University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene

Faculty of Physics
Material Physique
Specialty: Physical Metallurgy and Ultrasonic

◦
TP 07: Measurement of the thickness of a
solid material using temporal and spectral
methods.

Objective: In this lab work, we aim to conduct a comparative study of

various thickness measurement methods for a solid material (steel step). We
will start by initially measuring the propagation velocity in this material and
then proceed to study the Time-of-Flight (TOF), frequency spectrum, and
cepstrum of the signal.

By: Wafa Bourai

19 November 2023
1 Experimental Setup
• GAMPT-scan Echoscope

• 1 Transducer with a nominal frequency of 2 MHz

• Steel step wedge

• Ultrasonic thickness meter

• Gel

• Caliper

• PC

2 Diagram and experimental Setup

The diagram below shows the experimental setup of this experiment:

Figure 1: Experimental Setup

3 Measurement protocol
1. Measuring the thickness using a Caliper
We use the caliper to measure accurately the thickness of each block, results will
be in the second part.

2. Implementation of the setup.

3. Measure of the propagation velocity: using the time of flight and the thickness
measured using the caliper (Deferential method), so the expression for the velocity
for e = 48.04 mm and TOF = 16.6 µs will be:
2e
c= = 5780m/s (1)
∆t
The error:

∆c = 125.4m/s
so:

c = 5780 ± 125.4

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4. Adjustment of the TGC: The TGC has been set in such a way that the signals
observed from different echoes have approximately equal amplitudes.

5. Visualization of each step.

6. Determination of the Fourier spectra for each step.

7. Determination of the cepstrum of the preceding spectra.

8. Signals that are taken from the first and seventh step:

Figure 2: FFT for the 1st Step Figure 3: Cpestrum for the 1st Step

Figure 4: FFT for the 7th Step Figure 5: Cpestrum for the 7th Step

9. Thickness measurement device: An ultrasonic thickness gauge is a device used

to measure the thickness of a material. It is based on the principle of measuring the
travel time of the ultrasonic wave. This device is of great importance to specialists
in non-destructive testing using ultrasonics due to its simplicity, size, and precision.

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 Figure 6: Thickness measurement device

4 Operational procedure and data analysis of mea-

surements
1. Calculating the velocity:

C = 5780 ± 125.4

2. Measuring the thickness using the caliper:

Step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Thickness ”e” (mm) 48.04 42.01 36.03 30.09 24.02 12 3.00

3. Measuring the thickness using the temporal signal:

Step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
TOF τ (µs) 16.60 14.60 11.90 10.30 8.30 5.40 5.90
Thickness ”e” (mm) 48.04 42.2 34.5 29.8 24.1 15.6 17.0

4. Representing the temporal signals for the 1st and the 7th steps:

Figure 7: FFT for the 1st Step Figure 8: Signal for the 7th Step

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 5. Measure of the Thickness using the Fourier Spectrum:

Step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
∆f (MHz) 0.18 0.03 0.04 0.08 0.04 0.03 0.123
TOF τ (µs) 5.55 33.33 25 12.5 25 33.33 8.13
Thickness ”e” (mm) 32.07 0.19 0.14 0.07 0.14 0.19 0.04

6. Measure of the thickness using the Cpestrum:

Step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
TOFτ µs 16.19 14.01 12 10.07 8.14 4 1.9
Thickness ”e” (mm) 46.78 40.48 34.68 29.10 23.5 11.5 5.4

7. Measure using the Ultrasonic thickness meter:

Step 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Thickness ”e” (mm) 47.88 41.93 35.94 29.94 23.94 11.93 2.97

8. A Comparison of the different measuring methods:

The Method
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Step
Caliper 48.04 42.01 36.03 30.09 24.02 12 3.00
TOF 48.04 42.2 34.5 29.8 24.1 15.6 17.0
Frequency Spectrum 32.07 0.19 0.14 0.07 0.14 0.19 0.04
Cpestrum 46.78 40.48 34.68 29.10 23.5 11.5 5.4
Ultrasonic thickness meter 47.88 41.93 35.94 29.94 23.94 11.93 2.97

5 Conclusion
The experiment designed in this lab allowed us to determine the thicknesses of a steel
step wedge using several methods.

1. The caliper and the thickness gauge yielded the best results. They can be used for
any thickness; however, the results provided by the temporal and frequency signals
for small thicknesses (first step) are inaccurate. All methods yielded more or less
acceptable results for large thicknesses.

2. The use of cepstrum is beneficial when dealing with signals modeled as the result
of a filter on a periodic excitation. The cepstral representation allows for the sepa-
ration of the source from the filter. The cepstrum method remains the only way to
obtain an acceptable result for small thicknesses without resorting to the caliper or
thickness gauge (in the case of our experiment, of course).

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3. To enhance the measurements obtained through spectral analysis, we propose in-
creasing the frequency within a certain range. Since our steps are of relatively
small dimensions, the attenuation phenomenon after increasing the frequencies will
not be very pronounced due to the thickness of the steps. Improved sampling and
quantification of our spectra can also enhance measurement accuracy and reduce
data loss.

4. The use of a thickness gauge is justified when access to a caliper is restricted by

the object to be measured. For example, a large-sized piece where inaccessibility
to both faces is a constraint.