MET 312

Non Destructive Testing (NDT)

( As per APJ Abdul Kalam
Kerala Technological University)

Ultrasonic testing
 Ultrasound
Spectrum of sound
Frequency range Hz Description Example
0-20 Infrasound Earth Quake
20-20000 Audible sound Speech, Music
>20000 Ultrasound Bat, Quartz Crystal

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 Introduction

 Ultrasonic testing(UT) which is applicable to most materials, metallic

or non-metallic.
 Ultrasonic testing uses high frequency sound energy to conduct
examinations and make measurements.

 Ultrasonic examinations can be conducted on a wide variety of

material forms including castings, forgings, welds, and composites.

 By this method, surface and internal discontinuities such as laps,

seams, voids, cracks, blow holes, inclusions and lack of bond can be
accurately evaluated from one side.
Contd..

 The usual frequencies for Non Destructive Testing of materials

are in the range of 0.5 to 10 MHz.

 The selection of actual frequency depends on the roughness

of the surface, grain size of the material and the dimensions
of the flaw.

 The detection of a small flaw requires the use of high

frequency, but a practical limit is set up by the surface
roughness and the grain size.
Contd..
 Basic Principle of UT
 A typical ultrasonic inspection system consists of several
functional units such as

1. Pulse/receiver

2. Transducer

3. Display devices
🞑 Pulser/ receiver is an electronic device that can produce high
voltage ultrasonic energy, driven by the pulser the transducer
generates high frequency energy.
Contd..

🞑 In ultrasonic testing, ultrasound transducer connected to a

diagnostic machine is passed over the object being inspected.

🞑 The sound energy is introduced and propagates through the

materials in the form of waves.

🞑 The transducer is typically separated from the test object by a

couplant (such as oil) or by water, as in immersion testing.
However, when ultrasonic testing is conducted with
an Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) the use of

couplant is not required

Contd..

🞑 When there is a discontinuity in the wave path, part of the

energy will be reflected back from the surface.

🞑 The reflected wave signal is transformed into electric signal

by the transducer and it is displayed on the screen.
 Basic Principle of UT
 The reflected signal strength is displayed versus time from signal
generation when echo is received.
Contd..

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Contd..

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Contd..
Contd..
Contd..
Terminologies used in ultrasonic testing
Terminologies used in ultrasonic testing

Wavelength:
 The distance required to complete a cycle

– Measured in Meter or mm
Frequency:
 The number of cycles per unit time

– Measured in Hertz (Hz) or Cycles per second (cps)

Velocity:
 How quick the sound travels

 Distance per unit time

– Measured in meter / second (m / sec)

Velocity
 Velocity

 The velocity of sound in a particular material is CONSTANT

 It is the product of DENSITY and ELASTICITY of the material
 It will NOT change if frequency changes
 Only the wavelength changes
 Examples:
🞑 V. Compression in steel : 5960 m/s

🞑 V. Compression in water : 1470 m/s

🞑 V. Compression in air : 330 m/s

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Contd..
Contd..
Frequency
 Frequency

 Generally the choice of test frequency depends upon two

factors :

1. The minimum size of defect, which is to be detected

2. The medium in which such a defect is situated.

Contd..
Wavelength
Contd..
Contd..
Contd..
Sensitivity and resolution
Contd..

 Reflection:- Light can bend and move through the material,

which is called refraction. Or, light can bounce off the
material, which is called reflection.

 When sound travels in a given medium, it strikes the surface

of another medium and bounces back in some other direction,
this phenomenon is called the reflection of sound. The waves
are called the incident and reflected sound waves.
Contd..

 Divergence:- A term used to describe the spreading of

ultrasonic waves beyond the near field. It is a function of the
transducer diameter and wave length in the medium.

 Divergence angle, angle within the far field between the beam
axis and the beam edge at which the amplitude has fallen by a
defined level
Contd..
 Scattering: it is the reflection of sound beam from its original
direction of propagation.

