9/19/2016

IntroductiontoUltrasonicTesting

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BasicPrinciplesofUltrasonicTesting
UltrasonicTesting(UT)useshighfrequencysoundenergytoconductexaminationsandmakemeasurements.
Ultrasonicinspectioncanbeusedforflawdetection/evaluation,dimensionalmeasurements,material
characterization,andmore.Toillustratethegeneralinspectionprinciple,atypicalpulse/echoinspection
configurationasillustratedbelowwillbeused.

Introductionto
UltrasonicTesting
Introduction
BasicPrinciples
History
PresentState
FutureDirection

AtypicalUTinspectionsystemconsistsofseveralfunctionalunits,suchasthepulser/receiver,transducer,and
PhysicsofUltrasound
displaydevices.Apulser/receiverisanelectronicdevicethatcanproducehighvoltageelectricalpulses.Driven
WavePropagation
bythepulser,thetransducergenerateshighfrequencyultrasonicenergy.Thesoundenergyisintroducedand
ModesofSoundWaves
propagatesthroughthematerialsintheformofwaves.Whenthereisadiscontinuity(suchasacrack)inthewave
PropertiesofPlane
path,partoftheenergywillbereflectedbackfromtheflawsurface.Thereflectedwavesignalistransformedinto
Waves
anelectricalsignalbythetransducerandisdisplayedonascreen.Intheappletbelow,thereflectedsignal
Wavelength/Flaw
strengthisdisplayedversusthetimefromsignalgenerationtowhenaechowasreceived.Signaltraveltimecan
Detection
bedirectlyrelatedtothedistancethatthesignaltraveled.Fromthesignal,informationaboutthereflectorlocation,
ElasticPropertiesof
size,orientationandotherfeaturescansometimesbegained.
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
UltrasonicInspectionisaveryusefulandversatileNDTmethod.Someoftheadvantagesofultrasonicinspection ToneBurstGenerators
thatareoftencitedinclude:
FunctionGenerators
ImpedanceMatching
Itissensitivetobothsurfaceandsubsurfacediscontinuities.
DataPresentation
ThedepthofpenetrationforflawdetectionormeasurementissuperiortootherNDTmethods.
ErrorAnalysis
Onlysinglesidedaccessisneededwhenthepulseechotechniqueisused.
Itishighlyaccurateindeterminingreflectorpositionandestimatingsizeandshape.
Measurement
Minimalpartpreparationisrequired.
Techniques
Electronicequipmentprovidesinstantaneousresults.
NormalBeam
Detailedimagescanbeproducedwithautomatedsystems.
Inspection
Ithasotheruses,suchasthicknessmeasurement,inadditiontoflawdetection.
AngleBeamsI
AngleBeamsII
CrackTipDiffraction
AutomatedScanning
Surfacemustbeaccessibletotransmitultrasound.
VelocityMeasurements
Skillandtrainingismoreextensivethanwithsomeothermethods.
MeasuringAttenuation
Itnormallyrequiresacouplingmediumtopromotethetransferofsoundenergyintothetestspecimen.
Materialsthatarerough,irregularinshape,verysmall,exceptionallythinornothomogeneousaredifficultto SpreadSpectrum
SignalProcessing
inspect.
Castironandothercoarsegrainedmaterialsaredifficulttoinspectduetolowsoundtransmissionandhigh FlawReconstruction

AswithallNDTmethods,ultrasonicinspectionalsohasitslimitations,whichinclude:

signalnoise.
Lineardefectsorientedparalleltothesoundbeammaygoundetected.
Referencestandardsarerequiredforbothequipmentcalibrationandthecharacterizationofflaws.
TheaboveintroductionprovidesasimplifiedintroductiontotheNDTmethodofultrasonictesting.However,to
effectivelyperformaninspectionusingultrasonics,muchmoreaboutthemethodneedstobeknown.The
followingpagespresentinformationonthescienceinvolvedinultrasonicinspection,theequipmentthatis
commonlyused,someofthemeasurementtechniquesused,aswellasotherinformation.

CalibrationMethods
CalibrationMethods
DACCurves
CurvatureCorrection
ThompsonGrayModel
UTSIM
GrainNoiseModeling
References/Standards
SelectedApplications
RailInspection
Weldments
ReferenceMaterial
UTMaterialProperties
References

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IntroductiontoUltrasonicTesting

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