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Ultrasonic Testing
What is Ultrasonic Testing?
Ultrasonic nondestructive testing, also known as ultrasonic NDT or simply UT, is a
method of characterizing the thickness or internal structure of a test piece through the
use of high frequency sound waves. The frequencies, or pitch, used for ultrasonic
testing are many times higher than the limit of human hearing, most commonly in the
range from 500 KHz to 20 MHz.

What sort of materials can be tested?

In industrial applications, ultrasonic testing is widely used on metals, plastics,
composites, and ceramics. The only common engineering materials that are not suitable
for ultrasonic testing with conventional equipment are wood and paper products.
Ultrasonic technology is also widely used in the biomedical field for diagnostic imaging
and medical research.
Principle of ultrasonic testing.
LEFT: A probe sends a sound wave into a test material. There are two indications, one from the
initial pulse of the probe, and the second due to the back wall echo.
RIGHT: A defect creates a third indication and simultaneously reduces the amplitude of the back
wall indication.

How does it work?

High frequency sound waves are very directional, and they will travel through a medium
(like a piece of steel or plastic) until they encounter a boundary with another medium
(like air), at which point they reflect back to their source. By analyzing these reflections it
is possible to measure the thickness of a test piece, or find evidence of cracks or other
hidden internal flaws.
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.

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.
 Inspection of pipe with Ultrasonic Flaw Detector

What are the advantages of ultrasonic testing?

Ultrasonic testing is completely nondestructive. The test piece does not have to be cut,
sectioned, or exposed to damaging chemicals. Access to only one side is required,
unlike measurement with mechanical thickness tools like calipers and micrometers.
There are no potential health hazards associated with ultrasonic testing, unlike
radiography. When a test has been properly set up, results are highly repeatable and
reliable.

What are the potential limitations of ultrasonic testing?

Ultrasonic flaw detection requires a trained operator who can set up a test with the aid
of appropriate reference standards and properly interpret the results. Inspection of some
complex geometries may be challenging. Ultrasonic thickness gages must be calibrated
with respect to the material being measured, and applications requiring a wide range of
thickness measurement or measurement of acoustically diverse materials may require
multiple setups. Ultrasonic thickness gages are more expensive than mechanical
measurement devices.

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 of Welds

One of the most useful characteristics of ultrasonic testing is its ability to determine the
exact position of a discontinuity in a weld. This testing method requires a high level of
operator training and competence and is dependant on the establishment and
application of suitable testing procedures. This testing method can be used on ferrous
and nonferrous materials, is often suited for testing thicker sections accessible from one
side only, and can often detect finer lines or plainer defects which may not be as readily
detected by radiographic testing.
Standards
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION (ISO)

 ISO 7963, Non-destructive testing - Ultrasonic testing - Specification for

calibration block No. 2
 ISO/DIS 11666, Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic testing of welded
joints - Acceptance levels
 ISO/DIS 17640, Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic testing of welded
joints
 ISO 22825, Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic testing - Testing of
welds in austenitic steels and nickel-based alloys

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION (CEN)

 EN 583, Non-destructive testing - Ultrasonic examination

 EN 1330-4, Non destructive testing - Terminology - Part 4: Terms used in
ultrasonic testing
 EN 1712, Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic testing of welded joints -
Acceptance levels
 EN 1713, Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic testing - Characterization
of indications in welds
 EN 1714, Non-destructive testing of welds - Ultrasonic testing of welded joints
 EN 12223, Non-destructive testing - Ultrasonic examination - Specification for
calibration block No. 1
 EN 12668-1, Non-destructive testing - Characterization and verification of
ultrasonic examination equipment - Part 1: Instruments
 EN 12668-2, Non-destructive testing - Characterization and verification of
ultrasonic examination equipment - Part 2: Probes
 EN 12668-3, Non-destructive testing - Characterization and verification of
ultrasonic examination equipment - Part 3: Combined equipment
 EN 12680, Founding - Ultrasonic examination
 EN 14127, Non-destructive testing - Ultrasonic thickness measurement
Ultrasonic Testing FAQ
1. WHAT IS AN ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCER?
A transducer is any device that converts one form of energy into another. An
ultrasonic transducer converts electrical energy into mechanical vibrations
(sound waves), and sound waves into electrical energy. Typically, they are small,
hand-held assemblies that come in a wide variety of frequencies and style to
accommodate specific test needs.