 Absorption: it is conversion of sound energy from one form

to some another form.
 Contd..
 Attenuation of sound waves:- It is a combined effect of
scattering and absorption. Which states that when a sound beam
travels through any medium, its intensity gradually reduces due
to scattering and absorption.

 Attenuation defines the decay rate of propagated sound wave.

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 Contd..

 Attenuation of sound waves:-

Sound waves
 Basic Principles of Sound

 Sound is produced by a vibrating body and travels in the form of a

wave.

 Sound waves travel through materials by vibrating the particles

that make up the material.

 The pitch of the sound is determined by the frequency of the wave

(vibrations or cycles completed in a certain period of time).

 Ultrasound is sound with a pitch too high to be detected by the

human ear.
Basic Principles of Sound
 Properties of a sound wave

 Sound cannot travel in vacuum

 Sound energy to be transmitted / transferred from one particle

to another
 Sound waves

 All sound waves, whether audible or ultrasonic, are mechanical

vibrations involving movement of the medium in which they are
travelling.

 A sound wave may be transmitted through any material which

behaves in an elastic manner.

1. Longitudinal waves

2. Transverse or shear waves

3. Surface or Rayleigh waves

Lamb wMaEv3e67s_N
4.
 Ultrasonic waves
 Ultrasonic waves are very similar to light waves in that they can be reflected,
refracted, and focused.

 Reflection and refraction occurs when sound waves interact with interfaces
of differing acoustic properties.

 In solid materials, the vibrational energy can be split into different wave
modes when the wave encounters an interface at an angle other than 90
degrees.

 Ultrasonic reflections from the presence of discontinuities or geometric

features enables detection and location.

 The velocity of sound in a given material is constant and can only be altered
by a change in the mode of enMeE3rg67y_.
Ultrasonic waves
 1. Longitudinal or compression waves

 Longitudinal waves are waves in which the displacement of

the medium is in the same direction as, or the opposite
direction to, the direction of propagation of the wave.
 It is the wave motion in which each particle of the medium
express simple harmonic motion about its mean position along
the direction of propagation of wave.
 Mechanical longitudinal waves are also
called compressional or compression waves, because they
produce compression and rarefaction when traveling through a
medium, and pressure waves, because they produce increases
and decreases in pressure.
 Ex:- Sound waves in fluids
Contd..

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Contd..
 2. Transverse or shear wave

 A transverse wave is a moving wave that consists of oscillations

occurring perpendicular (right angled) to the direction of energy
transfer (or the propagation of the wave) and it executes SHM.

 If a transverse wave is moving in the positive x-direction, its

oscillations are in up and down directions that lie in the y–z plane.
 Light is an example of a transverse wave, while sound is
a longitudinal wave. A ripple in a pond and a wave on a string are
easily visualized as transverse waves.

 Ex:- waves produced by plucked strings of veena guitar or violin.

Contd..
 3. Surface or Rayleigh waves

 This waves represent n oscillating motion that travels along

the surface of test specimen to a depth of one wavelength.

 Surface waves therefore are essentially nonexistent in a solid

immersed in liquid, unless the liquid covers the solid surface
only as a very thin layer.

 Ex:- used to detect surface breaking cracks in a test spciemen

Contd..
 4. Plate or Lamp waves

 These are surface waves propagate parallel to the

test surface and have a particle motion that is
elliptical.
 They occur when the thickness of the test material is
only a few wavelengths at the test frequency and
where the test piece is of uniform thickness
Contd..
 Sound waves

Wave type Particle vibration

Longitudinal waves Parallel to wave direction

Transverse or shear waves Perpendicular to eave

direction

Surface or Rayleigh waves Elliptical orbit- symmetrical

mode

Lamb waves Component perpendicular to

surface
Ultrasonic Testing techniques
 Ultrasonic Testing techniques
 Ultrasonic testing is a very versatile inspection method, and
inspections can be accomplished in a number of different ways.

