Ultrasonics

Fundamentals
Applications

Simple Harmonic Wave

u

t = t1

c
t2

u0

t3
x

-u0

x
u ( x, t ) = u0 cos[ (t ) + ]
c
u
u0
= 2 f
f

displacement
denotes the amplitude
is the angular frequency
is the cyclic frequency
is the phase angle at x = t = 0
denotes the propagation (phase) velocity

u ( x, t ) = U 0 e i ( k x t )
is a complex amplitude
U0
k = 2 / is the wave number

is the wavelength

u = u0 e x cos(k x t )

is an attenuation coefficient

Standing Wave
u = u0 cos(k x + t ) + u0 cos (k x t )

= 2 u0 cos (k x ) cos ( t )

Successive instants of standing wave vibration in a specimen.

u
2u 0

t = t1

antinode

t2

node

t3

-2u0

A node is a point, line, or surface of a vibrating body that is free from vibratory motion.

Arbitrary Pulse and Harmonic Wave Packet

c

f(x-ct)

f ( x - c [ t + dt ] )

u
c

f(x-ct)
cos [ k ( x - c t ) ]

Pulse of arbitrary shape

u = f (x c t )

Oscillatory wave packet

u = f ( x c t )cos[k ( x c t )]

Fundamental Wave Modes

Longitudinal Wave:

wave
direction

Shear Wave:

wave
direction

Surface Wave:

wave
direction

Acoustic Wave Interaction with Material

Discontinuities
Incident Wave

Reflection

1, c1
2, c2

Transmission

Incident Wave

Reflection
i

Liquid
Solid
d
s

Incident Wave

Longitudinal
Transmission

Shear
Transmission

Reflection
i

Edge Diffraction

Longitudinal Wave Propagation in Thin Rods

u

dx

+
x dx

dx

Equation of motion:

2u

2u
=
( +
or
dx ) A A = Adx
x
x
t 2
t 2
where A is the cross-sectional area and is the mass density.
Constitutive equation:
= E
where is the axial strain in the material and E denotes Young's modulus.
Displacement-strain relationship:

u
x

Wave equation:
E

2u = 2u
x 2
t 2

or

2u
1 2u
=
,
2
2
x 2

t
c rod

where

crod =

Solution of the Wave Equation

1 2u
2u
=
c2 t 2
x 2
where c is the wave velocity:
velocity =

stiffness
density

Propagating harmonic wave represents a solution of the wave equation:

x
u ( x, t ) = u0 cos[ (t ) + ]
c
Arbitrary wave pulse of the general form u ( x, t ) = f (t

x
)
c

equation:

x
2
u( x, t ) = f ''(t )
c
t 2
x
2
1
u ( x, t ) =
f ''(t )
c
c2
x 2

also satisfies the wave

Dilatational Modes
velocity =

stiffness
density

Thin Rods:

x = E x , y = z = 0

crod =

wave
direction

Thin plates:

x =

c plate =

E
x ,
1 2

E
=
(1 2 )

crod
1 2

y = z = 0

1.05 crod (for = 0.3)

Infinite Medium:

x =

cd =

E (1 )
x ,
(1 + ) (1 2 )

y = z = 0

(1 )
E (1 )
= crod
1.16 crod
(1 + ) (1 2 )
(1 + ) (1 2 )

Transverse (Shear) Waves

longitudinal
(dilatational, compressional)

transverse
(shear)

y
y

-x

yx
- xy

-yx

- y

xy

ux

xy = xy ,

xy =

2u y

1 2u y
=
x 2
c 2s t 2
cs =

cd
=
cs

22
1 2

uy
x

uy

Acoustic Impedance
The relationship between stress , displacement u, and particle velocity v for a
propagating wave is of interest. As an example, let us consider a dilatational wave
propagating in an infinite elastic medium:

u x ( x, t ) = Aei (k x t )

v x ( x, t ) =

ux
= i Aei (k x t )
t

x = C xx

ux
= C xx Ai k ei (kx t )
x

The ratio of the pressure (or negative stress) to the particle velocity is called the acoustic
impedance. For a dilatational wave propagating in the positive direction,

cd2 Ai k ei ( kx t )

x
=
= cd
Zd =
vx
i Aei ( k x t )

The product of density and wave velocity occurs repeatedly in acoustics and ultrasonics and
is called the characteristic acoustic impedance (for a plane wave). It is the impedance that
acoustically differentiates materials, in addition to the moduli and density.