2. WHAT IS AN ULTRASONIC THICKNESS GAGE?

An ultrasonic thickness gage is an instrument that generates sound pulses in a
test piece and very precisely measures the time interval until echoes are
received. Having been programmed with the speed of sound in the test material,
the gage utilizes that sound velocity information and the measured time interval
to calculate thickness via the simple relationship [distance] equals [velocity]
multiplied by [time].

3. HOW ACCURATE IS ULTRASONIC THICKNESS GAGING?

Under optimum conditions, commercial ultrasonic gages can achieve accuracies
as high as +/- 0.001 mm, with accuracies of +/- 0.025 mm or better possible in
most common engineering materials. Factors affecting accuracy include the
uniformity of sound velocity the test material, the degree of sound scattering or
absorption, the surface condition, and the accuracy and care with which the
instrument has been calibrated for the application at hand.

4. WHO USES ULTRASONIC GAGES?

A major use for ultrasonic gages is the measurement of remaining wall thickness
in corroded pipes and tanks. The measurement can be made quickly and easily
without needing access to the inside or requiring the pipe or tank to be emptied.
Other important applications include measuring the thickness of molded plastic
bottles and similar containers, turbine blades and other precision machined or
cast parts, small diameter medical tubing, rubber tires and conveyor belts,
fiberglass boat hulls, and even contact lenses.

5. WHAT IS AN ULTRASONIC FLAW DETECTOR?

Sound waves traveling through a material will reflect in predictable ways off of
 flaws such as cracks and voids. An ultrasonic flaw detector is an instrument that
generates and processes ultrasonic signals to create a waveform display that
can be used by a trained operator to identify hidden flaws in a test piece. The
operator identifies the characteristic reflection pattern from a good part, and then
looks for changes in that reflection pattern that may indicate flaws.

6. WHAT KIND OF FLAWS CAN YOU FIND WITH ONE?

A wide variety of cracks, voids, disbonds, inclusions, and similar problems that
affect structural integrity can all be located and measured with ultrasonic flaw
detectors. The minimum detectable flaw size in a given application will depend
on the type of material being tested and the type of flaw under consideration.

7. WHO USES ULTRASONIC FLAW DETECTORS?

Ultrasonic flaw detectors are widely used in critical safety-related and quality-
related applications involving structural welds, steel beams, forgings, pipelines
and tanks, aircraft engines and frames, automobile frames, railroad rails, power
turbines and other heavy machinery, ship hulls, castings, and many other
important applications.

8. WHAT OTHER TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS ARE AVAILABLE?

Ultrasonic imaging systems are used to generate highly detailed pictures similar
to x-rays, mapping the internal structure of a part with sound waves. Phased
array technology originally developed for medical diagnostic imaging is used in
industrial situations to create cross-sectional pictures. Large scanning systems
are used by the aerospace industry and metalworking suppliers to check for
hidden flaws in both raw materials and finished parts. Ultrasonic pulser/receivers
and signal analyzers are used in a variety of materials research applications.

References: www.olympus-ims.com and Welding and Cutting United States

https://www.bindt.org/What-is-NDT/Index-of-acronyms/B/bea/

BEA
Backwall Echo Attenuation
BEA – Backwall Echo Attenuation is a flaw detection technique applied in ultrasonics to identify or confirm the
presence of defects by observing a reduction in the amplitude of the echo reflected from the backwall. A typical
example is in the inspection of forgings using a 0° probe. The amplitude of the echo from the backwall will
remain approximately constant in clean material. The presence of defects between the probe and the backwall
reduce the amount of sound reaching the backwall and, consequently, reduce the size of the backwall echo.

Planar laminar defects are likely to produce direct pulse-echo responses, which can be detected as signals
observed in the range between the probe and the backwall echo. The BEA provides confirmation of the
presence of such defects. Clusters of small defects, such as porosity, may not produce a reflected signal of
sufficiently high amplitude to be detected by direct pulse-echo. However, depending on the number and
density, they may scatter the sound sufficiently to be detected by BEA.

BEA is offered as a function on some flaw detectors. For an inspection of a forging, the flaw detector gain,
required to detect the signals from potential defects, will be sufficiently high such that the backwall signal will be
significantly greater than full-screen height. The BEA function allows a separate lower gain to be applied to a
gate towards the end of the timebase, so that the backwall echo can be fully observed on the screen during the
inspection and any changes in amplitude can be monitored.

For more information on BEA see:

The instruction manuals for flaw detectors offering the BEA function.