 Ultrasonic inspection techniques are commonly divided into

three primary classifications.
1. Pulse Echo testing method
2. Through Transmission technique
3. Resonance testing
1. Pulse Echo Method
 1. Pulse Echo Method

 This is the method most commonly utilized in the ultrasonic

testing of materials.
 The transmitter and receiver probes are on the same side of
the specimen and the presence of a defect is indicated by the
reception of an echo before that of the back wall echo.
 The CRT screen is calibrated to show the separation in
distance between the time of arrival of a defect echo as against
that of the back wall echo of the specimen, therefore, the
location of a defect can be assessed accurately.
Contd..
Contd..

 Single probe sends and receives sound

 Gives an indication of defect depth and dimensions

 Not fail safe method

 Contd..

Procedure followed
1. A test specimen is placed to conduct ultrasonic testing

2. A pule generator is used to generate pulse of required frequency

3. The generated pulse is transmitted through transducer

4. The reflected wave is received by the same transducer which has receiver
unit with it

5. The received pulse is amplified by using an amplifier

6. Then, both transmitted and received pulse is compared in CRO display unit

7. By plotting these aganist time, we can find the location of the defects
2. Through Transmission Method
 2. Through Transmission Method

 In this method two ultrasonic probes are used.

 One is the transmitter probe and the other is the receiver
probe.

 Fail safe method

 Contd..

 In this method the

presence of an internal
defect is indicated by a
reduction in signal
amplitude, or in the case
of gross defects,
complete loss of the
transmitted signal.
Contd..

Through transmission signal

1 T R 1

2 T R 2
0 2 4 6 8 10

Flaw
 Contd..
Procedure followed
1. Two transducers are placed opposite to each other on the surface
of the test specimen
2. Among two transducers, one is to transmit sound waves and other
is to receive them.
3. The result can be seen through CRT screen display
4. The specimen without defect has no loss in transmitted sound
waves
5. The specimen with defect has loss in transmitted sound waves, so
it will reflect in the graph by short pulse
6. This method can be done efficiently by using couplant to avoid
losses
g in sound waves due to separation between the surfaces.
Contd..
 Advantages
🞑 Less attenuation

🞑 No probe ringing

🞑 No dead zone

🞑 Orientation does not matter

 Disadvantages
🞑 Defect not located

🞑 Defect can’t be identified

🞑 Vertical defects don’t show

🞑 Must be automated

🞑 Need access to both surfaces

Contd..
3. Resonance
Method
 3. Resonance Method
 It is basically used to determine the thickness pf test
specimen.
 A condition of resonance exists whenever the thickness of a
material equals half the wavelength of sound or any multiple
thereof in that material.
 Control of wavelength in ultrasonic is achieved by control of
frequency.

 This method is more suitable for hard materials.

 Contd..

 Knowing the resonance or fundamental frequency f and velocity

V of ultrasound in the specimen the thickness ‘t’ of the specimen
under test can be calculated from the equation : -

 Since it is difficult to recognize the fundamental mode of

vibration, the fundamental frequency is usually calculated from
the difference of two adjacent harmonics which are depicted by
two adjacent rises in the pulse amplitude.

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Contd..

 This method is used for the inspection of large ingots and

castings particularly when the attenuation is high and gross
defects are present.
 The method does not give the size and location of the defect.
In addition good mechanical coupling and alignment of the
two probes is essential.
Contd..
Ultrasonic Testing methods
 Ultrasonic Testing methods

 Ultrasonic testing methods includes

1. Contact testing methods
2. Immersion testing methods
3. Normal beam -> Straight beam testing method
4. Angle beam testing method
5. Dual crystal probe
1. Contact testing methods
 1. Contact testing methods
 In the contact type, the probe is placed in direct contact with the test
specimen with a thin liquid film used as a couplant for better
transmission of ultrasonic waves in to the test specimen.

 They have elements protected in a rugged casing to withstand sliding

contact with a variety of materials.
 These transducers are designed in such a manner so that it is easy to
grip and move along a surface.