Densities, Acoustic Velocities and Acoustic

Impedances of Some Materials
Material

Density,
[103 kg/m3]

Acoustic velocities
[103 m/s]

Acoustic
impedance
[106 kg/m2s]

long. cd

shear cs

Zd

2.7
7.85
8.9
8.55
8.9
19.3

6.32
5.90
4.7
3.83
5.63
5.46

3.08
3.23
2.26
2.05
2.96
2.62

17
46.5
42
33
50
105

1.25
3.8
2.5
1.18
1.05
2.2
1.4
2.2

2.6
10
5.66
2.73
2.67
5.93
2.3
1.35

1.1

3.3
38
14
3.2
2.8
13
3.2
3.0

1.26
1.0

1.92
1.483

Metals
Aluminum
Iron (steel)
Copper
Brass
Nickel
Tungsten
Nonmetals
Araldit Resin
Aluminum oxide
Glass, crown
Perspex (Plexiglas)
Polystyrene
Fused Quartz
Rubber, vulcanized
Teflon

3.42
1.43
3.75

Liquids
Glycerine
Water (at 20oC)

2.4
1.5

Reflection and Transmission

at Normal Incidence
Incident Wave

Reflection

1 , c1
2, c2
Transmission

ui = Ai cos(k1 x t )
ur = Ar cos( k1 x t )
ut = At cos(k2 x t )

Boundary conditions:
interface

the displacements and stresses must be the continuous at the

ui + ur = ut

and

i + r = t

c 2 c2
Rd = Ar = 1 1
1 c1 + 2 c2
Ai

and

Td =

At
21 c1
=
Ai
1 c1 + 2 c2

r
c 1 c1
= 2 2
1 c1 + 2 c2
i

and

Ts =

t
2 2 c2
=
1 c1 + 2 c2
i

Rs =

where R and T are known as the reflection and transmission coefficients. It is seen that
these results are in terms of the respective acoustic impedances of the materials.

Example
reflected and transmitted (stress) amplitudes
pi

steel

water
pt

pr

water
pi

steel
pt

pr

Conservation of energy: the time rate of energy flow per unit area (i. e., intensity)
I = pv = v

I r + It = Ii

Rd Rs + Td Ts =

Z1 Z 2 Z1 Z 2
2 Z1
2 Z2
+
=1
Z1 + Z 2 Z1 + Z 2
Z1 + Z 2 Z1 + Z 2

Free surface ( Z 2 0 ):
Rd = 1 , Rs = 1 , Td = 2 , Ts = 0
Rigidly clamped surface ( Z 2 ):
Rd = 1 , Rs = 1 , Td = 0 , Ts = 2

Reflection and Transmission

at Oblique Incidence
Mode Conversion

y
s1

di

Rs
d1

Id
solid 1

Is

s1

Rs
d1

Rd
z

solid 2

si

solid 1

Rd
z

solid 2

s2

s2

d2

Boundary conditions:

Td
Ts

d2

Td
Ts

the displacements ( u y and u z ) and stresses ( yy and yz )

must be the continuous at the interface

Snell's Law:

sin di
sin si
sin d 1
sin s1
sin d 2
sin s2
=
=
=
=
=
cd 1
cs1
cd 1
cs1
cd 2
cs 2

General Solution
Constitutive equations:
yy =

u y
u z
+ ( + 2 )
z
y

yz = (

u y
z

u z
)
y

where 1 = 1 cs21, 1 + 2 1 = 1 cd21, 2 = 2 cs22 , and 2 + 2 2 = 2 cd2 2 .

