\ Ultrasonic Flaw DY-Tare aol Mm Reys Technicians 3rd Edition Ree yayCopyright © J. C. Drury / Sivenwing Limited All rights reserved. No part of his publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ‘or transmitted, in any form or by any means, ‘electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording ‘or otherwise, without the prior permission of Siveruing Limited Designed and printed by Imex Group Limited Darcy Business Park, Liandaroy ‘Neath, SA10 GE Cover Design: Lara GrifithsChapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13, Chapter 14 Chapter 15, Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 CONTENTS History of Utrasonic Flaw Detection Basic Principles of Sound Properties of Sound Transducers for Generating Sound Waves Proble Construction ‘The Pulse-Echo Flaw Detector The Ultrasonic Beam Calibration and Reference Standards Compression Wave Techniques ‘Shear Wave Techniques ‘Surface Wave Techniques Immersion Techniques The Examination of Steel Castings The Examination of Forgings The Examination of Welds Detect Sizing and Evaluation Techniques ‘Assessing the Performance of Equipment Report Writing 18 35 48 55 64 4 79 9 108 a 118 133 145 192 242 249FOREWORD Inthe twenty-tve years since the fst edlion of ‘Utrasonic Fiaw Detection for Technicians’ was published, there have been a number of advances {in transducer technology and the flaw detection instruments. The gradual ‘acceptance by the industry that the sizing of weld detects by intensity drop was not as accurate as had been claimed led to the development of the ‘TOFD technique. Modem digital flaw detectors and computer technology alow far more information to be store by the operator. fot that it was time to {ive the book a thorough review and tory to address some ofthe advances In this second eatin, ‘Over the years, so many knowledgeable people have helped to Keep me informed of changes or provided me with pictures, drawings, techniques and data that it would be impossible to remember all their names. To miss just ‘one name coulé give offence and so! can only thank al of them here. To those of you who are just staring ona career in ultrasonic law detection {and who read tis book, I wish you every success forthe future and maybe ‘someday you wil quote an old tiend af mine who aftr tity plus years in the business claimed that he'd never done a day's work'lthad allbeen fn’. That ‘only goes to prove that there are masochist in every walk of it, ohn Drury ‘Swansea, March 2008CHAPTER HisTORY People have probably used the natural resonance of fabricated solid objects ta-make sure they are “Sound”, meaning free from serious imperfections, 2a long as they have been making those objects. We tak about “The ring of ‘ruth, "Sound as abel and use similar phrases to denote honesty or qualty ‘of manufacture Every soli object, whether i is a piece of pottery or china, a cast bell or forged sword, has a natural resonant frequency (pitch) when given a sharp tap. The presence o large void, crack or similar eiscontinity wil cause the resonance of the affected objec o aif from that ofthe standard object. I the aiference in pitch, or duration of ringing is big enough, the human ear ill dotect it.The limiting factor with simple acoustic testing is reached when the ertical size of eiscontinulty that wil ultimately lead to falureis too smal tocause a change that can be detected by the most sensitive ear. ‘The property of sound that governs dotectabilty Is wavelength, and if a lscontinuty has @ major dimension that is less than half a wavelength sound will tend to wash around the escontinuty rather than be reflected byt In metals, the wavelongth of sound at aucbe frequencies is relatively large and so only large eiscontnuites can be detected by ear. Much higher frequencies are needed to detect the small imperfections that are citical in ‘modem highly stressed components and it was not untl the late nineteenth ‘and early twentieth centuries thatthe technologies existed to generate and etect such high frequencies. Lord Rayleigh in “The theory of sound” published in the 1870's described the fundamental principles dotning the nature and behaviour of sound. This was fallowed by the discovery ofthe piezoelectric elect by the Curie brothers in 1880 with further work by Lippmann in 1881, They found that certain naturally occuring crystals, cut in a certain way, developed an electricalpotential across the faces of the material when subjected to mechanical pressure and that a mechanical station occurred if an electrical potential was applied across those faces. The piezoelectric effect was eventually ‘exploited to ganerate and detect sound waves at the frequencies required {or modem Haw detection ‘Alter the Titanic disaster in 1912, twas suggested that perhaps underwater sound waves could be used to detect icebergs at sea ata range that ‘would alow the ship to take avoiding action. The idea became even more imporant for the detection of submarines during World War 1 and lead t0 the development o a pulse echo system by the end ofthe war. In the years Immediately foloving the armistice the pulse echo system found peacetul Uses in hydrographic surveys to chart the ocean depths, and inthe fishing industry to detect shoals of fh, iis interesting thatthe pulse echo principle was not adopted for law detection in metas until he early part of World War 2 twas in 1929 that Sokoloy, in Russia, st described some work that he had carried out on cast steel using sound waves at high frequency generated by quartz crystals. During these experiments he had dotected dofects in castings that were to thick tobe examined by radiography. His early work sed a quartz crystal to generate a continuous sound wave through the metal and a poo! of mercury on the opposite side to display the arval of the sound at that surface. The sound conveyed tothe mercury set up a vibration pattemn fon the surface of the mercury in much the same way as a pattern develops fn the surface of a cup of tea placed on a vibrating sutace. In Sokolov's «ase, a change in pater indicated an intemal change inthe casting In 1995 he describe a more practical design for flaw detection in metals in which he used a second quartz crystal to detect the transmitted sound instead of the mercury pool. He also described his method for coupling the sound between metal and crystals. This new method of non-destructive testing was named “Supersonic flaw detection until the word supersonic became more really associated with high speed fight and in the late 1950'sthe name was changed to “Utrasonic flaw detection. Both names were intended to incicate thatthe vibrations were ata frequency that was too high tobe detected by the human ear Many other workers especially in Germany and Russia adopted Sokolov's continuous wave technique. The sound arriving at the receiver crystal generated a voltage proportional to the intensity (loudness) of sound reaching the receiver. The presence of a void or other discontinuity in the sound path decreased the amount of sound transmited and the receiver voltage would therefore be lower. Theory predicted that only a portion af the {energy reaching the fr side ofthe metal would be transmited to the receiver crystal and that the remaining portion would be reflected back towards the transmit. In when testing cast structures, the rellected energy was usually too weak to complete the retum joumey and the technique worked well However, t was found that when the technique was applied to fine grained structures such as forgings or roled plate, the retlected energy was strong enough to reach the transmitter, reflect again and jon in wth the continuing transmited waves, These reflected waves might join in with the new waves in phase, constructively, hus increasing the intosity of sound, o join in oi of phase, structivly, which decreased the sound intensity, Since the technique used the received voltage to inicate the condition ofthe test object, itcan be seen that the interference ofthe rellected enoray destroyed the effectiveness of the test During the early 1940's, several workers on the field, notably Sproule in the UK, Trost and Gotz in Germany and Firestone in the USA, began to use shor pues of liasound instead of continuous waves. This approach had two distinct advantages over previous methods; fisly it was possible to wait unt all the multiple echoas fram ane pulse had died away before sending the next pulse, thereby avoiding interference. Secondly, by placing the receiver exystal on the same side ofthe test piece as the transmitter,‘twas possible to eisplay the thickness of the material and depth of ary discontinuity. Sproule used Separate crystals fr transmiting and receiving \nereas Firestone used only a single crystal the crystal acting as a receiver during the interval Between pulses. Both approaches had advantages over the ether under certain conditions and so flaw detectors by 1950 allowed the se of either single or twin crystal operation, ‘Unt 1947, utrasonie Haw detection was restricted othe detection of detects that were parallel tothe scanning surface. Attempts to introduce the sound into metals at angles above about 10° were thwarted because the beam Lnderwent mode conversion as wel as refraction. The Second mode was @ shear wave that can only exist in solids. This wave retracted at a iflerent angle from the compression wave and travelled at about hat the speed. The presence of two beams with citferent angles and speeds made interpretation of signals very dificult, Sproule overcame the problem in that year by increasing the angle o incidence until the compression wave was eliminated nde introduced a range of Shear wave" probes wth Beam angles in stee! of 45%, 60°, and 70°, Tis opened up the field for many new applications of Ltrasonic law detection in aerospace, welding and other industries. Since 1950, there have been advances on many tronts in transducer ‘materials, electronics, and data handing and storage, but the same basic Principles remain in use for many applications. Several techniques for estimating the size of discontinuities were developed during the 1960'S and 1970s, but none of these proved o be accurate enough forthe new science of fracture mechanics to reliably precct the likehood of fale. Sproule had described the ifvacton signal cginating from the tip ofa reflector in tho 1950's but it was Si, in 1977, who first described a practical technique for using ditraction signals trom the top and bottom of a discontinuly to ‘measure its through thickness dimension. His technique, known as “Time of light Ditracion’ (TOFD) offers greater accuracy of defect sizing and has become widely used ineitical wold inspectionCHAPTER 2 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SOUND Sound waves are vibrations of the particles of solid quid or gas through hich the sound is passing. Each particle oscillates about a mean position {and in doing so causes a similar vibration to be taken up by is neighbour ‘The resulting cisturbance radiates out from the source as a sound wave. ‘Sound waves are therefore a form of mechanical energy that can only exist na solid liquid or gas and not in a vacuum, Essentially, there are two requirements for sustaining @ vibration: there must be something to irate and some force that wil always try to rotum that ‘Something’ to its ctginal postion. In other words, there must be MASS and ELASTICITY, This is ilustrated in figure 21a below. A weight is suspended trom a beam bya spring. The weight (W) provides the MASS ang the spring provides the ELASTICITY. Atos, the force of gravity (G) acing on the weights balanced by the tension (T) in the spring It he weights pulled downwards trom its rest poston (A) 1 postion B, the tension in the spring wil increase. When the weight is eleased, the weight will accelerate back towards postion A reaching its maximum velocity at position A when the forces T and G are again equal. The momentum ofthe weight traveling at speed will cause the weight f0 overshoot postion [A Immediately the tension in the spring is less than the force of gravity land the weight wll begin to decelerate unt it comes to rest at position C. Because force G is now larger than T, the weight wil star to descend again; fevershooting position A again until the increasing tension in the spring eventually stops the downward movement. At this time, the whole cycle of evens stats again and continues until fiction and air resistance losses ‘gradually bring the oscillations to a stop. Figure 2.1b is a graph of the displacement of the weight, during this up land down motion, against time. In the cagram, two points on the graph {are shown where the weight is doing the same thing, traveling upwards ‘and passing through postion °A’ on consecutive passes. The distance (lime) between these two points represent one complete cycle of the ‘oscillation, The number of cycles of oscilation completed in a given period cof time (usually one second) is called the Frequency’ ofthe oscilation, The ‘maximum displacement of the weight from its normal rst position is called the “Ampltude’ of the oscillation, One of the best examples of an oscillating souree of sound that can be sod lata in describing he action of an ultrasonic test probe isthe guitar. ‘The strings of a guitar are elastic and pre-ensioned to produce a paricular frequency of vibration. Each string is distorted by the guitarist to stretch the string and then released, As soon as iis released, the string begins to scilate about its mean position at the resonant frequency of that sting Shortening the sving using a finger to hols the string against one ofthe frets ‘can change the Irequeney. The human ear recognises the frequency as the ch’ of the note produced. The ‘Loudness’ of the note depends on how {ar the gutavis cstorted tho string, in other words, the ‘Amplitude’ ofthat distowion, ‘The mass of woodwork to which the string is attached amplifies the sound _and adds its own harmonic frequencies to produce a range of notes to give 10the characteristic richness of tone tothe instrument. The band o frequencies | produced i called the “Bandy of the sound in ulrasonis, ‘THE ACOUSTIC SPECTRUM ‘Sound waves are described above as the oscillation of particles of sols, liquids or gases. The human ear can onty detect a small range of possible vibration trequencies, roughly between 16 cycles per second and 20,000 cycles por second. In theory, however, here is a limitless spectrum of frequencies and that are possible even if humans can't hear the whole range. The spectrum i ilustrated in figure 2.2 below: ‘The unit used to denote frequency is the Herz, abbreviated as Hz, where ‘Hz I one cycle per second. One thousand Hz is writen as 1KHz (Kilo Hort) and one milion Hz as *MHz (Mega Hert). The pat ofthe spectrum trom zero to 16H2 is below the range of human hearing and is called the ‘Subsonic Range’. From 16H2 to 20KH2 is known as the ‘Audible Range! and above 20KH2 as the ‘Utrasonic Range’. Ulrasonic flaw detection uses brations a frequencies above 20KHz Most flaw detection takes place between SOOKHz and 20MHz although there are some applications, for example in concrete, that use much lower ‘frequencies and there are special applications at frequencies above 20MHz, In most practcal applications in stels and light alloys, requencies between 2¥Hz and 10MHz predominate. Generally the higher the test frequency,the smaller the minimum detectable flaw, but it wil be shown in folowing chapters that higher frequencies are more readly attenuated by the test structure. Choosing an appropriate test frequency becomes a compromise bbetwaan the sie of law that can be detected and the ability to get sufficient sound energy 0 the prospective flaw depth MODES OF PROPAGATION ‘Sound energy travels, or ‘propagates’, outwards from the source of he vibration as the oscilation of a particle of solid, liquid or gas disturbs the neighbouring particles so that the neighbour takes up the ascilation. It will take time for the disturbance, called the ‘sound wave’, to reach a given lstance from the source. Ths is a measure ofthe velocity of sound in @ ‘iven medium. It wil be shown that this velocity varies depending on the characteristics of each material and the way in which the disturbance is transmitted trom one paricle to the next. The diferent ways in which the lsturbance may be transmit are known as the "Modes of Propagation ‘The diferent modes of propagation come about because solids, unike liquids and gases, nave a modulus of rigity as well as a modulus of last. Figure 2.3 shows a column of al tapped inside two cyinders, each closed atone end, and withthe open end of one fitting perfectly into the open fend ofthe other he two cyindersare pushed togetner, he pressure of he trapped air increases