DE/ME-2.

4 NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING
Chapter-4. Electrical and ultrasonic Methods
Basic Principles of Ultrasonic Testing

Ultrasonic Testing (UT) uses high frequency sound energy to conduct examinations and
make measurements. Ultrasonic inspection can be used for flaw detection/evaluation,
dimensional measurements, material characterization, and more. To illustrate the general
inspection principle, a typical pulse/echo inspection configuration as illustrated below will be
used.

A typical UT inspection system consists of several functional units, such as the

pulser/receiver, transducer, and display devices. A pulser/receiver is an electronic device that
can produce high voltage electrical pulses. Driven by the pulser, the transducer generates
high frequency ultrasonic energy. The sound energy is introduced and propagates through the
materials in the form of waves. When there is a discontinuity (such as a crack) in the wave
path, part of the energy will be reflected back from the flaw surface. The reflected wave
signal is transformed into an electrical signal by the transducer and is displayed on a screen.
In the applet below, the reflected signal strength is displayed versus the time from signal
generation to when a echo was received. Signal travel time can be directly related to the
distance that the signal travelled. From the signal, information about the reflector location,
size, orientation and other features can sometimes be gained.
How it works

In ultrasonic testing, an ultrasound transducer connected to a diagnostic machine is passed

over the object being inspected. 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.

There are two methods of receiving the ultrasound waveform: reflection and attenuation. In
reflection (or pulse-echo) mode, the transducer performs both the sending and the receiving
of the pulsed waves as the "sound" is reflected back to the device. Reflected ultrasound
comes from an interface, such as the back wall of the object or from an imperfection within
the object. The diagnostic machine displays these results in the form of a signal with
an amplitude representing the intensity of the reflection and the distance, representing
the arrival time of the reflection. In attenuation (or through-transmission) mode, a transmitter
sends ultrasound through one surface, and a separate receiver detects the amount that has
reached it on another surface after traveling through the medium. Imperfections or other
conditions in the space between the transmitter and receiver reduce the amount of sound
transmitted, thus revealing their presence. Using the couplant increases the efficiency of the
process by reducing the losses in the ultrasonic wave energy due to separation between the
surfaces.

Advantages of ultrasonic inspection

Ultrasonic Inspection is a very useful and versatile NDT method. Some of the advantages of
ultrasonic inspection that are often cited include:

 It is sensitive to both surface and subsurface discontinuities.

 The depth of penetration for flaw detection or measurement is superior to other NDT
methods.
 Only single-sided access is needed when the pulse-echo technique is used.
 It is highly accurate in determining reflector position and estimating size and shape.
 Minimal part preparation is required.
 Electronic equipment provides instantaneous results.
 Detailed images can be produced with automated systems.
 It has other uses, such as thickness measurement, in addition to flaw detection.
 Limitations of ultrasonic inspection

As with all NDT methods, ultrasonic inspection also has its limitations, which include:

 Surface must be accessible to transmit ultrasound.

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

Flaw detection

Flaw detection is the process of identifying and sizing sub-surface defects in materials. One
of the most common techniques to identify defects is ultrasonic inspection where sound
waves, propagated through the material, are used to identify such anomalies. The high
frequency sound behaves predictably when interacting with surfaces and internal defects.

Flaw detection can be applied in almost any industry from composites and metals used in
aerospace, to petrochemical oil and gas pipelines, storage tanks and power generation
including nuclear power. The most common anomalies include cracks, voids and porosity in
metals, ceramics and plastics in addition to delaminations and disbonds in composites.

Rail Inspection (flaw detection in rails)

One of the major problems that railroads have faced since the earliest days is the prevention
of service failures in track. As is the case with all modes of high-speed travel, failures of an
essential component can have serious consequences. The North American railroads have been
inspecting their most costly infrastructure asset, the rail, since the late 1920's. With increased
traffic at higher speed, and with heavier axle loads in the 1990's, rail inspection is more
important today than it has ever been. Although the focus of the inspection seems like a fairly
well-defined piece of steel, the testing variables present are significant and make the
inspection process challenging.