Boundary conditions:
u (2)
y
u (2)
z
(2)
yy
(2)
zy

u (1)
y

0
(1)

uz
= 0

0
(1)
yy
0

(1)
zy
a11 a12
a
a
21 22
a31 a32
a
41 a42

or

u ( d 1) + u ( d 2) u ( s1) + u ( s2)
u (i )
y
y
y
y

y
u ( d 1) + u ( d 2) u ( s1) + u ( s2)
u (i )
z
z
z
z

= z
( d 1) + ( d 2) ( s1) + ( s2)
(i )
yy
yy
yy
yy

yy
( d 1) + ( d 2) ( s1) + ( s 2)
( i )
zy
zy
zy
zy
zy

a14
a23 a24

a33 a34
a43 a44
a13

Rd
b1
T
b
d = 2
Rs
b3
T

s
b4

or

c1
c
2
c3

c4

depending on whether longitudinal or shear wave incidence is considered. aij, bi, and ci
can be easily calculated from simple geometrical considerations.
Rd =

det[ a (1) ]
det[ a (2) ]
det[ a (3) ]
det[a (4) ]
, Td =
, Rs =
, Ts =
det[a]
det[a]
det[a]
det[a]

where a (i ) is the matrix obtained by replacing the ith column of a by either b or c

vectors depending on whether longitudinal or shear incidence is used.

Energy Reflection and Transmission Coefficients

aluminum immersed in water

Energy Reflection & Transmission

1
0.8

reflection

0.6
longitudinal
transmission

0.4

shear transmission

0.2
0
0

10

15

20

25

30

Angle of Incidence [deg]

steel immersed in water

Energy Reflection & Transmission

1
0.8

reflection

0.6
0.4
shear transmission

longitudinal
transmission

0.2
0
0

10

15

20

Angle of Incidence [deg]

25

30

Wave Dispersion
Dispersion means that the propagation velocity is frequency-dependent. Since the phase
relation between the spectral components of a broadband signal varies with distance, the
pulse-shape gets distorted and generally widens as the propagation length increases.

input pulse

c
>0

c
=0

c
<0

Group Velocity
dispersive wave propagation of a relatively narrow band tone-bursts
phase velocity versus group velocity

phase
velocity

group
velocity

Beating Between Two Harmonic Signals

u1 = cos( 1 t )

u2 = cos(2 t )

+ 2
2
u1 + u2 = cos( 1 t ) + cos( 2 t ) = 2 cos( 1
t ) cos( 1
t)
2
2

u ( x, t ) = cos(kx t ) + cos[( k + k ) x ( + ) t ]
k

2 cos(k x t ) cos(
x
t)
2
2
where the first high-frequency term is called carrier wave and the second low-frequency
term is the modulation envelope. This shows that the propagation velocity of the carrier is
the phase velocity and the propagation velocity of the modulation envelope is the group
velocity

cg =
= c + k
c =
k
k
k

Material versus Geometrical Dispersion

Velocity [km/s]

2.8

polyethylene
group

2.7

phase

2.6
0

10

Frequency [MHz]

lowest-order symmetric Lamb mode in a 1-mm-thick aluminum plate

6
Velocity [km/s]

phase

2
group

0
0

Frequency [MHz]

Ultrasonic Transducers for NDE

Typical Acoustic Transducer

Typical Ultrasonic Transducer

<

Zt Z 0

Zt >> Z 0

p, ,

Electro- MechanicalMechanical Acoustical

Transformer Transformer

ElectroAcoustic
Transformer

Bandwidth, Pulse Length, and

Axial Resolution
Spectrum [dB]

Amplitude [a. u.]

20

15
10
5
0
0

10

15

20

t1

Spectrum [dB]

Amplitude [a. u.]

20

t2

15

6 dB

10

f1

f2

5
0

10

15

20

5
10
15
Frequency [MHz]

20

Spectrum [dB]

Amplitude [a. u.]