and when the applied force is removed, the cylinders vil spring back to their original positons. Similarly, fhe two cylinders are pulled apart, the pressure wil decrease, and on release, the partial vacuum il estore the cylinders to that position ny od... 2A similar resistance to compressing or stretching the column would be ‘experienced fhe air were tobe replaced by water, but the resistance would be stronger If the cylinders were o be replaced by a single cylinder of ste! the resistance to setching (tension) or compression would be very strong indeed! These hypothetical columns of a gas, a liquid and a solid could be represented by a spring attached tothe inside ofthe cylinders as shown in figure 2.4. The strength of the spring would in tum represent the value of ‘Young's Modulus of Elasticity (for the material. Solids, quid and gases all have this resistance to compression and tension, z ‘The Modulus of Figity (6) is the materia resistance to a shear load 4nd this is ilusrated in gure 2.5 This shows two cylinders fiting perfectly ‘across the open ends. Ita force is applied to side the top cylinder tothe lat ‘and another to slide the bottom cylinder to the right tis clear that there would be lite resistance to this shear load if the space was filed with alr or wate, but considerable resistance inthe case ofa rigid body lke steel. For soles, this rigiity could be represented by another spring across the column at right angles to the modulus of elasticity (igure 26). Fos Fo28‘COMPRESSION WAVE MODE Because liquids and gases have na modulus o git, sound waves can only propagate by using ther esistanca to tension and compression. Ths ype of ‘sound wave is called he ‘Compression Wave’: Compression waves can exist In solids, iquids and gases because they all have elasticity. Compression waves are also known as ‘Longitudinal’ waves, and sometimes as ‘Plane! ‘waves The individual particles ofthe solid liquid or gas oscillate about thee ‘mean position, and the direction of propagation of the compression wave is inthe same plane asthe particle motion as shown in fgure 2.7. SHEAR WAVE MODE ‘Shear waves onty exist in soids and aly on the modulus of igity ofthe Solis Under tes, they can exist on their own or co-exist with compression waves and surface waves. Shear waves are also sometimes called ‘Transverse! ‘waves. Again, the individual particles ofthe solid oscilate about their mean position, bu the direction of propagation of the shear wave is at right angles tothe panicle motion, Ths is ilustrated In figure 2.8.‘SURFACE WAVE MODE [At the surface of @ solid, a complex mode of oscilation can exist in which the particle motion is mainly perpendicular to the direction of propagation 1s with the shear wave, and party inthe same plane as the direction of propagation a8 with the compression wave. This mode of propagation is called the “Surface wave! or ‘Rayleigh wave’. Sutace waves only affect the ‘surface layer ofthe solid to @ depth of about one wavelength, and have the advantage that tney olow the sutace contour ofthe object and only etloct ‘at an abrupt change such as a comer or erack. For the surtaco wave, the particle motion is elitcal with the major axis ofthe elipse at right anges to the direction of propagation. Ths is shown in figure 2.9 e ae Le poabaeeee = —_—ornme LAMB WaVE MODES Lamb waves, ke Surface waves, propagate parallel to the test surface ‘and have an elipical particla motion, They occur when the thickness of the test matrial is only a few wavelengths at the test frequency and where the test piece is of uniform thickness. Lamb waves fil the wall thickness and Propagate along the major axis ofthe component. They can travel several ‘eter in steel, so they can be used for rapid scanning of plate tube and wire. Recent developments for rapid corrosion montring in buried pipes use Lam ‘waves under the name ‘Guided Waves'. The wall ofthe component flexos 50 that the sound ripples along the material storing both surlaces. Figure 2.10 tustrates a type of Lamb wave where the crests ofthe wave onthe near ‘and far sufaces coincide. These are caled Symenetical Lamb Waves. igure 162.11 shows anather type of Lamb wave where the crest on one side concdes ‘wth a trough on the other. These are called Asymmetrical Lamb Waves. ‘Town woven aro gered ater angle tat epee onthe a Toner end lel ees, Toto parameters ao deternine fe tsb oda Las ware anal a el cata’ or Govants Lt wave voscly whch he hela cmeredor wee Ito Perper sweops slong te oeco at conte vine voc clive Lamo weve mh ater, hele cho by adn nero Insorea "Ti vt can becasue ved ial Where: V, = the velocity ofthe incident wavetront along the test surtace V, = the incident compression wave velocity in Perspex P= the angle of incidence in the Perspex 16iguee 2.12 illustrates the above formula, (CREEPING (LATERAL) WAVES ‘There isa special ype of compression wave called a ‘Creeping’ or Lateral” wave, It sneaks along the surface rather lke a surface wave, its use is deserved under TOFD techniques. ‘SUMMARY “There are several modes of propagation that can be sustained in solids, but ‘only Compression waves can exist in solid, iquds and gases, 7CHAPTERS PROPERTIES OF SOUND WAVES 1. veLociry ‘Sound travels at diferent speeds through ciiferent materials. This is noticeable when, for example, a railroad worker is observed from a distance striking aril wth a hammer. Since the speed of ightis much faster than that ‘of sound, the observer fist sees the hammer stke the cil. the abserveris ‘also close to the rail, the nex! event is the sound ofthe blow coming out of the rail and finally the airborne sound is heard. This tells us thatthe speed of sound in the rail is faster than the speed of sound in ar Is tue that sound travels faster in quids than in gasses and faster in metals than in liquids. However, itis also tre that sound travels at itlerent speeds in different metals. There is a dstinct speed of sound for ‘each material and in ultrasonic this is called the VELOCITY of sound for that material. This being so, it would be useful to have an understanding of ‘the reasons forthe diflerence, Imagine two pais of dental tect bal, one pairoined bya strong compression spring andthe other pairby a weak spring, fone ofeach pairs moved towards its partner at a constant speed, the spring joining the pai il start to compress. Eventually there will be enough compression in the spring to overcome the inerta of the second bal and it wil start fo move. AS shown in figure 3.1, the ‘second ball will move sooner forthe pai connected by the stronger spring. PHO coma ae AOYVIDNO 9% i icteatnen eersteInthe analogy, the balls represent the particles of solid, quid or gas through which the sound wave ts propagating and the springs represent Young's Modulus of elasticity ‘The suggestion made by the analogy is thatthe ssturbance wil pass more quicly from one particle tothe next in a material having greater elastic. In other words, the velocty of a compression wave willbe higher for greater values of elasticity, This is generaly the case but tere Is another main factor affecting velocity, and that isthe density f the rater ‘Consider another situation n which pair of aluminium balls and a pair of ead balls replace the steel pairs in the above analogy but with each paijoined by springs of equal strength. The inertia ofthe lead ball is greater than that of the aluminium ball an this te it wil take longer to get the lead ball moving. ‘This suggests that the compression wave velocty will be lower for high- density materials than for low-density materials. Density and elasticity are the dominant factors atfecting velocity, but theres another ane, which plays ‘relatively minor, but nane theless significant, ole, anditis called Poisson's Ratio, During a tensile test, to measure the strength of a metal sample, the iameter of the sample reduces as the sample is stretched. The change in ameter divided by the change in length is Poisson's Ratio. Considering al these factors, the velocty of a compression wave in a material can be caleuated from the folowing formula: - y- [E10 Ye G+aM-20) Were y ‘Compression wave velocity E = Young's Modulus of Etastcty Material Density © = Poisson's Ratio‘Shear waves are able to exist in solids but they do not travel at the same velocity asthe compression wave in a given material. This is because is the "Modulus of Rigidity ather than Young's Modulus, that dictates the velocity, ‘and te modulus a gity slower than the modulus of elasticity. This means that the shear wave veloc is always slower than the compression wave velocity in a material, As rue of hum, the shear wave velocity is roughly half the compression wave velocity. The velocity can be calculated from: - faeces rie Vp dies) rateratiey Where V,=. Shear wave velocty G = Modulus of Rigiity P = Material Density 6 = Poisson's Ratio ‘Surface (Rayleigh) waves also have their own paricular velocity, which is ‘generally taken to be approximately 90% ofthe shear wave velocity ‘Aliough the velocity for each of these modes of propagation can be caleulatod, it requires a preciso knowledge of all the parameters, and these ‘are not usually available tothe ultrasonic practioner. Parameters such as density and strength vary with alloying, heat treatment, casting, rating and forging processes — all of which make it dificult to know thatthe correct values are being used. Instead, it is more normal o carry ut a routine called ‘Calratton’ during the setting up procedure for an ultrasonic inspection. In the caliration procedure the flaw detector tme-base is adjusted to give a convenient scale against a calibration sample of known thickness and made ff the same material as the Work to be tested, Table 1 at the end of this chapter lists the compression and shear wave velocities for a number of material.2. WAVELENGTH nile the paricies are competing each cycie of their oscilaton, the sound |wave is moving outwards in the drection of propagation atthe characteristic ‘yeloaty for that mater. It fllows that during the time taken to complete one cycle of vibration, the sound wave wil move a certain dstance depending ‘on the veloc in that material Fora given sound frequency, tis distance is relatively small for liquids and gasses compared to that in metals, because velocities are higher in metals. The dstance travelled by the sound wave ‘during one cycle of vibration is called the WAVELENGTH, In general, the ‘maximum dimension ofa reflecting sutace is equal to or greater than halla ‘wavelength, the retlecton wil be detectable. follows that calculation ofthe ‘wavelength wi help in the choice of test frequency for aspect application, ‘Wavelength is given the Greek symbol. (lambda) and for any material and ‘sound frequency, wavelength can be calculated from the equation: ast f Where i = wavelength V = Velocity f= frequency Example 1 CCalelate the wavelength of a SMH2 compression wave in Steel, given ‘hat he volt of sound in mista 5.960 metres per second (M820), 960. 5,000,000 Meters 2 =0-00192M atIt would be bet muttlying to express such a smal distance in millimetres (mm) by answer by 1,000: A= 000192 1,000 hee t.ig2mm [At ultrasonic frequencies, the wavelength of sound in metals is relatively ‘short and so its usual to express the wavelength in millimetres. Tis is done atthe start ofthe calculation by changing the veooty trom meters to millimetres a second by multiplying the value in Mise by 1,000. Example 2 Calculate for a StH compression wave in Aluminium, given that the velocity is 6 400 Mise. f 84001000, 10,000 = 128mm Example 3 Calculate the wavelength of a 2MHz shear wave in aluminium given thatthe shear wave velocity is 3130 Mlsec. 3130x1000 ~~ 200000 = LS65mm 23, ACOUSTIC IMPEDANCE ‘Acoustic impedance of a materials the product ofthe material's density and \elooty. At the interlace between two materials, the acoustic impedances tether side of the intertace wil determine what proportion ofthe Incident ound wave wil rellect and what proportion will ansmit into the second ‘material. The symbol allocated to acoustic impedance i¢'Z and for a given material, Z=pxV 4, REFLECTION Pose Figure 32 shows the interace between two materials whose acoustic impedances are Z, and Z, respectively. In the example, pat of the energy 's transmitted into Material 2 and partis reflected back into Material 1. The Percentage of the incident energy that i reflected can be calculated from the equation: - (iz )° Where: - ARE i the reflected energy 2, & Z, are ne acoustic impedances 2Example 4 Calculate the percentage ofthe incident energy that would be rellected at a ‘tee 0 water interlace given that Z,,.,= 46.7 and Z,., = 1.48. 46.7148 46.71.48 ) 100% (82 100% B18 RES Note thatthe remaining 123 is transmited ino the water. tthe example had been given as a ‘water to stee interface, the second line ofthe calculation would have shown a negative value inside the brackets. However, the square term outside the bracket would restore the answer to @ positive value and the answer would have been the same 88% reflected his time inthe water, and 12% would have been transmitted into the steel When the interface is between two solids, as in the case of a brazed joint between two pieces of steal, the retlected energy ie much smaller, most of the energy passing across the braze and into the second ste! layer. There are also examples oftwo very diferent materials that have the same acoustic impedance such as Ro-cee rubber and water. Sound traveling through water {and then encountering this particular rudber compound wll carry on through the rubber as fhe interface didnot exist. Table 1 atthe end o this chapter shows the acoustic impedance for a number of materials. 5. COUPLANT ‘Acoustic impedances for metals tend to have high values whereas those for gasses are low. From the above example itis clear that at a sold to gas Intertace, the proportion of energy roflectod is going to be very high. That is Useful because it means that a discontinuity suchas crack or avoid ina metal 24cbject wal rollect almost all the sound back 1 te test surface. However, itis ‘iso a nuisance because it means tha ar between the ulrasonic probe ad the test surface wil prevent the sound fom entering the component. A coupant i qu or paste used between the probe and the test surface to try to match ‘te acoustic impodance of te probe to that ofthe test material. is nt a very efficent process because the best couplants, or example glycerin, only alows about 15% ofthe sound to enter the component, and only the same proportion ‘of any energy coming back othe test surtace can enter the probe to give an ‘echo. At best, then, only tte over two porcent ofthe energy generated atthe ‘probe ever gots back to the spay ‘There are specially formulated couplans for use in law detection as well as water, cls, greases, glycerine and pastes such as wallpaper paste. The ‘eet important considerations when choosing a couplant are fly tha tie ‘not hazardous tothe individual and secondly that it will ot adversely affect the component, 6. REFRACTION Figure 3.2 shows the incident sound as iit were a single ray of energy, but ‘ofcourse tis really a beam that has some width, rather ike a torch boar. I the incidont beam is directed at an interface between water and steel at an ‘angle other than normal, the angle taken up by the transmitted beam in the steol wil be greater than the incident angle in water The advancing wave front in a sound beam can be detined as the plane in which all the oscating Particles ae ‘in phase’, ora the same poston n their oscillating cyce. The bottom edge of the beam shown in igure 3.3 arrives at the interface fist and immediately takes up the faster velocity ofthe steel, As the rest of the wave front reaches the interlace, 20 the tranamitted beam gradually takes up stool velocity. By the time that he top edge ofthe beam enters the ste! the sound from the bottom edge has already ravolied four times further than It would have in water. Joining up the ‘in phase’ points on the wave front at the instant the top edge enters the stel shows the wave front advancing at ‘anew angle. The beam of sound is sad to have undergone ‘Reaction’ asi ‘tossed the interface and the new angle is called tho angle of Refraction, ey“The reaction eccurs because ofthe diference in velocity on elther side ofthe Interface and the proportions of energy reflected inthe water and tansmitied Into the stool romain the same as it would be for normal incidence. Figure 3.4 shows the incident, reflected and reracted angles. These angles are alvays ‘measured rom the Normal tothe interlace. In the diagram, Ps the angle of Incidence, ris the angle of retloction and Ris the angle of retraction.