoinspectionconfigurationasillustratedbelowwillbeused.

Introduction
BasicPrinciples
History
PresentState
FutureDirection

AtypicalUTinspectionsystemconsistsofseveralfunctionalunits,suchas
thepulser/receiver,transducer,anddisplaydevices.Apulser/receiverisan
electronicdevicethatcanproducehighvoltageelectricalpulses.Drivenby
thepulser,thetransducergenerateshighfrequencyultrasonicenergy.The
soundenergyisintroducedandpropagatesthroughthematerialsintheform
ofwaves.Whenthereisadiscontinuity(suchasacrack)inthewavepath,
partoftheenergywillbereflectedbackfromtheflawsurface.Thereflected
wavesignalistransformedintoanelectricalsignalbythetransducerandis
displayedonascreen.Intheappletbelow,thereflectedsignalstrengthis
displayedversusthetimefromsignalgenerationtowhenaechowas
received.Signaltraveltimecanbedirectlyrelatedtothedistancethatthe
signaltraveled.Fromthesignal,informationaboutthereflectorlocation,size,
orientationandotherfeaturescansometimesbegained.

PhysicsofUltrasound
WavePropagation
ModesofSoundWaves
PropertiesofPlane
Waves
Wavelength/Flaw
Detection
ElasticPropertiesof
Solids
Attenuation
AcousticImpedance
Reflection/Transmission
Refraction&Snell's
Law
ModeConversion
SignaltonoiseRatio
WaveInterference

Equipment&
Transducers
Piezoelectric
Transducers
CharacteristicsofPT
RadiatedFields
TransducerBeam
Spread
TransducerTypes
TransducerTestingI
TransducerTestingII
TransducerModeling
Couplant
EMATs
PulserReceivers
ToneBurstGenerators
FunctionGenerators
ImpedanceMatching
DataPresentation
UltrasonicInspectionisaveryusefulandversatileNDTmethod.Someofthe ErrorAnalysis
advantagesofultrasonicinspectionthatareoftencitedinclude:
Measurement
Techniques
Itissensitivetobothsurfaceandsubsurfacediscontinuities.
Thedepthofpenetrationforflawdetectionormeasurementissuperior NormalBeam
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5/22/2016

IntroductiontoUltrasonicTesting

tootherNDTmethods.
Onlysinglesidedaccessisneededwhenthepulseechotechniqueis
used.
Itishighlyaccurateindeterminingreflectorpositionandestimatingsize
andshape.
Minimalpartpreparationisrequired.
Electronicequipmentprovidesinstantaneousresults.
Detailedimagescanbeproducedwithautomatedsystems.
Ithasotheruses,suchasthicknessmeasurement,inadditiontoflaw
detection.

Inspection
AngleBeamsI
AngleBeamsII
CrackTipDiffraction
AutomatedScanning
VelocityMeasurements
MeasuringAttenuation
SpreadSpectrum
SignalProcessing
FlawReconstruction

AswithallNDTmethods,ultrasonicinspectionalsohasitslimitations,which CalibrationMethods
include:
CalibrationMethods
DACCurves
Surfacemustbeaccessibletotransmitultrasound.
CurvatureCorrection
Skillandtrainingismoreextensivethanwithsomeothermethods.
ThompsonGrayModel
Itnormallyrequiresacouplingmediumtopromotethetransferofsound UTSIM
energyintothetestspecimen.
GrainNoiseModeling
Materialsthatarerough,irregularinshape,verysmall,exceptionally
References/Standards
thinornothomogeneousaredifficulttoinspect.
Castironandothercoarsegrainedmaterialsaredifficulttoinspectdue SelectedApplications
tolowsoundtransmissionandhighsignalnoise.
RailInspection
Lineardefectsorientedparalleltothesoundbeammaygoundetected. Weldments
Referencestandardsarerequiredforbothequipmentcalibrationand
ReferenceMaterial
thecharacterizationofflaws.
UTMaterialProperties
TheaboveintroductionprovidesasimplifiedintroductiontotheNDTmethod References
ofultrasonictesting.However,toeffectivelyperformaninspectionusing
ultrasonics,muchmoreaboutthemethodneedstobeknown.Thefollowing Quizzes
pagespresentinformationonthescienceinvolvedinultrasonicinspection,
theequipmentthatiscommonlyused,someofthemeasurementtechniques
used,aswellasotherinformation.

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authorsandnotnecessarilythoseoftheNationalScienceFoundation.

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