20

2
Time [s]

15
10

Half-Power Bandwidth (-6 dB in pulse-echo mode)

Center Frequency
Half-Power Pulse Length (50% in pulse-echo mode)
Axial Resolution

5
0

B = f2 f1
fc = 12 ( f2 + f1 )
= t2 t1 1 / B
= 12 c

Radiation Pattern
Circular Piston Radiator

broadband (single cycle)

narrow-band (five cycles)

Normalized Radius, r/a

2
-10dB contour
1
-10 dB

0
-1

far-field

near-field
-2
0

2
3
Normalized Distance, z/N
a2
N =

Directivity Pattern
Far-Field Radiation:
p(r, ) = p0

ei k r
D(, kr )
r

Circular Piston Radiator in Fluid (Frequency-Dependent)

30o

15o

0o

15o

30o

45o

45o

60o

60o

75o

75o

90o

a / = 0.6

30o
45

15o

0o

15o

30o
45o

60o

60o

75o
90o

90o

75o

a / = 1.5

90o

Piezoelectricity
Quartz (silicon dioxide, SiO2)

+ + + + + + +

- - - - - - -

+
Si

Si

Si

+ + + + + + +

- - - - - - -

= F
A

Coupled Constitutive Equations:

S
D
=
e

e
K E

E
S

Typical Transducer Design

connector

housing

electrical
network

backing
electrical lead

piezoelectric
disk
matching layer &
wear plate

electrodes

Piezoelectric materials:
Material
Quartz (SiO2)
Lead Zirconate Titanate, PZT (Pb(Zr,Ti)O3)*
Barium Titanate (BaTiO3)*
Polyvinylidene Flouride (PVF2)*
*ferroelectric

Hr

4.5
2,000
1,200
12

k
0.1
0.7
0.5
0.14

Z / Zw
10.5
20
20
2.7

Q
106
500
500
25

Main Types of
Piezoelectric Transducers

immersion

contact

angle-beam

array

air-borne

coupling (boundary)

matching (impedance)

damping (backing)

steering (rotation)

focusing (geometric)

Specifics:

Immersion Transducers
water
transducer
specimen

compressional
wave
shear or longitudinal
wave
immersion tank

coupling

matching

damping

steering

focusing

Impulse and Transfer Functions

fc 5 MHz, B 116
. MHz (23 %), = Pa / P0 55 %

Amplitude [a. u.]

Insertion Loss [dB]

0
-10
-20
-30
-40

Time [1 s/div]

10

Frequency [MHz]

fc 9.2 MHz, B 9 MHz (98 %), = Pa / P0 12 %

Amplitude [a. u.]

Insertion Loss [dB]

0
-10
-20
-30
-40

Time [1 s/div]

10

15

Frequency [MHz]

20

Contact Transducers
transducer

couplant

Reflection Coefficient

specimen

1
steel

0.8
0.6

air gap

water-filled
gap

0.4
0.2
0
10-10

10-8
10-6
10-4
10-2
Frequency x Thickness [MHz mm]

R d / 0 , where = Z0 / Z1 Z1 / Z0

coupling

matching

damping

steering

focusing

10 0

Angle-Beam Transducers
i

transducer

wedge

couplant

s
sin s
cs
=
sin i
ci
Plexiglas/Aluminum, longitudinal-to-shear transmission

Energy Transmissio

specimen

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

"slip" boundary

"rigid" boundary

30

40

50

60

70

80

Angle of Refraction [deg]

coupling

matching

damping

steering

focusing

90

Air-Borne Piezoelectric Transducers

EE

V=0

EE

coupling

matching

???

damping

steering

focusing

Electromagnetics
G

F = Q (E + v B)

Lorentz Force

B
v

FB

Q
G

D
H = J +
t

Ampre's law

Faraday's law

B
E =
t

Ohm's law

J = E

Ip
Hp
Je

He
conducting medium

Electro - Mechanic Conversion

Transmission ( I F ):

Bo

I
Je

Reception ( v V ):

Bo

V
Jc

Sensitivity and Polarization

G

Lorentz Force

FB = Q v Bo

High Conductivity

nI

Surface Traction

= n I Bo

Tangential Polarization:

Bo
nI

Normal Polarization:

Bo

nI

zJe dA = Q v

EMAT Configuration I
spiral coil for radially polarized shear waves
propagating normal to the surface

N
S
Bo

EMAT Configuration II
rectangular coil for linearly polarized shear waves
propagating normal to the surface

N
Bo

EMAT Configuration III

symmetric coil for longitudinal waves
propagating normal to the surface

Bo

Laser-Ultrasonics
Pulsed Laser

Computer
Interferometer
Fatigue Machine
with Specimen
Advantages:
no mechanical contact
no need for couplant
absolute measurement
small detection aperture
broad bandwidth
rough surface
awkward shape
moving object

9
9
9
9

?
?
?
?