“the angles and voloctes are related and the relationship is expressed in ‘nels Law such that: - ini? _ Sine” _Sink® where: %, [Angle of Incidence Angle of Retloction Anglo of Retraction Volocty in Medium Volocty in Medium 7, MODE CONVERSION HY Mediurnt is a liquid and Medium 2 a solid, some of the energy in the ‘solid will change to the Shear Wave mode. This change is known as Mode Conversion. For small anges of incidence the proportion of energy ‘changing to shear wave modo is small and can be ignored. However as the angle of incidence increases the proportion increases and the shear wave ‘becomes significant so that there can be two types of wave in medium 2 ‘atthe same time, both of which can rele from surfaces within the object. ‘Since they both travel at diferent speeds, and Snel's Law tolls us that they wil eract in ferent rections, the resuls canbe very confusing. This was ‘a restrtng tactorin utrasonics until Sproule developed the frst Shear wave angle probes in 1947. Until then it was unsafe to rly on angles of retraction ‘greater than about 10° since achoas from the compression wave could not be aiscriminated irom the shear wave reflections. Because ofthis ambigut, Lltasonics tonded to be restricted to the detection of dscontinuiles with surfaces parallel to the scanning surlace such as laminations and cavities. Attempts to detect, for example, weld defects such as lack of sidewall fusion ‘and root cracks by angling the beam were not reliable. ‘Sproule realised thatthe compression wave reracted angle would always bee about double the shear wave retracted angle because the shear wave Velocity is about half the compression velocity. Therefore ifthe angle of incidence were to be increased progressively there would be @ citcal ‘angle of incidence at which the compression wave would react through 290%. Any increase in angle of incidence beyond this ertcal angle would leave only @ shear wave in medium 2 and the compression wave would Undergo total intemal reflection in Medium. With only @ shear wave in medium 2 traveling at a known velociy and at a known angle, the tels was open for many new applications of ultrasonics. The crtical angle at hich the compression wave is retracted through 90° is called the first critical angle. For a water to ste! interface the fist crtical angle is about 15! and for a Perspex to stoo! Interface the angle is about 28°. At these critical angles, the remaining shoar wave Isat an angle of refracbon just over {30° Increasing the angle of incidence above the fist ertical angle causes the shear wave reacted angle to increase so that transducers can be produced ‘ata suitable angle to detect pancular defect propagation directions Eventually a second eritical angle o incidence will be reached at which the shear wave will be refracted through 80°. The shear wave at this second critcal angle wil again mode conver, this time to become a Surface (Rayiegh) wave. This new wave travels at 90% ofthe shear wave velocity, nly penetrates to a depth of about one wavelength, wil follow the surtace contour of the abject and wil only reflect at an abrupt change in surtace ‘iroction such as a comer or a crack. Ifthe angle of incidence is increased beyond the second crtical angle, no sound wil be transmitted into medium 2. Ultrasonic transducers having retracted angles between OP and 10° are likely to be compression wave probes and those with refracted angles between 35" and 80° will be shear wave probes. Surace wave probes have fa retracted angle of 90°. Between 10° and 35°, and 80° to 90° it would be possible to have two simultaneous modes exstng in Medium 2 and soit is unusual fo find transducers in these two ranges ~ exceptions to this rue will be ciscussed ina later chapter 28Figures 3.5 and 3.6 show the relationship between the incdent angle and ‘eiracted angle fr water to stoe! and Perspex to steel interfaces, The graphs ‘how that the second ertical angle for water to stool is about 28” and for Porspex to stee! about 58°, These values would be diferent it medium 2 ‘ere to be aluminium or some other soié than steel, Example 5 ‘An incident compression wave in water meets a stelinterface at an incident angle of 19%, calculate the shear wave reacted angle inthe stool given that the compression wave velocity in water as 1480mvs and the shear wave Velocity in steel as 3240s EyFrom Snet's Law ‘Sini_ Sin vy, Ve Theretore: - ‘Sink = V2xSini sine - 324010 3256 1480 Sink =0.7128 From a practical point of view its more usual to know the reacted angle ‘needed in the test material n order to detect a particular discontinuity, and ‘80 the caloulaton would be to find the necessary angle of incidence, in water for immersion testing, or in Perspex for contact scanning, Example 6 shows this version ofthe application of Snel's Law. Example 6 Caleulate the angle of incidence required in Perspex in order to produce 45° ‘Shear wave in stel given thatthe compression wave velocity in Perspex is 680m andthe shear wave veloc in toe is $240m's. From Snei's Law Sini_ Sink Se 268030 7071 Therefore: - inj = 268020.7071 Wert Sr 3240 Sin =0.8848 30, REFLECTIVE MODE CONVERSION Mode conversion also takes place when an ulrasonic beam rallects at intemal surfaces in solids whether these are boundary surlaces, machined features, oF ciscontinutes, The relationship between incident angle of a ‘given beam and the relative amplitude ofthe reflected and mode conversion beams for stoelis shown in the folowing graphs. They alow an assessment tobe made ofthe potential contusion in any given situation and can be used todetermine an alternative test angle to be chosen to avoid the problem, 1) Incident Compression Wave [A compression wave incident on a steel to alr interface wil reflect as a ‘compression wave together with a made converted shear wave. At frst ance, the graph in figure 3:7 looks a bit crowded and confusing, so itis Worth looking at hree areas ofthe graph to help understand is us. lwo goto the 10rangle of incidence («) on the baseline and project upwards to the mode conversion angle (8) we can see thatthe shear wave travels at ‘an angle just les than 5° (we could calculate this trom Snels Law). If we Continue the projaction unt we meet the shear wave ampitude curve (S) at{and read across to the right hand scale we see that the relative amplitude of the shear wave Is about 25%. Continuing upwards to the reflected compression wave amplitude curve (C) we find thatthe relative amplitude of the compression wave is about 95%. So for an incident compression wave {at 10" the shear wave mode conversion i stl relatively small compared with the rolacted compression wave. ‘Working in the same way at an incident angle (a) of 30° we find that (is ‘around 15° but the relative amplitudes ofthe shear wave and compression wave are 90% and 70% respectively. Both will give strong signals if they reach the receiver Last the extreme case, whera «ig around 60” and around 30° we find that the relative shear wave amplitude is 90% but the reflected compression wave ‘amplitude has fallen to only about 10%, For greater anges of incidence than 60%, the shear wave rapidly decreases in ampltude and the compression wave recovers. Clearly we need to take care in aur interpretation of signals if we sae that a compression wave in steel is likely to meet @ known reflecting surface in that part ofthe graph where the shear wave amplitude 's signieant goatee ‘t + ys | “CE : ani Foss oe eee +‘asheat wave will elect as a shear wave together with a mode converted ‘compression wave, Using the graph in figure 3.8 as we did before, wo can oe thal the most severe case Is when the incident shear wave meets a ‘toot arinterface at about 90° The reloctes shear wave amplitude is very low and the mode-convertod compression wave is very strong and almost perpendicular tothe test surtace. It the Incident shear wave grazes a surlace, in other words the incident ‘angle is around 90°, there wil be a mode conversion to Rayloigh wave, This ‘can happen wren a shear wave grazes the bore of a machined hole in the specimen. In that case the Rayleigh wave wil follow the bore surface and will reflect it encounters a sharp changes to the bore such as a koyway. Ifyou ‘are not aware ofthe possibilty, you may assume tha there isa discontinuity Ina false positon. An example is shown in igure 3.9 below. x] ee 33“TiatevalsVatoeiy (6) Vaociy (5) Densiy Aenuste Impscance Tne mae wate giat ae om 12 De Berti v8 ae 1900 2 aston asiess 22092 70 25000 Copper 76 a) es ‘tas (Crom) 566 ar) tra en 6 az 250 “58 esd Zien Tre B 300 7500 2s Liium Suphato 545 060 m2 agree sm 300 20 20 ecuy 14 19850 196 Nevysorum 625 235 soa ar Porpox zea 12 1200 32 Pasteur 306 ter 21400 50 Pyare 2x 12 160 25 Soe 8) 596 a2 750 67 Soe Siness) 574 an 2000 ua ‘her 370 170 10500 ae tw 328 61 700 27 “Hann 509 aw 00 z0 “ngston 57 2a 19200 100 Tipsensiniate 206 10800 2165 Tungsencarice 665 30 ro0001 10004510905 ann as 202 1270 a Zeca aes 220 400 28 3aCHAPTER 4 TRANSDUCERS FOR GENERATING AND DETECTING SOUND WAVES. SWINGING THE LEAD There i= an amusing story about a nautical gentleman at the time when wooden ships were being superseded by iron ones. This sailor thought up 1 new way fo determine the depth of water under the hull o replace the old Jead weight on a rope methad. He decided that it should be possible, with a large hammer and a stopwatch, to bang an the iron bottom of the ship with the hammer and time the return echo from the seabed wih the stopwatch, ‘The measured time could be used to calculate depth using the speed of sound in water. Fred with enthusiasm, he gathored together a number of marine dignitaries in the bilges of his ship, passed a large sledgehammer to a muscular boatswain, took out his stopwatch and ordered the ‘swain to wallop the flor. Tis he eid with such vigour thatthe hull Boomed for ton minutes and the assembled observers were deafened for a month! Nobody heard an echo, ‘There are parallels with ultrasonic law detection in the story; we need our ‘sound pulses to be ‘oud’ enough to penetrate tothe depth ofthe anticipated flaw and we need the duration of the pulse to be short so that it does not ‘mask any returning echoes. We also need the sound requeney o the pulse to produce a wavelength short enough to detect the smallest reflector that ‘must be detected to ensure safety. In this chapter we will discuss various ways of generating and detecting suitable pulses and some ofthe limitations we face in terms of penetration and flaw sensitivity. ULTRASONIC TRANSDUCERS ‘transducer is @ device that will change one form of energy into another ‘An electric motor changes electrical energy into mechanical energy and an ‘ternator does the reverse. Utrasonic transducers change electrical energy into mechanical energy (sound waves) of vice versa. There are several 35‘methods used to generate and detect ulasonic pulses in modern flaw detection and the most common of these makes use of the Prezo Electic ‘etfect found in certain materials. ther methods, such as the Elec Magnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) and Laser technology wil also be descxibed, PIEZO ELECTRIC TRANSDUCERS In 1880 the Curie bathers Bscovered thal shoes eut in a particular way from certain crystal materials would generate an electrical potential across the faces of the slice when distorted by a mechanical force. They called this phenomenon ‘Plezoolectricty’ trom the Greek words for ‘Pressure’ and lacrcy’ A year or so lator Lippman reported that the reverse was true that. {Quartz was the prime example ofa piezoelectric materia, but Rochelle salts and Tourmaline crystals also displayed the same effct. Moder piezovlectic (2 igniters use a cam pressing on a quartz crystal to produce a high voltage that creates a spark, voltage applied across the slice would produce a mechanical distortion For the fist thity years of ultrasonic flaw detection trom Sokolov in 1828, unt the end of the nineteen fits, quartz was the most common transducer material. Appropriate slices wore cu from a single crystal. Later ew polyerystaline materials were developed that had lower electrical Impedance (resisiance to high frequencies) and gave better ultrasonic Performance, as much as 60t0 70 percent more efficient than quartz. In the raw state, these materials donot display an overal piezoelectic effect. This 's because, hough the small individual erystais making up the material are piezoelectric, their arrangement within the buk is haphazard so and tends to ‘cancel out any overal distortion or voltage In order to produce an effective Piezoelectric disc, the material has to be ‘Polarised. During polarization ‘the incividua crystals align themselves in the same direction so that theit ‘combined effect is coherent. The polarisation process involves heating the ‘discs in an oll bath to a ertical temperature called the ‘Cure Temperature’, applying a strong electrostatic field across the disc and then allowing the temperature to cool slowly. Figure 4.1 ilstates the polarising procoss, 96“The Curie temperature difrs for each of the common materials used in uitrasonics, so thatthe oilbathvillneed tobe heated toa suitable temperature {or the material in use. For Barium Titenate the Curie temperature is around 120°C whoreas for various grades of Lead Ziconate Titenate (PZT) the temperature is trom 190" to 350°C and for Lead Metaniobate (PMN) itis ‘about 400°C, Ifthe material is subsequently heated to a temperature neat to the Curie temperature, the dsc will ‘depolarise' and lose its piezoelectric properties. It follows that care needs to be taken to avoid depolarisation ‘when testing hot materials and ths wll sometimes influence the choice of transducer materia MODE OF VIBRATION Whether the ansducer disc is made rom a naturally occuring piezoclectic {xsta, or one ofthe polarised polyerystaline materials, we usualy refer to the disc as the crystal when talking about probe construction. The crystal ‘dsc’ or plate’ may be round or rectangular and for some applications may be curved plates or concave discs to focus the sound. The way in which the plato vibrates when stimulated by an electical pulse depends upon the ‘cut, in the case of quartz, oF the direction of polarisation in the case of Polyerstaline materials. Figue 4.2 is a drawing of a typical quate crystal Showing the tee axes detined by crystallographers, and two plates cut rom ‘crystal, one an X-cut plate and the other a Y-ct plat, arJ™e |An X-cut plate is taken from the quartz crystal so that the Xaxie is Perpendicular to the plate and the Y-cut plate has the Y-axis perpendicular to the plate. I voltage is applied across the faces of these plates, an X- cut crystal wil distor in the thickness mode whereas a Y-cut crystal will stort in shear mode. Figure 4.3 ilustrates the changes in shape when an alternating voltage is applied to an X-cut crystal and Figure 4.4 shows the shape changes for a Y-cut crystal. The same two modes of vibration can be tained using the polyrystaline materials by polarising across the faces of the plate (equivalent to X-cut), or parallel tothe faces of the pate (equivalent to¥-cut) Faas Fi aa 28_rne X-out estas the one most commonly used in urasonc flaw detection, ‘Lan generate and detect compression waves, and can therefore transmit ‘und through the quid couplant we use, Since shear waves cannot exist in iquids oF gases, the only way in which a Y-cut crystal could be used to (generate shear waves in a metal objec would be to use a solid couplant: in ther words we would need fo glue the crystal n postion, This is done in a few very special applications. METHOD OF PULSING AND FREQUENCY When we generate a shor puise of sound with our ‘rystal, we don ‘erive the crystal wity an alternating voltage of sullable frequency: instead, we ‘pluck’ the crystal witha short sharp electrical shock and allow the crystal to ring’ at is natural resonant frequency. This is rather ike ‘plucking’ a guitar string that also vibrates at its natural frequency. The sting is stretched by the finger and only produces sound when itis released; the greater th intial strech, the louder the sound thats produced. In the case ofthe piezoelectric plate the crystal stretches asthe voltages applied and ony produces sound when the voltage is rapidly cut of. To increase the amplitude (loudness) ‘ofthe ultrasound we increase the peak voltage (pulse energy) applied to ‘the crystal. With the guitar string we can change the resonant frequency bby making the effective length longer or shorter by placing a finger on a ferent tet. The frequency of our ultrasonic Wansducor is determined by the thickness ofthe crystal. As the crystal is made thinner, so the resonant frequency increases. Quartz crystals are split inthe appropriate plane to Produce X-cut plates, shaped as rectangles or dscs and then lapped tothe correc thickness for the requited frequency. The polyerystaline materials ‘are made as slurry that is mauled and compacted under pressure and then ‘loed and lapped to the required thickness. ‘The required thickness for a given frequency can be calculated from the frequency-thickress constant for the crystal material to be used. Since this depends on the velocity of a compression wave in that materia it can be saen that the thickness for a given frequency will not be the same for 9PZT and quant, for example. The trequency thickness constant is defined ‘mathematically as: v fa Were: f= the desir tequency 1 = the ental tckness v= tne compression wave Example7 Caloulate the required thickness of a PZT crystal to produce @ resonant frequency of SMHe given that the compression wave velocity for PZT is 0000. 