 They have replaceable wear plates to lengthen their useful life

 Coupling materials of water, grease or oil are used to remove the air
gap between the transducer and the component being inspected.
2. Immersion testing methods
 2. Immersion testing methods
 A waterproof probe is used at some distance from the test
specimen and the ultrasonic beam is transmitted in to the
material through a water path or water column.
 Immersion testing techniques are mainly used in the laboratory
and for large installations doing automatic ultrasonic testing.
 It has the advantage that uniform couplant conditions are
obtained and longitudinal and transverse waves can be
generated with the same probe simply by changing the incident
beam angle
Contd..
 In the immersion technique both the probe and the test specimen
are immersed in water.

 The ultrasonic beam is directed through the water in to the test

specimen, using either a normal beam technique for generating
longitudinal waves or an angle beam technique for generating
transverse waves.
Contd..
3. Normal beam testing method
 3. Normal beam testing method

 In the normal beam technique the ultrasonic beam is projected

perpendicularly in to the test specimen. This technique may use
either single, double or SE normal beam probes.
 Transude is in direct contact with specimen.
 With the single probe, the transducer of the probe acts as both
transmitter and receiver.
 In this technique, determination of the location of a discontinuity
in a part or structure is done by accurately measuring the time
required for a short ultrasonic pulse generated by a transducer to
travel through a thickness of material, reflect from the back or
the surface of a discontinuity and be returned to the transducer
Contd..
4. Angle Beam Techniques
 4. Angle Beam Techniques

 The angle beam technique is used to transmit ultrasonic waves in

to a test specimen at a predetermined angle to the test surface.

 Transverse waves at various angles of refraction between 35°

and 80° are used to locate defects whose orientation is not
suitable for detection by normal beam techniques.
Contd..
5. Dual crystal testing technique
5. Dual crystal testing technique

 It is a crystal based one consisting of two independently

operated elements in a single housing.

 It is very useful when making thickness measurements of

thin
 materials and when inspecting for near surface defects.
Contd..
Instruments used in UT
 Instruments used in UT

1. Pulser/Receiver

2. Ultrasonic transducer

3. Couplant

4. Display

5. Receiver/Amplifier
 Instruments used in UT

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Contd..
Contd..
Equipment's used in UT
 Equipment's used in UT

Equipment’s for ultrasonic testing is very diversified. Proper

selection is important to insure accurate inspection data as desired
for specific applications.

In general, there are three basic components that comprise an

ultrasonic test system:

- Instrumentation

- Transducers

- Calibration Standards
 1. Transducers
➢ Transducers are manufactured in a variety of forms, shapes
and sizes for varying applications.
➢ Transducers are categorized in a number of ways which
include:
➢ - Contact or immersion
➢ - Single or dual element
➢ - Normal or angle beam
➢ In selecting a transducer
for a given application, it
is important to choose the
desired frequency,
bandwidth, size, and in some cases focusing
which optimizes the inspection capabilities.
 Contact Transducers
➢ Contact transducers are
designed to withstand
rigorous use, and usually
have a wear plate on the
bottom surface to protect the
piezoelectric element from
contact with the surface of
the test article.
➢ Many incorporate
ergonomic designs for ease
of grip while scanning along
the surface.
 Contd..
 Contact transducers are available
with two piezoelectric crystals in
one housing. These transducers
are called dual element transducers.
 One crystal acts as a transmitter,
the other as a receiver.
 This arrangement improves near
surface resolution because the
second transducer does not need to
complete a transmit function before
listening for echoes.
 Dual elements are commonly
employed in thickness gauging of
thin materials.
 Angle beam Transducers
 Angle beam transducers incorporate
wedges to introduce a refracted
shear wave into a material.
 The incident wedge angle is used
with the material velocity to
determine the desired refracted shear
wave according to Snell’s Law)
 Transducers can use fixed or
variable wedge angles.
 Common application is in weld
examination.
 Immersion Transducers
 Immersion transducers are
designed to transmit sound
whereby the transducer and
test specimen are immersed in
a liquid coupling medium
(usually water).
Immersion transducers are
manufactured with planar,
cylindrical or spherical
acoustic lenses (focusing lens).
 2. Instrumentation

 Ultrasonic equipment is usually purchased to satisfy specific

inspection needs, some users may purchase general purpose
equipment to fulfill a number of inspection applications.