Disadvantages:
expensive
low acoustic sensitivity
mechanical instability
low optical sensitivity
surface damage

?
?
?
?

Heterodyne Laser Interferometer

Reference Mirror
Bragg Cell = B
Laser

Object
Beam Splitter
Detector

4
o = om + ao sin( t )

Eo = E o1 ei ( t + o )
Er = Er1 ei( t B t + r )
Pd = ( Eo21 + Er21 ) + 2 Eo1 Er1 cos( B t + o r)
optical wavelength
ao vibration amplitude
acoustic angular frequency

Fabry-Perot Interferometer
Laser
0

v (t)

Object
r
Detector

Resonator

Doppler shift:
v( t )
], where 0 6 108 MHz ( = 500 nm )
c
a 1 nm, at 5 MHz v 0.3 m / s, v / c 10 9

Transmissio

r (t ) = 0 [1 + 2cos

R = 98%
L = 0.5 m

Transmissio

Optical Frequency [100 MHz/div]

tuning
0

Optical Frequency [1 MHz/div]

Laser Generation
1
Absorption

0.8
0.6

titanium

0.4
0.2

aluminum

0
0.01

0.1

10

Wavelength [m]
Low-Intensity Thermoelastic region:

High-Intensity Ablation Region:

laser beam
< 106 W / cm2
thermal
expansion

laser beam
> 106 W / cm2

plasma

mostly tangential stress

recoil force

mostly normal stress

Linear Array Transducers

piezoelectric array

multiplexer
(amplitude & phase modulator)

axial scanning

no steering

apodization

geometrical lateral focusing

dynamic or static electronic axial focusing

Phased Array Transducers

piezoelectric array

amplitude & phase modulator

sector scanning

electronic steering in two dimensions

apodization

dynamic or static electronic focusing

Ultrasonic NDE
Ultrasonics
(high-frequency wave propagation in
idealized elastic media)
defect-free

isotropic

homogeneous

linear

attenuation-free

dispersion-free

temperature-independent

Wave-Material Interaction
(special physical phenomena due to
interaction with imperfections)
reflection, diffraction
attenuation, velocity change
scattering, nonlinearity
anisotropy (orientation)
birefringence (polarization)
quasi-modes (three waves)
phase and group directions
residual stress effect
incoherent scattering noise
attenuation
dispersion (weak)

harmonic generation
acousto-elasticity
crack-closure
absorption
viscosity, relaxation
heat conduction,
scattering
elastic inhomogeneity
geometrical irregularity
relaxation
resonance
wave and group velocity
pulse distortion
velocity change
thermal expansion

ideal boundaries
flat, smooth,
rigidly bonded interface

mode conversion
refraction, diffraction
scattering

canonical wave types

plane wave
spherical waves
harmonic

beam spread
diffraction loss
edge waves
spectral distortion

Ultrasonic NDE

defects
cracks, voids
misbonds, delaminations
anisotropy
texture
columnar grains
prior-austenite grains
composites
inhomogeneneity
polycrystalline
two-phase
porous
composite
nonlinearity
intrinsic (plastics)
damage (fatigue)
attenuation
air, water, viscous couplants
polymers
coarse grains
porosity
dispersion
intrinsic (polymers)
geometrical (wave guides)
temperature-dependence
nonlinearity
residual stress (composites)
phase transformation (metals)
moisture content (polymers)
imperfect boundaries
curved, rough
slip, kissing, partial,
interphase
complex wave types
apodization (amplitude)
focusing (phase)
impulse, tone-burst

Inspection Principles and Techniques

Longitudinal, Shear, Rayleigh, Lamb, etc., Wave Inspection

Positive (backscattering) versus Negative (attenuation) Inspection

Pulse-Echo versus Pitch-Catch Inspection (through-transmission)