3000 6000000 100mm t=03mm CONTROL OF PULSE LENGTH In ultrasonic flaw detection we measure the time taken for each echo to arrive atthe ecelver alter ontring the scanning surface ofthe object. If we know the velecy of sound in the material we can determine the distance travelled bythe sound wave. Suppose that a crack has grown froma botthole Inthe object as in gure 4.5; some ofthe sound wil reflect from he top ofthe bolthole, and ite while later, ome wil elect from the crack. The arial of the two echoes a the receiver willbe separated by a short interval of ime (T, =T,)f the ringing time othe crystal (pulse length) i longer than this interval fof time, then we may not be able to distinguish the crack from the top of the 40pothole -we may miss the crack. We say that we have not resolved the two satis oF that he resolution is poor. In order to improve resolulion we need tp ensure that the pulse length is as short as possible. t Lal In an orchestra, ia drum neods to produce a very short but loud sound, the crummer gives the drum a hefty bang to make the sound loud, and immediately puts @ hand on the drum skin to ste the note. In ultrasonics We shorten the pulse duration by applying @ weight tothe back of the crystal ‘known as the ‘damping’ of "backing’ slug, The damping slug is often made ‘of a miture of tungsten powder in an epoxy resin. The amount of damping applied to the crystal will govern the resolution of the probe. There are several practical ways of measuring resolution that we wil describe later, but we can also express the resolution in terms of the numberof cycles in the pulse. A short pulse probe will have only one or two cycles whereas a longer pulse probe may have fom tree to five eyes. An undamped crystal ‘may have twelve or mare cycles in the pulse. Fora given number of cycles in a pulse, the duration or space occupied by the pulse will depend on the wavelength which in turn depands on the probe trequeney and the velocity Of sound in the material being inspected. We can say that: Pulse length = Number of cycles in the pulse multiplied by the wavelength. “Its obvious that one way to improve resolution would be to increase the test frequency, however ina later chapter we will see thatthe penetration cf sound into the object decreases as the frequency increases. Choosing @ stable test requency soften a compromise between resolution penotraton and flaw sensitivity and sometimes we willbe faced with the situation where Ltrasonics wail nat be able to detect a paricular ciscontinulty atthe critical ‘epth. While resolution isan important consideration in many applications. it Is not always the case and we sometimes preter to se a longer pulse. One ‘example ofan appication where we might choose to use along pulse probe could be the examination ofa long shaft such as araway axle. The screen fon our aw detector may only be 75mm wide and the display may represent the length ofthe shaft, say 2.6m; a short pulse of 2 cycles will occupy such @ ‘smal pat ofthe screen that itis to feint to see and it would be beter use 2 longer, more visible puise PIEZO-COMPOSITE TRANSDUCERS {In a more recent development of the piezoelectric transducer, the active plate inthe test probe 1s made by slicing piezoelectric crystals into small ‘squares and assembling them inlo a mati separated with an epoxy or @ rubber compound as shown in figure 46. The main advantages ofthis ype ‘of construction are tis, lower acoustic impedance allowing better matching to the couplant and more sound into the specimen. This is an advantage when testing castings and stainless steel, Secondly, resolution — they tend to provide very short pulses, and thi, the absence of addtional damping ‘means thatthe probes have a very low profile (Gooooo0, a QO00000) ‘Si vow QO0000o) ODOR} ODIO s}— on F920 QOHOHO} 42POLYVINYLIDENE FLUORIDE (PVDF) TRANSDUCERS. PVDF was also found to display Piez0 electic characteristics and has been ted In ultrasonic law detection. These thin plastic fms have advantages and limitations compared with conventional crystals. On the plus side, they ‘canbe easly shaped o focus sound, hey produce very shon pulses and they ‘ive good transmission into water because the acoustic impedance is similar to water Against these advantages, the fims are fragile and cannot be used in contact scanning, and the power output i relatively low compared wth ‘ceramic oystals. The main appllcaion in high resolution immersion testing ELECTROMAGNETIC ACOUSTIC (EMAT) TRANSDUCERS EMAT transducers provide a non-contact alternative to. piezoclectic transducers. Sound waves are generated inthe surface of a conductive test object by an electrical pulse applied toa fat col hat is positioned between 2 strong magnet and the test piece. The interaction between the magnetic field generated inthe coil by the electrical pulse and the fixed magnetic field ofthe magnet causes a rapid ‘shock’ deformation atthe surface of the test piece and an ultrasonic wave travels through the metal object. The EMAT probe needs to be close to the test surface, but does not need to touch it Retuming echoes ariving atthe scanning surface cause the surface to \ibrate in the magnetic field. This generates eddy currents inthe test surface and the coll detects the eddy currents, Figute 4.7 iisrates the set-up for an EMAT probe. ar MaatMAT probes can be used with an air gap when testing hot sutaces and ‘on surfaces coated with non-conducting material such as rubber paint and fibreglass because the sound wave does not have fo travel through the gap ‘material. The probes can be configured to generate horizontally polarised shear waves diecly into the test object. This is an advantage when testing ‘austenitic welds, castings and other materials wih donde grain structure ‘because the shear wave does not mode convert when it meets a reflecting ‘surface that's parallel othe direction of polarisation. Because shear waves ‘ravel at roughly hal the velocty of compression waves and have shorter ‘wavelengths, it is possible to obtain better near surface resolution and this ‘can be an advantage wien testing thin materials. However, ore are some disadvantages with EMAT probes, they aro ately large andinetcient compared with conventional prabes and they cannat be used ‘on non-conducting test jects unless a conducting coating is applied LASER TRANSDUCERS ‘Another non-contact method of generating ultrasound uses laser technology. ‘Ashort burst of alaser beam on the surace othe test object causes athermal shock with pid local expansion ofthe suface. The sudden distortion of the surface causes an ultrasonic pulse to travel through the test object. The returning echo distorts the test surlace and this éstorion can be detected by a separate laser inlereromater without a couplant, or can be detected with a conventional piezoelectic crystal and couplant. The gap between the vansducer and test surface can be greater than is possible with EMAT probes and can be as much as 250mm (10 inches). Typical applications include the inspection of composite materia inthe aivratindusty “Q' FACTOR AND BANDWIDTH Up to this point we may have gained the impression that our transducer produces a pure note atthe calculated frequency, but this is not tue. In fact the sound wave produced contains a band of raquencies related tothe “4thickness othe crysta, is dlamete o length and with plus the effects ofthe ‘damping medium. In adaton the electical characterises of he transducer land associated crculs affects the overall specttum of frequencies. We refer to tis spectrum as the ‘Bandwidth’ ofthe probe. In a well-designed probe, tne centre of this band should be the desirad probe frequency and the lower “andupperlimits are usualy defined as the frequencies at which the amplitude fs reduced by a given factor. Some people use 30% (-348) and others 50% (648) asthe factor we wil use 50% inthe following examples. Figure 4.8 itustrates the bandwidth of @ SMH2 probe in which the -608 bandwidth is ‘equal fo the centre frequency, in other words, from 2.5MH2 to 7 MHZ. " ace (1) Frequency (ne Foss Figure 4.9 shows the bandwidth fr another SMH probe, but this time the ‘bandwidth is ony rom 3:75 to 6.25MH2 Fo4o 45“The probe showin igure 48 can be deseribed as having abroad bandwidth ‘whereas the probe in igure 4.9 has a nariower bandwidth In practice, shan pulse probes have a broad bandwidth and long pulse probes are narrow bandwiath, For a given crystal size, material and frequency damping not ‘only reduces pulse length butalso reduces pulse ampitude, so the narrower bbandwiath probes will have longer pulses but more amplitude in the pulse therefore giving deeper penetration, [Another way of expressing bandwicth that i also common in other branches of electronics is the ‘Qual Factor or of the probe ands datined by the formula: - where: - 4, = the contre fequency ‘the upper - 608 trequency the lower - 608 frequency Example 8 Calculate the @ factor forthe probe ilusrate in igure 4.8. 46example 9 Calculate the Q factor forthe probe ilustated in figure 4.9. Undamped crystals can have a @ factor as high as 20,000 but for utrasonic flaw detection the Q factors normally in the range 110 10. a7CHAPTERS PROBE CONSTRUCTION COMPRESSION WAVE PROBES. Standard compression wave probes can be for contact scanning or for Immersion testing. The contact scanning probes are either single crystal or ‘win crystal (dua) n construction. The construction ofa typical single crystal enact probe is shown in the diagram in figure 5.1. ‘mem sg SS ewe ‘The thickness of the crystal determines the operating frequency as we ‘described in the previous chapter and the faces of the crystal are coated in siver to make electrical contac. “The damping slug is cast onto the rear ofthe crystal and bonds to it as the {epoxy sets. The amount of damping used determines the pulse length. A fine vir is soldered tothe back ofthe crystal, using a solder that melts at low temperature, before adding the damping slug, “Tho wear face is glued to the font face of the crystal to protect it during contaet scanning. The thickness of the wear face is important. It made tobe one quarter ofthe wavelength a the test requency for the velocity of soundin the wear face material This thickness gives maximum transmission 8‘of sound out ofthe probe into the test sample. Some wear faces are made {rom shim steel, others from a hardwearing ceramic material. The stee! wear faces can be used to earth the font face of the crystal othe probe housing and are less fragile it you drop the probe, but are incined to stretch and ‘dsbond from the crystal with use. I non-conductive wear face is used, an afternative earthing method must be used, ‘The wear face, crystal and damping slug assembly are then fed into the housing the other end ofthe centre wires soldered t the cent terminal of ‘the connector and the cap and connector fied to the housing. Figure 6.2 is ‘a photograph ofa typical singe crystal compression wave probe, Fase Twin crystal, or “dual probes aro used to eliminate the ‘ead zone’ occupied by the transmission pulso with a single crystal probe. In this type of probe ‘one crystal acts as a transmiter, the other as a receiver and the amplifier fs isolated from the transmiting crystal. The two crystals are mounted on ‘cry or polystyrene wedges these components ae iustated in figure 6.3. ‘An acoustic barter, usually made of cor, i filed between the wedges and tystals to prevent cross talk between the transmitter and receiver. Figure 544 shows atypical twin crystal probe me Pat ~ 49mb Immersion probes ate similar in construction to that shown in figure 5.1 ‘except that it isnot necessary tof a wear plate and so the sivered face of the cxystals usualy visible, Probes can be focussed and this is achieved by fiting aplastic or epoxy lon to the front of the crystal, or by making @ curved sectioned crystal Figure 5.5 shows a 20MHe immersion probe with a smal siameter sphercaly focussed crystal ‘The lens or curvature can also be cylindrical as ilustrated in figure 5.6. The cylindrical version is often refered to as a "Paintbrush probe’ because itFocussing can also be achieved using a technique called ‘Phased Array’ ‘although not with conventional ultrasonic sels. The phased array probe ‘contains a number of small crystals and the pulsing ccults designed to be ‘able to apply a pulse to al crystals simultaneously to produce a conventional 7210 dogree compression wave, orto pulse each crystal separately with @ _smalltie itorval between each. Inthe diagram shown n igure 57, the outer ‘lomenis are triggered frst and a progressive delay is used to pulse inner ‘elements, the centre crystals being the last tobe triggered. The results that the ultrasonic wavetront reinforces in the curved way shown inthe diagram to focus at a region determined by the delay intervals. By changing these intervals, the local length can be changed. The principles of constructive and destructive reinforcement willbe deat with later in chapter 7. Single crystal ‘Delay line’ probes are sometimes used in contact scanning to reduce the ‘Dead Zone’ below the beam entry surface occupied by the ‘transmission puse and probe noise. The delay line is usually Perspex or a ‘similar material and provides a standoff just Hike the water path in immersion testing. Tho length ofthe delay ine must be sufficient to alow one or more backwall echoes in the specimen depending onthe application, Figure 5.8 is ‘an example ofa delay ine probe. ot‘SHEAR WAVE PROBES. ‘Since shear waves cannot travel through liquids or gases, angled beam probes use compression waves in the incidence wedge in contact probes. ‘The incident angle will be an anglo betweon the fist and second extical angles so that we only have the mode converted shear wave inthe lost ‘materal, Figure 5.918 a sketch of the typical rangement - ernae & Fase \We not only get a mode converted, reacted shear wave in the test pce, but we also have a elected compression wave inthe wedge. If this internal Feflection manages to get back tothe crystal face as it bounces around the ‘wedge, we would have @ standing echo that would be confusing. Several ‘methods of avoiding this problem have been used over the years. The earliest probes used a long Perspex path shaped ‘Cusp’ so thatthe rellction ‘would be absorbed betore it could return to the crystal. The Cusp made @ rather unwieldy probe and the next design used 'V' shaped grooves inthe front and top surfaces ofthe incident wedge to scatter the internal election. ‘Some had plastic material moulded onto these grooves to further damp the reflection. Inthe latest, most compact, designs the wedge is surrounded by 12 material that has a good acoustic maich to Perspex, but @ much higher ‘absorption of sound, The internal reflections are ransmited easily into this layer and then absorbed. Figure 5.10 shows examples othe three designs and ilustrats their relative size,wu Figuie 5.11 is a photograph of a sectioned shear wave prabe, showing the crystal, incidence wedge and the blocking medium for the internal reflections. Fest Phased Array transducers, such as the one already discussed (igure 5.7), are also used to generate angled shear waves in the est piece. These twansducers have the advantage thatthe phase delay between the crystal ‘loments can be varied to give different anges of retraction. The delays can be swept trough a range of values to give shear wave beam thal sweeps through a desired range of shear wave angles rather as a Radar scanner ‘seeps the shies Inthe last chapter, we said that EMAT probes could generate comprossion (oF shear waves, but that shear waves were often used because they can be directed perpenicular tothe test surface (that is a O° probe). That has ‘advantages in resolution, because the wavelength fora shear wave is about half tne wavelongth for a compression wave and because the velocity of the shear wave is about hail that ofthe compression wave, we are able to ‘measure thinner sections than we can with corventional 0 probes of the sa‘same frequency. The EMAT probe shown