Rail inspections were initially performed solely by visual means. Of course, visual
inspections will only detect external defects and sometimes the subtle signs of large internal
problems. The need for a better inspection method became a high priority because of a
derailment. In the U.S. Bureau of Safety's (now the National Transportation Safety Board)
investigation of the accident, a broken rail was determined to be the cause of the derailment.
The bureau established that the rail failure was caused by a defect that was entirely internal
and probably could not have been detected by visual means. The defect was called a
transverse fissure (example shown on the left). The railroads began investigating the
prevalence of this defect and found transverse fissures were widespread.

One of the methods used to inspect rail is ultrasonic inspection. Both normal- and angle-beam
techniques are used, as are both pulse-echo and pitch-catch techniques. The different
transducer arrangements offer different inspection capabilities. Manual contact testing is done
to evaluate small sections of rail but the ultrasonic inspection has been automated to allow
inspection of large amounts of rail.

Fluid filled wheels or sleds are often used to couple the transducers to the rail. Sperry Rail
Services, which is one of the companies that perform rail inspection, uses Roller Search Units
(RSU's) comprising a combination of different transducer angles to achieve the best
inspection possible. A schematic of an RSU is shown below.
Tube or pipe Inspection

At a construction site, a technician tests a pipeline weld for defects using an ultrasonic phased
array instrument. The scanner, which consists of a frame with magnetic wheels, holds the
probe in contact with the pipe by a spring. The wet area is the ultrasonic couplant that allows
the sound to pass into the pipe wall.

Ultrasonic Testing Surface Roughness

All smooth surfaces possess some degree of roughness, even if only at the atomic level. For
man-made surfaces, this roughness arises from the manufacturing process which may involve
chemical deposition, grinding, polishing, etching or several other commonly used techniques.
Correct function of the fabricated component often is critically dependent on its degree of
roughness.
In the manufacturing industry, surface must be within certain limits of roughness. Therefore,
measuring surface roughness is vital to quality control of machining workpiece, especially if
it is non-contact method compared to the direct conventional method; which uses stylus type
devices. In the direct contact method, measurements are obtained using a stylus drawn along
the surface to be measured: the stylus motion perpendicular to the surface is registered. This
registered profile is then used to calculate roughness parameters. This method requires
interruption of the machine process, and the sharp diamond stylus may make micro-scratches
on surfaces (i.e. destructive damaging effect).
Ultrasonic non-contact sensor which implements the Doppler Effect instead of the ultrasonic
travel-time to describe the roughness parameters. Using the Doppler effect instead of the
ultrasonic travel-time will result in a much lower dependency of the sensor on the sound
velocity in air, which will provide a more precise measurement.

Moisture in wood

Wood is a biomaterial, which is constituted of cellulose (up to 45 %), lignin (25-30 %) and
hemi cellulose (20-30 %). The most common causes of wood deterioration are biological due
to organism attacks (fungi and insects). Moisture content of wood is recognized as the most
critical condition for the biological attack development. For example, it is known that the
minimum value of moisture content for wood degrading fungi is about 17 % by mass and the
optimum value varies between 30 % and 70 %. These moisture values depend on the fungi
and wood type. Non-destructive evaluation of moisture content of wood material is then
critical for the preservation of timber structures.

Ground penetrating Radar (GPR) is a non-destructive technique based on the transmitting and
receiving of electromagnetic (EM) waves. The most advantage of this technique is their
capacity of investigating a large surface of a structure in a short time. It has been developed
firstly for soil investigations and currently is frequently used for masonry arch bridges,
concrete bridges, and road inspections. The technique is generally used for defects detection
and thickness evaluation (rebar depth, asphalt pavement, concrete slabs...).

GPR equipment is composed of an EM waves pulse generator SIR 3000 from GSII, and a
couple of transmitting (T) and receiving (R) antennas. The antennas are a ground-coupled
bow-tie dipoles optimized for a frequency of 1.5 GHz.

The measurement is based on the radiation of EM energy from T to R antenna. GPR tests
were carried out on samples of 20 x 18 x 8cm of Spruce and Pine wood. For each wood type,
three samples were tested and three signals were recorded for each sample. The measurement
consisted in placing the coupled antennas on the surface of the sample in three directions
(longitudinal, transversal, and tangential) with respect to electrical field direction (Fig. 1).
The samples were tested at several moisture contents from oven dried to a moisture content
of 50% by mass.