Contact versus Immersion Inspection

Normal Beam versus Angle Beam Inspection

i
transducer

couplant

transducer

wedge

couplant

s
specimen

specimen

transducer
water

transducer
water

specimen
immersion tank

specimen
immersion tank

Pitch-Catch Inspection
specimen

transmitter

receiver

transmitter

receiver

specimen

transmitter

receiver
water

specimen
immersion tank

Ultrasonic Flaw Detection

(Longitudinal, Positive, Pulse-Echo, Contact, Normal Beam)
Excitation

Testpiece

Reflected
Wave

Echo

Incident
Wave
Transmitter & Receiver
Flaw
Signal

Ultrasonic Transducer

Advantages:
high sensitivity
high directivity
depth ranging
reproducible

Disadvantages:
sensitive to geometry
scanning requirement
coupling is difficult
closed cracks can remain hidden

Basic Signal Processing

Amplitude

rf signal

Time

Amplitude

rectified signal

Time

Amplitude

weak smoothening

Time

Amplitude

strong smoothening

Time

Pulse-Echo Inspection
specimen

transmitter/
receiver

d
L

tbw = 2 L / c

tf = 2d / c

Amplitude [10 dB/div]

"main bang"

tbw
backwall signals
tf

flaw signals

Time [10 s/div]

Pitch-Catch Inspection
specimen

receiver

transmitter

d
L

tbw = 2 L / c

Amplitude [10 dB/div]

"main bang"

tbw
backwall signals

Time [10 s/div]

Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Physical System

Ultrasonic Signal [a. u.]

signal

incoherent
(electrical)
noise

coherent
(material)
noise

noisy signal

averaging

Fatigue
Crack

Time [2 s/div]

synchronous
averaging

Grain Noise
texture-free (cast or annealed) material:
equi-axed grains, no preferred orientation

textured (forged, rolled, pressed, or drawn) material:

elongated grains, preferred orientation

cubic materials do not exhibit crystallographic texture

Grain Scattering Induced Attenuation in

Polycrystalline Steel
(100 m grain diameter)

Rayleigh region

stochastic region

geometrical region

log{Attenuation Coefficient [dB/cm]}

3
2
1
longitudinal
0

shear

-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-1

1
log{Frequency [MHz]}

Measured Grain Scattering Induced

Attenuation in SAE 1020 Steel
(longitudinal wave)

3
Attenuation Coefficient [dB/cm]

57 m
48 m

2.5

38 m
31 m

18 m
10 m

1.5
1
0.5
0
0

10
Frequency [MHz]

15

20

Surface Wave Flaw Detection

intermittent surface-breaking fatigue crack
length 0.035", depth 0.010"
Ti-6Al-4V specimen, 10 MHz

Amplitude [100 mV/div]

smooth

rough

Time [1 s/div]

Ultrasonic Flaw Detection Below a Rough

Surface
Transducer

Rough Surface

Flaw

40
45.6 m
25.6 m
15 .2 m
12.8 m
11.4 m
9.9 m
8.7 m
5.6 m

35

Attenuation [dB]

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0

10
Frequency [MHz]

15

20

Flaw Signals versus Artifacts

specimen

flaws

transducer

transducer

acoustic wave

Ultrasonic Probe

wave

Cracked Rivet Hole

Inspect at different orientations!

Nonlinearity
material (stress-strain relationship)

Stress [a. u.]

Ultimate Failure
Elastic Limit
Linear Limit

Strain [a. u.]

II

geometrical (strain-displacement relationship)

F
F

a2 + u2 a
u2

,
a
2 a2

F = k ,

u3
2u F
F =
= k 3
a
a

Potential Energy [a. u.]

Elastic Nonlinearity

parabolic
typical

potential well

Normalized Lattice Distance

Elastic Stiffness [a. u.]

parabolic potential function

unstrained

0.9

0.95

typical

1.05

Normalized Lattice Distance (Strain)

1.1

Acousto-Elasticity
c () = c0 + 1 ( + 2 2 + ...) ,

cd,n
cs,np
cs,nn
cd,p
cs,p

tension

Five independent combinations of wave and polarization directions:

Wave Velocities in the Principal Directions

cd2 , p = + 2 +

+
[2 A + +
(4 m + 4 + 10 )]

3 + 2

cd2 ,n = + 2 +

2
[2 A
(m + + 2 )]