in figure 5.12 aracaly polarised shear wave probe operating broadband between 1-10MH2, with a centre frequency of about SMHz, Courtesy of Urasonies Group,CHAPTER 6. PULSE-ECHO FLAW DETECTOR ‘The ultrasonic flaw detector is required to provide the voltage pulse to activate the probe crystal to amplify received signals from the probe and to ‘display those signals so thatthe relative time of aval and amplitudes ofthe signal train can be viewed and interpreted. In order to display the very shor intervals of time invoived in testing metals, the early pulse echo systems used a cathode ray tube (CRT) as the cisplay medule, More recently ‘equipment manufacturers have turned to digital technology and used LCD ‘panels fo the display. The resuit has been the manufacture of much smaller ‘and lighter ulrasonic equipment. Utrasonic sets in the early 1960's used thermionic valves (vacuum tubes) and weighed 25 to 30 Kg (50 ~ 60 Is). From te late 1960's, transistor technology and smaller CAT'S meant thatthe flaw detectors became smaller and lighter weighing between 5 and 10 Kg (10-201). n the new millennium, the weight has come downto around 3 Kg. Figures 6.1 106.3 show the progression. Fo.62 Fass 55Figure 64 isa block diagram of atypical analogue flaw detector shovang the ‘main components and the controls associated with each component, S [= AT A = - seep eh | [rw he W/ ‘Tho clock oF timer is the heart ofthe flaw detector. It feeds an electrical pulse to the Pulse Generator and simultaneously tothe Timebase Generator. ‘This timer pulse causes the pulse generator to send a shor, high votage pulse to the crystal and atthe same time triggers the timebase generator to begin to sweap the electron beam inthe CRT tube from lf 0 rght between the plates at a constant speed. |As soon as the high voltage pulse at the tansmiter crystal is cut of, the crystal stats to vibrate and an ultrasonic pulse propagates into the test piece. While this sound pulse travels through the material, the CRT sweep Continues to track the time as it moves towards the right hang side of the lsplay. Reactions from intemal surlaces anve at the receiver crystal, onerate a voltage in the crystal and this voltage is ampltied and passed 56to the plates where it causes a vertical deflection ofthe electron beam ‘propotional tothe amplitude ofthe received signal ‘When the elcton beam reaches the exrome ght hand side of the CRT i fis back 1a the let hand side an waits for te next Wigger pulse trom the dock. Ths whole sequence of evens takes pace So qucky that we wouldn't be able 10 S00 the trace. The clock repeats the sequence many times a second ad the result isa fcker fee ace thal increases in brighness the more times we repeat the process each second. The number of tigger pulses per second is known asthe ‘Pulse Repetition Frequency’ (PAF) or Pulse Repetition Rate (PAR) is impotant hal we allow enough time between pulses for al the multiple echoes within the specimen to de away ‘oF we wl $00 tho tal end of these echoes showing as "Ghost! at conusing postions on the timebase. Fors reasan the PRFiscontralladby the Depth Range Coarse contol in thetimebase generator cc. However, some flaw detectors have an aaional manual contol hat the operator can use. Ghost echoes are mest likely fo be encountered when testing fine-grained ight alloy forgings that have very ow attenuation of sound ‘The voltages developed in the receiver crystal are very small and need to be amplified. The ‘Amplifier’ circuit needs to be tuned to accept the froquoncy ofthe ultrasonic pulse and tis can be by way of switched bands for example, 1-30hz, 3-7MHz, 7-10MM2 & 10-15MHzZ, oF it could be @ wideband amplifier withthe range 115M fhe former the set will have a ‘Frequency’ selector switch that should be switched tothe appropiate band forthe probe in use just as you would use the tuning dial to select the desired ‘ado programme ‘The ‘Gain’ or ‘Sensitivity’ contol allows the amplification to be increased oF docroased depending on the strength ofthe received signals much ke tho volume control on a radio. The Gain control is usually calibrated in ‘ecibels (dB) and is sometimes called the ‘Attenuator’. Strictly speaking, {an attenuator should be calirated such that increasing the dB reduces the 57signal ampitude, but this is seldom the case over recent years, The ‘Bel is a unit that is commonly used in electronics to compare the ratio between two power or voltage values and is a logarithmic unit so that large ratios ‘can bo expressed concisely. The intensiy of sound in a received pulse is a ‘measure of the power or energy in that pulse, and that mechanical enexay is converted ino electrical energy by the piezoelectric crystal. It the power increases from P, to P, then the gain can be expressed as: Gai Loa 7 Bas However, the Bel is too large a unit forthe values we shall encounter In lrasonies and so we use a unit of one tenth of a Bel or decibel The ‘equation then becomes: - A, Gain = 10Logi9 “8 sno ‘The CRT measures voltage and electra pone is proportional othe square othe voltage: YY, can =1L2on{ t+] oe ‘and yomouing the brackets: Ye Gan = 201.0940 2DLom.9 7-48 “The height ofa signal onthe CATs proportional tothe voltage applied to the °Y plates and so we can change the equation so that tis in terms of signal height - He ap Gain = 20.0 0 Fe 58Example 10 Calculate the gain ratio in 68 between a signal thats 60% fl screen height _and one that is only 30% full screen height, cy Gain = 201.0549 $2.68 Gain = 20L09y9248 Gain = 2010301008 Gain - 6.0208 \When we measure depth or thickness rom the timebase, we use the llthand flank ofthe signal on the sereen, Sometimes surface roughness, material grain size, or electronic ‘nose’ create noise signals (grass) that obscure the Point where the flank meets the timebase and tis dificult to make the corect reading. In these circumstances, we can use the ‘Suppression’ or ‘Reject contro to remove the grass a litle ke the way we use a tone contol on & ‘ago to cutout “iss. Because this control can also cutout small relevant signals and make the gain non linea, a wating ight comes on when the contrat is in se, ‘The last feature that we need to consider in the amplifier circu is the one ‘hat contols the degree o rectification and smoothing of the pulse. The received signals ar, of course, a few cycles of alternating voltage. We can splay these as they are — "Unreetified’ but itis not so easy to measure amplitude directly Irom the screen. Its more usual to display these signals as ‘Rectified’ and smoothed signals in which the negative hal cycles are inverted and the signal envelope smoothed out. On some equipment, we ‘ay also have the choice to only display the "Positive’, or ‘Negative’ halt Cycles and tis may give a sharper flank tothe signal. Figure 65 ilustrates the four canons, but unsmoothed to ilustate the principle. 59A, all A ‘The ‘Timebase’ circuit controls the sweep speed and delay functions. The ‘sweep speed wil determines the thickness range that can be displayed on the CAT. A high sweep speed (lat timebase) may only allow a eetum path from a 10mm thickness inthe test piece and atthe other extreme, a low ‘sweep speed (slow timebase) may allow a return path trom § metres or ‘more, Two contois achieve the desired thickness range, the ‘Coarse Depth” fr ‘Range’ control switches the range in steps (10mm, SOmm, 100mm, 500mm, 1m & Sm fr example) and the ‘Fine Depth’ or Rango' controls a Continuously variable contral that allows fine adjustment during eaibration to allow forthe spectic material velocity. The fine degth range contol is sometimes labeled ‘Material’ or Velocity’. ‘There are times when we don't want the timebase generator to begin the ‘sweep when the crystal Is pulsed. For instance, when we are carying aut an immersion test we want the timebase to start when the sound enters the specimen so that the ltt hand end of the timebase represents the top surface of the test place. Ancther example might be when we are testing a long shatt and we want to lok in more deta at, say, he last 200mm ofthe shat. In eter case, we can delay the stato! the sweep vith the ‘Delay’ cont. ‘The last component to consider isthe dsplay module, the CRT: The image created by the election beam (the trace) must be displayed so that the baseline is aligned with the graticule, extends beyond the laf and right hand 60‘ends of the gratcul, is bright enough fo See inthe test environment and Js in focus, There are four controls for these functions, the “X-shit’ and “Y= ‘shift controls position the race, the ‘Brightness’ control can be adjusted for indoor or outdoor viewing, and the ‘Focus’ contro! sharpens the trac. ‘On many law detectors, only the focus and brightness contols are provided for operator adjustment. Digital flaw detectors provide the same PRE. Ampitier and Timebase functons but these are usually controlled using @ combination of menu seloction and so called ‘Smart Knobs’ through the controling CPU. Figure 6.5 is a representative block dagram fora digital instrument. (One of the real advantages of the digital instruments is the faciity 10 store calibrations for a number of inspection procedures and probes, to store whole traces complete with the calibration data for each trace and to create databases to store thickness readings. Because the instruments are based ‘on computor technology, itis possible to connect the flaw dotector o a PC through a serial cable and download stored data, for reporting purposes, ‘The LCD display also has advantages over the CAT. It consumes less power than the CRT, it can be backlt for viewing in low ight conditions and atthe same time is easy to See without backlighting in dayight. In aticut Coneitions, the trace can be ‘Frozen’ so that the operator can move to @ ‘more comortable poston before reading the tmmebase. 6sermnwe Lf Many flaw detectors, both analogue and digital, have gating circuits that allow signals io be monitored by he instrument andthe output used o tigger ‘ube or visual alarms, orto be connected to chart recorders or computers. ‘The monitor gates may be displayed in one of two ways, The timebase may be raised over the gate distance as shown in igure 6.7, or separate ‘bar ‘may be used as shown in igure 68 79.87 Fa 68 ‘There are four main functions controling the gate, the Gate Start Gate Level or Threshold Gate wiatn Gate sense (Rising or Falling Signal) ra‘The gate ‘start’ control postions the left hand edge of the gate, the frst depth that you want to start monitoring, The gate ‘width contol then allows you to set the right hand edge ofthe gate, the last depth that you want 10 ‘monitor. Any signal within that dapth range Is said to be inthe gate’. You ‘may only want signals exceeding a predetermined amplitude to ‘rigger the {gate alarm and you do this using the gate lev or "threshold contol. For those gales that look lk igure 6.7 you seta signalin the gate tthe desired ample, and adjust the "threshol until the alarm just triggers. For those {gatos that look lke figure 68, you simply adjust the gate “level contol until tho gate is atthe desi screen height. For some inspections. such as whan you are using the “through transmission’ technique, you may wish to monitor fora decrease in signal amplitude. The gate sense can be changed using tho ‘sense’ contol. Wien ‘ling signa’ nas been selected, the alarm doos rot trigger as long as there isa signal inthe gate that excoeds the threshold level. Instead, the alarm operates as soon as the signal drops below the gate thvoshold Some flaw detectors have more than one gate, Two gates can be used in ‘several ways: one can monitor backwall echo amplitude (faling signal) and fone can be used to monitor part of the imebase for discontinuities (rising signa), The two gates can be used to monitor consecutive backwall echoes land the diference (gale 1 minus gate 2) can be output as the thickness of the object. The ‘menu’ ofa digital flaw detector may alow you the choice to ‘monitor either signal amplitude or ime of ight (depth). Ths is also possible with some analogue fw detectors by the appropriate pin selection on the ‘output connecting lead. Generally, the voltage range forthe output signal is about OV to 5V; this means thatthe vertical or horizontal (amplitude or limebase) scales of the display will be proportional to the output range. I ‘monitoring and recording amplitude, for example, a full screen echo height ‘will output 5V and a halt screen height signal will output 25V.CHAPTER 7, THE ULTRASONIC BEAM “The beam of sound waves emerging from an ultrasonic probe is rather ike the beam of ight from a torch. The beam will spread out into an elongated ‘cone shape, and the futher away you go trom the source, the weaker wil be ‘the beam. So in order to know just how this beam atfects aur inspection, we ‘eed 1 stusy the shape of the beam in detal, and to study the changes in intensity of the beam along ts axis and across the beam. [As a general principle, we have said that the beam gets weaker as we {et further from the transducer, This weakening, oF decrease in intensity represents a loss of energy, we say that the beam is attenuated as it progresses through @ material. The sound beam suffers this attenuation for the folowing reasons: [ABSORPTION ofthe energy due to moving the viatng molecules SCATTER of sound aves retecting ram the grain boundaries INTERFERENCE EFFECTS -close tothe transducer BEAM SPREAD the energy spreads ovr alarger area with dance ‘The amount af energy lost through ‘Absorption’ depends upon the elastic properties ofthe material being tested so that stel and aluminium have less absorption than lead, or Perspex. “Scatter also depends upon the material beeing tested, the larger the grain size, the greater the scatter (see figuee 7.1). Forged and called materials ganoclly give less Scatter than castings or forgings. Heat treatment may reduce grain size and therefore reduce scatter, making testing easier. Faced with a material that presents either, o bath high absorption and scatter. you have to resort to a lower test frequency to overcome the problem. We can either say attenuation (absorption and scatter) decreases as test frequency decreases, or penetration increases, {as frequency decreases. This a wellknown fact - whoever heard ofa ship ‘tte witha highitched foghoon? 64DERS F SASS Far INTERFERENCE EFFECTS Point Source: - I! we consider a point source of sound energy, then the sturbance (sound wave) wil radiate outwards from the point in an ever Inoreasing crt, just ike the ripples on a pond spreading out when you drop fa stone into it. So sound radiates in ll directions fom a point souree, (sae figure 72). SaanrEwte G) Fore Finite Source: - Our transducer, however, is nota point souree, but a pate of piezoelectric material of fie dimensions. In der to appreciate the way in wich sound spreads out from a finite source, and to help us understand interoronce effects we will use Huyghens principle, Huyohens sad that you can consider a finite source to be made up of an infinite number of point 65sources. When you eneraige the transducer, sound wil ragiate out rom each ‘of thase point sources, just as ita forthe stone dropping into the pond, Figure 7:3 shows sound radiating from just one ofthese point souroes and figure 7.4 shows sound racating rom several point sources, oS fa79 Fora It can be seen from figure 7.4 that @ short ime (1) after the finite source has been energised, the disturbances from each of the point sources will have moved outwards by the same amount. Along a line equa to the radius Of the small crces, running parallel to the face of the transducer, these lsturbances re-enforce each other to produce a wave front moving out fom the transducer Notice also, a litle energy ‘ditfracts’ around the edge of the transducer and is ‘lost’ Alitle while ater (.), sound from each point source ‘wil have travelled alte further and reinforce ata new cstance in oat ofthe transducer, thus the sound wave progresses from the source (igure 75).