 Test equipment can be classified in a number of different

ways, this may include portable or stationary, contact or
immersion, manual or automated.

 Further classification of instruments commonly divides them

into four general categories: D-meters, Flaw detectors,
Industrial and special application.
 D-meters or digital thickness gauge

 D-meters or digital thickness

gauge instruments provide
the user with a digital
(numeric) readout.
 They are designed primarily
for corrosion/erosion
inspection applications.

➢ Some instruments provide the user with both a digital readout and
a display of the signal. A distinct advantage of these units is that
they allow the user to evaluate the signal to ensure that the digital
measurements are of the desired features.
 3. Calibration standards

 Calibration is a operation of configuring the ultrasonic test

equipment to known values. This provides the inspector with
a means of comparing test signals to known measurements.

 Calibration standards come in a wide variety of material

types, and configurations due to the diversity of inspection
applications.

 Calibration standards are typically manufactured from

materials of the same acoustic properties as those of the test
articles.
 Contd..
➢ Thickness calibration standards
may be flat or curved for pipe and
tubing applications, consisting of
simple variations in material ASTM Distance/ Area Amplitude

thickness.
➢ Distance/Area Amplitude standards
utilize flat bottom holes or side
drilled holes to establish known NAVSHIPS

reflector size with changes in sound

path form the entry surface

 Contd..
IIW
There are also calibration
standards for use in angle beam
inspections when flaws are not
DSC DC Rhompas
parallel to entry surface.

These standards utilized side

SC
drilled holes, notches, and

geometric configuration to
establish time distance and

Amplitude relationship ASME Pipe Sec. XI

 Contd..

Qualification standards AWS Resolution DC-dB Accuracy

differ from calibration

standards in that their use
is for purposes of varying
proper equipment
operation and qualification IOW Beam Profile

of equipment use for

specific codes and
standards.
Data presentation
 Data presentation

 Information from ultrasonic testing can be presented in a

number of differing formats.

 Three of the more common formats include:

🞑 A-scan

🞑 B-scan

🞑 C-scan
 A-scan

Signal Amplitude
 A-scan presentation displays the
amount of received ultrasonic energy
as a function of time.

 Relative discontinuity size can be

Time
estimated by comparing the signal
amplitude to that from a known

Signal Amplitude
reflector.

 Reflector depth can be determined

by the position of the signal on the
horizontal sweep. Time
 B-scan

 B-scan presentations display a profile

view (cross-sectional) of a test specimen.

 Only the reflector depth in the cross-

section and the linear dimensions can be
determined.

 A limitation to this display technique is

that reflectors may be masked by larger
reflectors near the surface.
 C-scan
 The C-scan presentation displays a plan type view of the test
specimen and discontinuities.
 C-scan presentations are produced with an automated data
acquisition system, such as in immersion scanning.
 Use of A-scan in conjunction with C-scan is necessary when depth
determination is desired.

Component
C-Scan Image of
Internal Features
Advantages & Limitations of Ultrasonic
Testing
 Advantages

1. Sensitive to small discontinuities both surface and subsurface.

2. Depth of penetration for flaw detection or measurement is
superior to other methods.
3. Only single-sided access is needed when pulse-echo technique
is used.
4. High accuracy in determining reflector position and estimating
size and shape.
5. Minimal part preparation required.
6. Electronic equipment provides instantaneous results.
7. Detailed images can be produced with automated systems.
8. Has other uses such as thickness measurements, in addition to
flaw detection.
 Limitations

1. Surface must be accessible to transmit ultrasound.

2. Skill and training is more extensive than with some other
methods.
3. Normally requires a coupling medium to promote transfer of
sound energy into test specimen.
4. Materials that are rough, irregular in shape, very small,
exceptionally thin or not homogeneous are difficult to inspect.
5. Cast iron and other coarse grained materials are difficult to
inspect due to low sound transmission and high signal noise.
6. Linear defects oriented parallel to the sound beam may go
undetected.
7. Reference standards are required for both equipment
calibration, and characterization of flaws.