3 + 2

cs2, p = +

n
+ 4 + 4 )
(m +
3 + 2
4

cs2,np = +

n
+ + 2 )
(m +
3 + 2
4

cs2,nn = +

+
n 2 )
(m
3 + 2
2

A, m, and n

Murnaghan coefficients

density of the

tensile stress

[109 Pa]

[109 Pa]

[109 Pa]

[109 Pa]

[109 Pa]

Aluminum 7064

59.3

27.4

-324

-397

-403

Armco iron

110

82

-348

-1030

1100

Polystyrene

2.9

1.4

-18.9

-13.3

-10

Pyrex

13.5

27.5

14

92

420

material

Longitudinal Velocity as a Function of

Uniaxial Stress in 7064 Aluminum
6480
Longitudinal Velocity [m/s]

parallel ( cd,p )

6460
6440
6420

normal ( cd,n )

6400
6380
6360
-100

-50

50

100

Uniaxial Stress [MPa]

Excess Nonlinearity Due to Material Imperfections

total int + exc = int + int G + crack + disloc

Crack Closure

Acoustoelastic Effect

x1

x2
x3

V V0
1
1
= ( K|| + K )(1 + 2 ) + ( K|| K )(1 2 )cos 2
V0
2
2
( 0D ) = K|| 1 + K 2
(90D ) = K 1 + K|| 2
Y = ( K|| + K ) Y

material
[109 Pa]
[109 Pa]
A [109 Pa]

Al 7064
59.3
27.4
-324

Al 6061
50.5
26
-47.2

Ni
146
75
-673

m [109 Pa]
n [109 Pa]
Y [106 Pa]
K|| [10-12 Pa-1]
K [10-12 Pa-1]
Y [%]

-397
-403
368
-20.9
+9.7
+0.42

343
249
256
-22.0
+9.5
+0.32

-757
-168
460
+0.51
-9.1
+0.39

Ultrasonics vs Eddy Currents

7075 Aluminum, 5 MHz
External Stress [MPa]
-120
-80
-40

-160

1.003
2960
1.002
2956

1.001
1.000

2952
-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

External Stress [ksi]

Al 7075, 200 kHz

Electrical Conductivity [S]

22.4
22.2
22
21.8
21.6
21.4
-600

-400

-200

200

Applied Stress [MPa]

400

600

Surface Velocity [m/s]

Normalized Surface Velocity

2964

Anisotropy
Cubic crystal structure

[001]

[111]

[010]

[100]
[110]

xx

xx

xy = 0

xy =/ 0

Degree of Anisotropy
Anisotropy Factor
A =

2 C44
(unity for isotropic materials)
C11 C12

longitudinal wave velocities in pure Nickel

[100]
[110]
[111]
isotropic

5299 m/s
6027 m/s
6251 m/s
6032 m/s

Silver

Gold

Nickel

Iron

Silicon

Diamond

Aluminum

Tungsten

Fused Silica
(Isotropic)

Yttrium Iron
Garnet

0
Sodium Fluoride

Anisotropy Factor

Velocity Distributions in the (001) plane

(1 km/s per divisions)
Aluminum

[001]
longitudinal
shear

[100]

Nickel

[001]

longitudinal
shear

[100]

Longitudinal versus Shear

orientation versus polarization (birefringence)

Specimen

Specimen

Shear
Transducer

Longitudinal
Transducer

dA

dB

d
"Fast" Mode
0

"Slow" Mode

"Fast" Mode
0

22.5

45

67.5

90

90

"Slow" Mode

Crystallographic vs Morphological Anisotropy

texture-free (cast or annealed) material:
equi-axed grains, no preferred orientation

textured (forged, rolled, pressed, or drawn) material:

elongated grains, preferred orientation

degree of texture: 1-10%

Earing During Deep-Drawing

Hot (Cold) Pre-Processing
soft axis

stiff axis

Cold Pressing

"earing"

Cold Drawing

Texture Assessment by EMATs

Surface Wave Velocity Measurement

Transmitter

Receiver

Rayleigh
Wave

Textured Specimen

Surface Wave Velocity Distribution

cold-pressed 2024 aluminum, 1.4 MHz, EMAT
2,850 m/s average velocity, 0.2% per division

0% (annealed)

0.8 %

0.45 %

1.6 %