‘This waveltont may represent the intial expansion ofthe transducer asi starts to vibrate (a postive going half cycle). It will tend to push particles of the material away ftom the source. Shorty afterwards, the wansducer wll contract as part ofits vibration, and @ wavelront, drawing particles into the ‘source (a negative going half cycle) wll flow on behind the intial wave {tont, followed by another push, then another pull and so on, In Chapter 8 (igure 3.3), we discussed reaction ofthe beam as an angled incident wave meats an interface. The bottom edge ofthe beam reaches the interface first and takes up the new velocity. We can use Huyghens principle toexplain what happens, As each point along the incident wavetront reacties the interface, each in tum takes the new velocity andi the new material, the lin of intial wavetconts wil determine the direction ofthe retracted beam. Simla, in Chapter 5 (igure 5:7), we discusses phased array probes, The shape of the beam and beam angle will be determined by the wavelront were there i individual wavetronts are in phase. Now consider a point reflector ‘P justin front of the probe contre. Let us consider how this rellectoris affected by just three of the point sources, one in the centre and to at the edges of the transducer (igure 7.6). —= F076 ‘We energise the source, anda split second later sound from the mide point ‘Source reaches P, and gives it a push igure 7.7). Notice that energy from the edges of the probe has not reached P yet. This wil take longer because P is futher from the edges than fom the centre. See) Vw Fe77 7By the time sound from the edges ofthe transducer reaches P (igue 7.8) land tries ta push P away fYom the transducer, the energy from the centre ‘may be onthe apposite hal cycle o vibration, and be pulling P back towards the transducer. The resultant foree acting on point P wil be the vector sum ‘ofthe forces acting from al pars of the crystal. In our example, the result is that P doesn't move at al. the sound intenity=0} The distance between the solid are (postive peak) and the dotted arc (negative peak) is hall a ‘wavelength. Ia diferent frequency had been used, it may have been that the second postive hal cyte from the centre of the crystal reached point P al the same time as those from the edges of the crystal. In that case, he forces would have reinforced and point P would have been given an extra RED Wmen two solid ares cross, the forces from those two parts ofthe crystal are both ‘pushing’ atthe intersecting point and when two dotted aes cross the forces from that part ofthe crystal are both ‘pulng' at the intersecting Poin. In both cases we cal the effect ‘constructive interference’. When 2 solid are cuts a dotted arc, the forces are in opposition and we cal he eect ‘destructive interference’. Of course point P will nt always be exactly ‘a mutiple of half wavelengths away fom the center and the edges, and constructive interference happens when the relevant point sis anywhere within the same alt cycle. Destructive interference happens when the relevant point is in dissimilar half cycles. ‘interference’ occurs whenever energy arrives at diferent phase (wavelength) intervals at a partcular point. Whether the interference is Constructive, or destructive is determined by the path aiflerence between P 6aland the centre, and P and the edges. As P gos futher away from the front ofthe transducer, this path difrence becomes negligible compared to the wavelength (igure 7.9} and interference problems become insignificant a exces Fore Variations in intensity due to interference effects occur for some distance in front of the transducer, a8 we have just seen. This region is known as the "Near Field’ and the extent of he near il, known as the near field distance can be calculated from: wet vier, sl NF = Near Field Distance. D = Chet deer 1S oven camp Caloulate the Near Field distance for a 10mm diameter, SMH2 crystal transmiting into steel (Velocity S960mvsec. 2. = 1.192mm). __108 aa Higriseeee 768 NE=2imm (Approx) 6“This means that foc his probe, in stl, we can expect uctuations in intensity ‘of sound forthe frst 21mm of steel depth due to interference effects. As a result it's unwise to rely solely on amplitude as the citron fr acceptance Correction ofthe par for aiscontinuties that are inthe near field region ‘The last tem on our list of factors affecting attenuation of the sound as it travels through a material isthe ‘Beam Spread’. Because the beam spreads cut into @ conical shape, intensity follows the inverse square law just as it ‘would fora beam at ight or X-rays. you double the distance from the probe, the intensity drops to one quarter of is orginal value because of beam spread. Ofcourse, it will actual falto fess than a quarter, because we have to add any absorption, scatter losses to the beam spread losses, We can row plot a graph of intensity against cistance trom the probe, to summarise the previous discussions. Figure 7.10 show amplitude on the vertical axis ‘and distance on the horizontal axis. Distance is shown in muliples of the neat field clistance, Fe.730 7‘The beam profile shown in figure 7.11 is very much a "heoretica’ beam ‘spread, Alongside there are three “slices through the beam showing tha the highest sound intensity is in the centre of the beam. The sound gradually fades away towards the edge of the beam until there is no sound let tis ‘tien more convenient to define the beam toa theoretical edge where the Intensity of sound has fallen to one hal (-648), or sometimes one tenth (- 2008) ofthe intensity atthe beam centre. We can consider three theoretical {2dg0s: one defining the absolute edge of the beam, another defining the {638 exige and the third defining the 2008 edge. These three edges can be ‘expressed mathematicaly:- 422 sin 2D Defines the absolute edge n056) sin? 0.56%, 2D Datins the 608 edge 01083 inf 108%, 27D Datines the 2008 edge Itis often conveniant to use the theorticl beam shane shown in figure 58 In order to explain some concepts in ulrasonic law detection. However itis ‘ot good practice to use a calculated beam shape for sizing discontinulties by one ofthe intensity drop methods. Ths is because practical beam shapes seldom match the theoretical model closely enough. We wl se later how to plot a practical beam profile for each of our probes. Example 12 Calculate the 2048 beam spread angle for a SMHz compression wave in steal rom a 10mm siameter crystal 0 108% sero 10801.192 2 0 sin 1.28736 10 ® sin ‘sin® = 0.128736 2\We have used three terms connected withthe beam of sound in the test ‘material, namely ‘Dead Zone’, ‘Near Field’, and ‘Far Field’. Tho doad zone 's that par of the tmmebase occupied by the intial pulse when using a single crystal contact probe, The nea folds the distance inthe material hat sufers from intererence effects and the {ar felis the resto the beam beyond the rear field, The trace shown in figure 7.12 is callorated for 100mm of stee! return path using a single crystal SMH2 compression wave probe, The three zones are shown on the ace Fer naCHAPTER 8 CALIBRATION & REFERENCE STANDARDS During practical sessions using the twenty basic exercises, it wll become ‘apparent that nether the vertical nor the horizontal scales of the splay have ‘any absolute meaning of themselves, The horizontal scale can be adjusted to represent a great variety of diferent time intervals, and these, for a given ‘material and velocity, can be translated into depth values, The vertcal scale ‘ives an indication of the amplitude of signal being detected, provided you know how much ‘Gain’ you are using, but it does not necessarily tell you much about the size of defect causing that reflection. The safest way to get "more information about the specimen trom the display i to compare signals ‘tom the specimen with those from specially machined blocks. These blocks \we normally cassily under one of two headings, depending onthe function ‘tthe block. The term ‘Calibration Block’ is defined in British Standard BS 2704 as ="A piece of material of spectied composition, heat treatment, geometric, form, and surface finish, by means of which ultrasonic equipment can be ‘assessed and calibrated forthe examination of material ofthe same general composition Therelore, a callration block may be a simple step wedge in a particular material to allow the timebase to be calibrated for accurate thickness measurement, of it may be a more complex block like the A.2 block deserved in BS 2704 which allows calibration of tmebase, plus calibration of probe index, anole, resolution ete ‘The second heading, ‘Reference Block’ is defined in 8S2704 as: - "An aid to interpretation in the form ofa test piece ofthe same material, signiticant imensions and shape as a partiewar abject under examination, but not necessarily containing natural or artificial defects". So, for example, a section ofan aircraft wing forging may be prepared as a reference block so that a technician may become familiar withthe standard signal patterns from the various changes in section and mote easily recognise a detect quickly ™when examining the component onan aircraft. More usual, the block would Contain artificial detects from which the sensitivity (gain) used in the test could be set CALIBRATION BLOCKS ‘The BS 2704 A.2 Calibration Block, also known as the International Insite of Woiding (LW) block, or V1 block’ i ilustratedin Fig 8.1.The block can be used forth following assessments: CCaleraton othe ebase ntemsct ices. Assesment of Das Zone. Check arty of te tmebace + Check neat te keer ‘Assessing over sersiy of prcbe and alii - Checking Resoksen, Deterrnaton of the angle creacton, + Deteninaion of pede inex + Detonation of Beam Characters Fair the comect Zr Port. Fost ‘The A2 block was derived from the original ‘Dutch Block’ designed by ATO Fotterdam and accepted by IW asthe "IW V1 Bloc’ nits orignal form, the {deep slot atthe contr of the 100mm radius was a serbed line and a 25mm radius slot was postoned as shown in figure &2. This design is stil used in some parts of the world, and has the advantage that shear waves can be calibrated for ranges other than multiples of 100mm. In al ther respects it is the same asthe A.2 block, 7wma TL 7 aemntewe —_( \ pea Fase ‘The BS 2704 A.4 Calibration block, also known asthe 'V2 block, is a more compact frm ofthe “V1 blac’ suitable fr site use, although somewhat less versal in its functions. Figure 8.3 itustrates the A.4 block a Se? : LI ‘The institute of Welding (1.0.W1) Beam Profile calibration block is designed primarily for beam profile measurement and has four 1.5mm diameter side lille Roles giving eight depths from two scanning surfaces. These can be ‘examined by direct scan for probes of various angles, and at several more ‘anges for each probe, using indirect scans by electing trom the far surface. ‘There are two series of fve holes on an inclined axis to measure shear wave probe resolution and to simulate an incined discontinuity. The block is iustrated in ture 8 76| : iy eeeeee ee sever o4 : \ a REFERENCE BLOCKS ‘Area / Distance eterence blocks are mainly used for setting sensitivity levels ‘and accept reject levels for detect sizes by reference to echo height, Blocks are produced in a range of scanning depths and each set of blocks contains the same diameter flat-bottomed hole in each block. There are three sets Cf blocks. a set with 3/68" dlameter flat-bottomed holes, a set with 5/68" clamater oles and one wih 164° dlameter hole. The scanning depths can ange trom 35" to 22", but at shop flor level, you would anly have the few blocks appropriate to your range of work. Figure 8.5 shows atypical block, in this case a 3x 5 block (3" scan depth, 5/6 at bottomed hol)Distance/Ampltude Correction (DAC) relerence blocks are made from the ‘same thickness and grade of material asthe work piece. They contain an antici aw (a side-driles hole). The change of echo height with changes In scanning distance (multiple skips s ted and ploted on the dsplay a5 a “DAC” curve so that a signal amplitude can be specified to cover all depths within the working range for reparting, acceptance, or rejection purposes. Figure 8.6 shows a typical ASME DAC block and figure 8.7 shows a DAC Foss ore 3456709 10 nwCHAPTERS COMPRESSION WAVE TECHNIQUES CALIBRATION OF TIMEBASE ‘The important thing to remember when calibrating the timebase for Compression waves is thatthe lett hand end of the timebase (Zero) must ‘exactly correspond tothe entry surface ofthe beam and the right hand end represents a known thickness in the material being tested. The exceptions to ths ule are those accasions when you are using dela to expand some distant portion of the material, or when you are using @ mutiple echo technique and only noting the decay pattem. For single crystal prabes, the inital pulse contains two elements; the applied square wave voltage pulse land the ringing of the crystal. The top surface is represented by the end of the applied voltage pulse where the crystal ringing stants. Unfortunately, the amplitude ofthis part of the inal pulse isso large that i is net possible to identity the point at which the ringing starts, nor is it possible to tell rom the timebase line ‘There is a similar problem when we calibrate using a twin crystal probe because the ita pulse is atthe start ofthe Perspex delay line and the sound tenlers the work piece sometime later. In any ease, because the ampli is ?) Low attenuation occurs when the grain diameters less than the wavelength (02) “The following factors wil infiuence attenuation measurements: - 8) The frequency used should be as high as practicable Le. between 4 «6 I for compression waves and between 2-4 MHz for shear waves. ) More citicalresuits are obtained i you use shear waves, ©) For compression waves, bw path cstance shouldbe betwoon 50-200mm, 4) For shear waves, the path distance shouldbe between 10-100mm, ©) The roughness ofthe scan surtace. f) The roughness ofthe back surace. 9) The analysis ofthe cast stoe! fh) The nominal hea treatment 1) The postion of ingates, risers, feeder heads and test bars. |) The couplant ) The examination must be arsed out on sound material in thicknesses ‘ver SOmm, the presence of micro-shinkage is unlikely to affect the results 190PROCEDURE 1 ‘This simple method can be used to quickly check whether the attenuation (and, therefore, grain size) varies around a casting. It cannot be used to ‘compare one casting with another or two parts of the same casting if the thickness varies, The method is best described by the diagrams shown in ‘igure 13.13. Abackwall echo or comer etlectoris obtained from the casting and the amplitude adjusted to @ parcular valve, A in the istration, The calibrateg gain cetting ie noted as an indkeation of atenuation inthe casing, Coviously, the actual value is only usable if you have measurements trom ‘ther similar castings for comparison. Experience from other castings would help you to decide whether, in this case, the casting could be successtuly inspected al the frequency ofthe probe you used to make the measurement, Fe 1313 PROCEDURE 2 ‘The method ilustrated in figure 13.14 is mote useful and more accurate because it gives an attenuation figure in dB per cm, and can bo used to compare areas of similar or diferent thickness on the same casting, orto compare citfarent castings. Using a compression wave prabe, you obtain two 131‘back wall echoes. You then adjust the amplitude ofthe fst back wall echo to a predetermined screen height (A,r) and note the attenuator reading (¥,). The second back wall echo is then brought upto the same height (A,) ‘and you note the new attenuator reading (Y,). You then subtract Y, from ¥, to obtain the rumber of decibels adsorbed over the distance between the ‘wo backwall echoes, The attenuation of sound in dBiem isthe JB ference vided by he sound path traveled. This isthe energy lstin sound traveling from the top surlace to the bottom and back again, i. beige the material thickness, so divide (Y,- Y,) by 2x thickness and you have the attenuation for that region ofthat casting in 48 per cm,CHAPTER 14 EXAMINATION OF FORGINGS “The testing of forging i in many ways more straightforward than the testing ‘of castings. For one thing, the grain i far more relined, giving much lawer attenuation and less noise, and allowing a higher test frequency to be used, ‘Secondly, defects such as cavities and inclusions In the exiginal cast billet are fattened and elongated during the forging, rling or extrusion process to ‘become bellr reflectors, and largely parallel tothe outer surface, The one ‘exception to this might be cracks that may not be parallel to the scanning suttace. ‘Much of the testing of forgings can be accomplished with compression waves using single or twin crystal probes at frequencies between 4 - 6 [MHz and occasionally up to 10 MHz. Angled shear wave probes are used to explore detects detected by the compression waves, and to search for \ofects that might not be suitably orentated for compression waves. In the testing of forgings, particularly those that have been in service for some time, itis very often possible o predict where detects wil be, it they exis ‘and for this reason many specications only cll for a limited scan looking {or one particular detect in one location DEFECTS IN FORGINGS 2) ‘Pipe’ -This detectisthe remains of primary orsecondary pipingthathas rot been removed from the original cast ingot (See figure 14.1. tis Usually situated along the centre line ofthe cormponent, ands length wildepend ponthe amount ot elongationottheoriginalingot necessary {a produce the required sizeof product. As a secondary pipe has never been exposedtotheatmosphere,itispossibleforsomeportonsto welt together during forging to produce an intermittent defect. 133wc [eeeceteat | caret ») ‘Inclusions’ Inclusions of non-metalic matter present inthe metal because of impurties and the meting or refining process (oxides, slicatos, sulphides and phosphates) may be present in the cast ingot “These may change shape during subsequent forging processes, ihe inclusions became plastic atthe processing temperature. They may also be broken down Into many smaller pants. Largor defects are simple to detect using compression waves, but as detects get smaller in size, they become more aifcut to find. 6) "Bursts’ - Bursting may result when foqging processes are carried ‘ut at t00 low a temperature, or when subjecting a metal mass 10 drastic reduction this occurs at the end ofa forging, it ean be seen, and ultrasonics used to plot its extent into the forging, However, internal bursts can be formed, usually ndemeath a change in section, which can only be found by utrasorics. 1) “Thermal Cracks’ «Sudden changes in he rate of heating or cooing can resultin uneven stresses inthe forging leading to crack formations, Unies these cracks are relatively large, thor random ovientation may make them Aificut o detect utrasoricaly Fr leo orgings. magnetic flaw detecton Isoften the most suitable way offing these defects. 134©) “Haleine Cracks’ - Hairline cracks occur in certain grades of stee due to the lilerences in soluity of hydrogen inthe liquid and solid meta ‘During solitication, hydrogen is thrown out of soluton and dituses ‘eadly in the atomic state unl it reaches some discontinuity such as ‘a microscopic inclusion. Here it combines into molecuar form creating enormous pressures, £0 forming the nucleus for fine cracks. These cracks, however, have no prelerted orientation but because of their ‘number andthe random orientation, generally present suitable reflecting surfaces for utrasonics, “The ultrasonic inspection of any forging, as with castings eequies a set ‘routine to ensure all problems are covered: - 42) Make sure you know all about the component, its material, shape, ‘manufacturing process, heat treatment te ') Know the major defects tikely to occurin the component, and their most probable locations - and the acceptance standard ©) Choose your equipment and prabes, basedon he inlormation youhave gathered 4) Carry outa visual examination. €) Carry out the basic urasorie scan necessary to find al the defects. 4) Carry out any supplementary scans that may be necessary to fully describe the detects, (9) Make your repos fully and clearly INSPECTION OF COMPONENTS OF UNIFORM CROSS SECTION In most role or forged material where reduction has taken place unformly from a larger size to an elongated smaller size, detects willbe parallel othe outside surface. The examination of ole plates for lamination has already been deait wih in chapter 9 under ‘Lamination Testing. awn bar reduces ‘secondary piping to along, roughly cylindrical eiscontinuty along the axis of the bar. This can be detected by a compression wave technique (igure 14.2) ‘and justin case small deviations from the eylindrcal shape make tific 10 Cetect trom one direction, itis usual to make two scans 90° apart 1357) TT Rolled or forged bar may produce a flatter defect (igure 14.3) from the pipe in the orginal ingot, and to ensure that these are detected, itis necessary {to make a number of scans along the length of the bar, wih about 180° between rst and last scans, f \ a sec gnmes ya Discontinutes in square sections may also be orientated in such a ‘manner that ite rellected energy reaches the ;nsducer. The application 196of stesses to allemate faces during the lorging process tends to induce defects ving dagonally as shown in figure 14.4, In such cases, an angled probe inspection wil be more sensitive than a compression wave sean. For adequate coverage, two faces 90" apart need tobe scanned. if ~z \ imonaree 7y (One point to watch wien testing cylindrical components isthe tendency for only line contac to be made. The contact area gets smaller asthe diameter ofthe object decraases. This leads to an increase in beam spread and a reduction of test sensitivity. To compensate for this the operator normally urns up the gain and this has th effect of extending the probe transmission noise giving an increased dead zone. The best solution to the problems of line contact, if you have alt of bar ofthe same diameter fo test isto use a twin crystal probe and shape the shoe fo fi the radius. DEFECTS FROM THERMAL TREATMENT Detects caused by the stresses set up by faults in Neat treatment of ‘component may occur in any plane and positon within the component. To be Certain of detecting these defets, scan trom as many surfaces as possibe, and use as many beam angles as possible. Otten defects associated with a particular component and faulty heat treatment technique, occur inthe same 197region of each component. As this becomes a clear "tend uring production, Ltrasonic techniques are otten simpitie to basic scans for laminar detects land ncusions, plus one sean aimed exclusively at inding the heat treatment tect peculiar to that component DEFECTS PROPAGATING IN SERVICE ‘Some detects develop, or frst show up in service alter the component has been subjected tots working loads for some time. Fatigue cracks and stess corrosion cracks are typical ofthis problem. The detects inate from small Imperections in the original casting, forging, welding or heat treatment processes which were not (and probably could not be) detected during the ‘manutacturing stages. They occur in areas of highest stress concentration ‘and their initiation points and direction of propagation is usualy predictable (they are going to occur at al that is). Often they are highlighted in fatigue test programmes or become apparent through an analysis of in-service falures. Inspection techniques are developed to examine crical areas for ‘8 particular defect in a particular location In the ease of citical components such as the main wing spar of an aircraft, designers and stress engineers ‘may say "itis going to crack, wil crack trom this point, and we would need to detect the crack before its length exceeds "x! mm. We may then develop fan ultrasonic technique, using a reference block containing an artical elect somewhat smaller than % mm (to be on the safe side) - and inspect hundreds of aicrat every year for twenty years looking fr this parteular Select, and never find one! (One example o in-service inspection isthe routine examination of rallway axles (figure 145). is an interesting application to look at brely because it iustrates a number of problems that tend to occur in the working lie of ‘any Ultrasonic Inspector. The first obvious problem is thatthe component is longer than many of us meetin the normal routine. The timebase has to be compressed to represent maybe 7 oF 8 feet of steel, and some flaw Gotectors, adequate for other inspections, may not gve sufficient imebase range, or there may be problems geting both ends ofthe time base infocus 138al the same time. There may not be sufficient pulse energy available to penetrate that much steel, Probes need to be careluly chosen to have as narrow a beam spread as possible, because the beam has plenty of time to spread. For this reason probes of 20 to 25mm diameter and 1 = 4 MHz frequency are normally used. Even then, wil almost certainly spread out to touch the sidewalls and spurious echoes due to mede conversion wil occur ‘Signals are so compressed that they become dificult to see - especially with short pulsed (high resolution) probes. Next, we have changes of shape that wil give rge to signals onthe display, {and iis near these section changes that detects are most tkely to occur. The rellectons from section changes will give @ standard signal pattern for each type of axle. Each of these signals wil need 1o be momorised so that you ‘are only looking for aitferences from the normal pattern. These difecences wl have to be explored futher in order to repost fully on any discontinuity eee | Fas ‘Another source of dard signals that may occur on railway axles, and in ‘other applications, is associated with bushes or beang housings that ate a “shrink 10 the axe, In such cases, a propotion o the sound from the bear ‘edge ofthe compression wave, meeting the interface between the axle and bush at an angle is transmitted and mode converted into the bush, (igure 144.6). The shear wave in the bush sutfers mukipl retlections gving a pattern of echoes such as the one shown in figue 14.7. These standard signals must also be identtied and memorised 199a a may It quite commen, when testing axles and shatts for some areas to be ‘masked from inspection because of section changes (igure 14.8). These ‘masked regions may be reduced by using compression wave probe angled to give a relracted angle of not more than 10°. Ifa special probe is not ‘avaliable, the result can be actioved by inserting a small Perspox wedge between the probe and the scanning surtace (figures 14.9 & 14.10), 'An example ofthe ultrasonic testing of a paricular shalt is shown in figure 14.11. Inaly the shat is scanned trom either end using @ compression 140wave probe. You would tend to concentrate your search for defects from {each end of the shaft, 1 the half closest to the probe, but paying some attention to signals arising in the second hal. Supplementary scans of 45° (oF 60° would be required to confem the presence ot cracking at changes in section close to the journal 141During the compression wave scan signals will appear and need to be Identities as: 2) Known changes in section, ») Spurious echoes due to made conversion ©) Detect signals In the ist instance, these can anly be identified by your knowledge of your ‘equipment and the shat. You need to know the beam spread of your probe, ‘an the calioraton of your flaw detector, From this and accurate timebase readings for each signal you should be able to identity each signal. In the cease of the shal ilustrated in fgure 14.12, the cisplay and interpretation would be as follows: v2In Figure 14.12, signal 1 isthe defect, 9, 4 and 7 ate rom known section changes, 5 and 6 are fom intemal reflections and 2 and 8 are mode EXAMINATION OF LUGS ‘The examination of lugs such as the one shown in figure 14.13, fr fatigue defects, is normally carried out using the angled shear wave probes. As with the examination of thick wall ubes, you need to consider the penetration of the beam tothe bore of the lug. In the case shown a 35° probe is needed to {ind the anticipated disconinuly. The probe wedge will have to be radused tofitthe outer surface to ensure good coupling, maintenance of correct angle and correct senstviy. Stress analysis has prediced that talure will only ‘occur in the shaded parton a he sketch, radiating from the bore. Fe 1413 'm the lug shown in figure 14.14 represents a rudder hinge fing from an ‘icra, history has shown that if falure occurs it wil bein region close to ‘he detect shown. This particular inspection is very good example of the Fre occasion when it might be necessary fo use an angle that means both ‘hear and compression waves willbe present 143[When we draw a line back to the scan surface al 80° to the defect, draw In a normal from that point on the scan surface and measure the angle of reaction needed to meet the detect at right angles, we find that angle te be 24". The problem is that we know that 24° i$ ight In the middle of that ambiguous zone where shear and compression waves co-exist in the specimen. The inspection obviously needs a special angle probe, but do we ‘ask fora 24" shear wave probe or a 24” compression wave probe? Ite ook at the situation where a24° compression wave probes chosen, we ‘wil see tha the unwanted shear wave wll come out at about 11° vaveling at about half the compression wave velocity. It wil tke the bore as shown in figure 14.14, and because of beam spread a potion of the reflected energy vl arve back atthe probe, at about the same time as the anticipated detect (compression wave distance to detects twice as far but the velocity is twice ‘a5 much), and tis wil lead to contusion. If we choose a 24° shear wave, then the unwanted compression willbe at about 50° and wil travel off into the body ofthe fiting and not return ata confusing time. Hence, in this case ‘ur choice would be the 24° shear wave. This is typical of the problems encountered in the testing of tis sort of forging, and great care must be taken to plan the technique before applying a probe to a component. 148(CHAPTER 15 EXAMINATION OF WELDS. “There have been some spectacular failures of plan and components in the past, due 10 faulty welding processes or procedures. In many cases, these have originated trom weld defects that can most reliably be detected by ultrasonic aw detection, Apainstaking procedure forthe manual examination ‘of welds has evolved over the years. The work is oan tedous, sometimes uncomfortable, but always demanding ofboth skill and understanding. The cloments required fo make a good ultrasonic welding inspector can be summarised as: - 2) A thorough understanding of flaw detection theory and practice ') A.go0d working knowledge of welding procedures and the origins of wold defects ©) Experience, and a lot of patience 4) Most of all he needs integrity you are working on a eitcal project, with a good design team, and a good welding crew you may test many hundreds of feet of welding without seeing ‘any signicant indications. Under these cicumstances, the temptation to telax your vigilance must be great. Nevertheless, the inspection only remain valid as long as you devote all your atention othe job. In the welding process, two pieces of metal are joined together. Molten ‘tite’ metal rom the welding fod blends with the molten parent metal atthe Prepared fusion faces, and fuses the two places tagetner asthe weld cools and solidifies. Some of he detects occurbecausethe fusion faces donot melt Properly or blend with the filer metal (lack of penetration and lack of fusion etects). Some detects occur because the scale or slag which forms atthe top of each ‘pass’ ofthe weleing rod, snot chipped away completely betore the next pass is made (Siag inclusions). Some defects occur because the Welding electrode dips into the molten wold and bits of copper or tungsten ‘hop into he weld (dense metal inclusions). Some defects cccur as in much the same way as casting defects (Porosity, pping, wormholes, shrinkage, 145,undercut ete). Some defects occur because ofthe thermal stresses, set UP by having part ofthe component at molten temperature, and the rest ofthe parent material) at much lower temperatures (racks, tears et). Many of the detects that can occur in welds do not significantly alter the strength ofthe weld thers doin varying degrees. However. planar defects (cracks, lack of penetration or usion) particularly those breaking the surfaces the welded joint, give rise tothe most severe reductions of weld strength. (Our inspection procedure should be such that defects that wil produce, or lead to, an unacceptable reduction in wels strength, are detected INSPECTION PROCEDURE ‘As with any inspection procedure, you need to be systematic, and this requires sell-dscipline. The temptation to scrub a probe across the test surface, chasing every small signal that pops up, occurs with al of us, but must be cesisted, At each stage ofthe inspection, you need to know what you are looking or and which zone ofthe weld you are testing, The routine, hich you must adopt, is: - 4) Find out all there is to know about the weld () Matera! (i) Welding process and associated detects {ii) We'd preparation design. (i) Parent metal thickness adjacent to weld (©) Any special lifcutl experienced by the welder because of the ‘weld location onsite (ui) Accoptance standards. ») Establishthe exactlocatonandsize ofthe weld. Ideally, youshouldmark the parent metal either side of the weld before welding commences so ‘hat the exact centre line can be established after welding, In some ‘cases, where the weld re-enforcement has been ground flush with the ‘arent material, t may be necessary to etch the weldregion to establish the weld wiath. The centre line of single V. but welds can be roughly checkedwithacompressionwaveprobe. Markthecentrelineaccurately 146fon the scanning surface. ‘) Carty outa visual inspection of the weld checking hat the surface is {roe trom weld spatter and smooth enough for scanning, Some detects ‘may show atthe sutace and be noticed dung this visual examination (undorcut, cracks ctaterpipes, burn through et.) l'youcan soe these elects and know that they aro in excess of the acceptance standard, than getthose defectsremediedbeforeyoubegintocarryoutultrasonis, Infact this is a good principle to observe a all stages of he inspection, as s00n as you see one, ora group of defects, which make the weld totally unacceptable, stop! - There is no need to do any more, Carry out an urasonicinspaction of he parent metal ether side of the ‘weld over a band that extends as far as fll skip for your shallowest angled probe (usually a 70” probe) plus hal the cap width. In this scan, ‘youcan use a compression wave, andassessmateralthicknessas wel 1s locating laminar defects which might interfere withthe passage of shear waves during the wold examination. Carry outa erica rot examination from both sides ofthe weld using & suitable angled probe. Thisisbecause'tisthe oot areain which defects, are mostikalyooccurand wheretheir presence s most detrimental. tis ‘also the region in which aregular echo, om the weld penetration bead, ‘canbe expected, and soit needs to bea careluly contoled sean, Note regions in which defect indications occu 1) Carry out an examination of the weld body trom both sides of he weld using angled probes. The scan pattem should ensure that the total volume the weldis examined. Note regionsin which defectindications I transverse cracking could occur with a particular weld design or process, then a scan using angled probes, parallel othe weld axis must be carted out. Detect indications should be noted, Fh) At his staga, no defects have been found, the weld can be accepted I however, some detects have been noted, you now go back to those. ‘areas and explore the defect as thoroughly as possible to determine: (i) ts exact poston in the weld g 9 var(i ts sie along the weld axs (length othe detect Gai) ts size through the wela thickness. (iy) The nature of detect (planar, volumetric, crack-ike ete) (Draw up a tal report about your examination ofthe weld. The report shouldbe comprehensive enough for somebody esetotindthe wold, test Itusing the same technique as you, and to the same test sensitivity, to find the same detects, and using the same sizing technique as you de, come up withthe same conclusions. BUTT WELDS IN PLATE AND PIPE Figure 15.1 ilustrates the weld preparation fo a typical single V' weld, and the terms used to describe various pars of the prepared wold area Figure 15.2 shows a cross section of the same weld ater welding, showing the original preparation, and the number of passes made to complete the wel, inthis case 8 passes: - STE ie Se ee Fase 148Figure 15.3 shows several other weld preparations used inthe fabrication of pine and pate but welds. _\d ‘ Sree Xx eam See Wren you approach the weld to begin your inspection, you shoulé ‘already know what the welding preparation was what welding procedure was followed, and what inspection standard you must follow. Your visual Inspection begins witha quick check to make sure that the weld is ready for ‘examination, The weld spatter (thats small splashes of molten-metal which Stick to the surfaces around the weld and then solidly) should have been removed. The scanning surface ether side ofthe weld cap should be free ftom scale and corrosion pits, in other words smooth enough to move a probe ‘across, fo atleast a band extending ofl skip plus the probe size. In somo cases, the parent metal will have tobe smoothed off with a surface grinder to {Achieve this finish. In the case of some ertcal wolds the weld cap may also be dressed to give @ smooth contour, of ground flush withthe parent metal to allow the prove to scan right across the centre tne ofthe weld. I this is the case, you must ensure that there are no humps or bumps inthe profile ‘cross the weld that will prevent probe movement ori the probe to Feave an 149sir gap underneath the contact face. Not all welds can have the cap round ‘of. In some instances, the extra meta thickness in the cap region is needed to stengthen the wel. You also look for obvious weld detects, since this may make the wold Lunaccoptable without boing ultrasonically tested. Detects such as undercut ‘and cracks can olten be seen quite easly, Figure 15.4 shows what we mean by undercut. Note that this ean also occur atthe root, bu wl only be seen if you have access to both surfaces Another fault, which may not always adversely affect weld accoptabilty, but \wtich might interfere with subsequent utrasonic inspection is ‘misalignment iustrated in figure 15.5. This fault occurs though poor seting up before Welding oF when pipes that aro not truly round, aro butted together. The ‘older will otten try to disguise ths by blending the cap in withthe parent ‘metal on either side, The cue o misalignments often, therefore, a widening of the cap. A similar effect occurs when plate or pipe of different wall thicknesses are welded. This s calle ‘mismatch at eee eee Fo iss 150(COMPRESSION WAVE INSPECTION “the compression ave inspection of the parent metal, and, the weld ‘cap is smooth enough, the weld itself forms a vital part ofthe procedure. Fry, by checking parent metal thickness it gives you actual thickness ‘values for subsequent shear wave calbrations, rather than the nominal thickness obtained from the drawing, I also detects mismatch immediatly ‘The systematic scanning of the parent motal in the band on which the subsequent shear wave scans ar tobe carrad out, will detect laminations, which though they may not affect the strength of the welded plate or pipe, right interore with a shear wave beam, Figure 15.6 ilustates tis problem, ‘Alatge lamination causes the beam to rellect up tothe cap alving a signal that might be mistaken fora normal root bead, and a the same time, misses the lack of penetration detect Fo 196 ‘The compression wave scan, if the weld capis dressed, allows you to locate the weld bead, and thus check the poston of the centr ine. An echo from the wold bead, because af beam spread, willbe accompanied by a back wall 151rellecton trom the parent metal The bead echo, at slightly greater range than the back wall echo wil maximise when the probe centre is over the ‘bead centre, The range siference between bead and back wall tells you ‘how prominent the weld boad i, Whilst scanning across the weld you wll ‘also obtain echoes from wold detects such as slag, porosity, et., which have volume. These can be plotted out and confirmed lator with shear waves ‘SHEAR WAVE CRITICAL ROOT INSPECTION ‘The next step is to make a careful inspection of the weld root area. We ‘make his a separate operation because: - 2) Dofects in this area usually have the most serous affoct on wold strength 'b) It's one region in which detects are very likely to occur ©) Itis a region in which retiections occu (rom the weld bead) in a good weld, and root detect signals wil appear very close othe standardbead signal, Le itis the region where you are most likely to be confused Because ofthe crieal importance ofthis part ofthe weld, and the possible contusion between detect and bead signals, this root scan needs a high degree of set-isipine to maintain a rigid procedure, We wil see that this part of he inspection can be broken up into several sages. At each stage of the scan you will be looking for a specific detect other signals may appear ‘and you may be tempted to ‘chase’ them to see where they exginate, This templation isto be resisted, because in chasing stray signals you may miss the defect you are looking fr. Botore we look atthe procedure for this scan, iis worth looking atthe weld root conditions you are likely to meet in Single “V' butt welds. These are iustrated in fgure 15.7. 152Fe 157 PROCEDURE “The main aim of this scan, inthe first instance, isto detect lack of penetration, ‘er incomplete root fusion (figures 15.7 b and c). That is when ane or both reat faces have not been fused. To datect ths deect wa mark outa scanning line at half skip cistance back trom the original oot face, on either side ofthe ‘Wald, (eal skip plus nal root gap from centre line}. We then place a guide 50 that when the heel ofthe chosen angle probe is butted against the guide, the probe index is onthe scanning line as shown in figures 15.8a and 15.80. Floxbie magnati sins are very usetl fr this purpose 153Fg 188 'Noxt, we calibrate the tmebase on the A2 or Aé block fora suitable range. For parent metal thicknesses up to about 30 mm, a timebase range of 100 im is suitable for this root scan. We calculate the beam path length for a bottom comer reflect from the BPL factor or trom the formula t:Cost=BPL. Lack of penetration wl give a signal at this range when the probe index is placed on the scanning line that you have drawn on the parent metal surface. \With he probe index on his scanning ne and the eet of te probe against the gue tokoepitther, we scan around the weld looking fora signal at our cial range. \witn the probe in this postion, we wil of course see a reflection from the ‘weld bead it the weld is a good one, but this signal wil bea small distance (depending on how big the weld bead is) away trom the anticipated spot for lack of penetration defect (igure 15.9). there is some root shrinkage or Lndercut, we wil also see a signal tom that, but ata slightly shorer range than the citcal one (gure 15.10} weFe. 1510 ‘We can sae that during this st scan there are three possible root contions that might show up. Thay are, NORMAL BEAD, LACK OF (or incomplete) PENETRATION, or ROOT UNDERCUT, We need to be able to diferente ‘between these three from the points that we have just discussed. Let's look ‘ata spectc case to help fc the prnciplos in our minds. Consider a singlo 'V ‘butt weld in plate 20mm thick. The weld preparation isa 60” included angle with a 2mm root gap anda 2 mm rot face. (Figure 18.11.) Foss ‘The scanning line fora 60° probe should be at half skip (34.6 mm) plus half the ot gap (1 mm) ke. 36.6 mm fram the weld cente line, The beam path length to the root edge preparation is then 40 mm, 2. lack of penetration ‘ould give a signal at 40 mm along the timebase. inthe sketch the bead ‘Signal would be 4 mm futher away, Le. 44 mm and root undercut about 2 "rm closer at 28 me, 155I the probe were positioned about 2 mm further back from the wold cents line, the centre of the beam would be aimed at the comer made by the undercut and parent plate giving a maximum response trom the undercut land at the enteal distance of 40 mm. In other words, we might mistake undercut for lack of penetration, and so you can soe the importance of knowing the weld centre line, and root gap, and of marking these accuratly I you have marked out accurately and have found a signal at 38mm which ‘yu wish to confirm as undercut, you can do this ater completing your intial ‘sean, by coming back to the suspect area, removing the guide strip, and lly moving the probe backwards. I the suspect signal ses in amplitude, maximises ata range of 40 mm and then falls slowly, you can be reasonably Certain that you have root shrinkage or undercut (Of course, all that we have said in the last three paragraphs depends on knowing the actual centre line ofthe weld, and the root gap. We very often ‘ay that this or that ‘must be, only to find tha in the fed, iis not Infact, VERY OFTEN you won't have enough accurate information about the wold to™make te job as simple as we have just suggested. However, we can still ‘usually come tothe right conclusions. Fis, you should always be able to {get parent metal thickness accurately from your compression wave scan. “Therefore, you can calclatethe beam pathlength at which lack ofpenetration ‘should show up. You should then confuse @ normal rot bead with lack of Penetration; the confusion wil come between lack of penetration and root Lndercut. This is where a knowledge of welding defects comes into its own, because wit ack of penetaton there wil be no weld bead signal, whereas ‘th root undercut there usually is. In adeltion, with ste welding, unlike the oliborate detects produced for raining or examinations, itis unlikely that @ ‘welder will produce inch after inch of good, uriform penetration bead that ‘suddenly stops for afew millimetres and then starts again, The weld bead is katy to tral away, stop, and then tail in again. Ihe fs a bac welder, there vl probably be excess penetration in places, inadequate or no penetration in other places. In other words, if while you are doing your erica rot scan the weld bead signal varios a lot in ampitude and positon, be carefull There 156isa probably of defects! Figure 1812 shows the sort of regular weld bead profile to be found inthis situation Iti not always the welder's ful that these detects are produced inthe wel ‘sometimes the accoss and ervironment problems aro such that itis almost ‘a physical impossibility to do @ good root run in a particular pat ofthe wel. Its often worth having a chat to the welder, therefore, to find aut where the awkward areas were, since those are the most ikely to contain defects. I YoU can't soe the welder, then try to look atthe weld through his eyes to see hich areas might have been dificult Your choice o test sensitivity can help or hinder in this root scan, Too much 1g2in can give you a confusing jumale of signals inthe root area, too itl, land you risk missing things. As a guide only, you are about right if you peak the 100 mm echo trom the A2 block to full screen height and then add 1008 of gain for testing plato, and up to 20 dB for testing pipe welds. However, Since lack of penetration is a good comer reflector, and a normal weld bead is often not quite as goad a reflector, it is sometimes useful to ty a quick ‘scan at 10.48 lower than these settings, because a major lack of penetration Wil show up well at this seting andthe bead won't, However, the etical root ‘ean should thon be repeated careful atthe higher setting, Wren you have carefully examined the ot, probing from one side of the ‘Weld centre line, you move tothe other side of the contre line and go through "all again to confirm your findings from the new side. This scan from the 187‘second sie wil also help you to interpret to other types of detect inthe root ‘area that we have not discussed. The fst one of these Is shown in figure 15.13, tis a smal slag inclusion, or porosity ust above the root ‘This detect might appear jst shot of the half skip beam path length when doing scan 1, leading you to ques that it might be a root undercut. Ht this ‘were 80, sean two shoulé put it just further than the erica distance, but the inclusion wi show in about the same place, .e.just shor again. Furthermore, from scan 1 we would expect undercut to give a rising signal as the probe ‘moves back 2 oF 3mm, but the inclusion wil give a rising signal as you move forward. It wil also give @ rising signal fr forward movement rom sida 2 ‘The second detect mentioned above is shown in figure 15.14, This shows @ crack staring from the edge ofthe root bead Fas 158From side 1a large signal would appear just whore you would expect o see undercut. However, ftom side 1 the bead signal would be ebiterated. From side 2, however, would be possible to get a bead signal as well asa defect signal CHOICE OF PROBE ANGLE “Tis fs perhaps not as etcal forthe root scan as i is for the remaining cans. We normally choose trom 45: 60° or 70: and sometimes 80" probes, tw have the shortest beam pathlength tothe root, and our choice i lined ‘by the condtion ofthe weld cap. On thinner plates it may not be possibe to position a 45° or 60" probe so that the hal skip beam points atthe root gap, ‘without the toe ofthe probe riding up onto the weld cap the weld cap has ‘been dressed lush with the parent material, then we would probably use a 45° probe provided the material was not so tin thatthe eical beam path length came into the probe ‘elute. For welds with cap in place we can ‘make the folowing recommendations about probe angle’ for various wall thicknesses forthe root scan: = Parent meta thicknoss Probe angle 6 15mm 60° or 70" 15—35mm 60° or 45 (Over 5mm 49° ‘SHEAR WAVE WELD BODY EXAMINATION Once we have completed our examination ofthe oot area, we can begin to ook atthe fusion faces and weld body. Again, we need to mark out the parent Metal surface to fix the scan limits for the probe angle we have chosen. Our ‘ain aim in this is to ensure that the wiole ofthe weld volume is carotully tested, Figure 15.15 shiows the outer limits ofthe scan, which positions the Brobe so as to produce ful skip distance to the nearest edge othe weld cap, ‘That means thatthe probe index is ata distance from the weld centr line ‘qual to fl skip plus half he cap wiath 159Fo 1515 ‘The parent material is marked with a line, parallel to the weld centre tne, at this distance, bath sides ofthe centre line, Two new paral lines are also «rawn atthe half skip limits you have changed probe angle since the root scan. Our scanning pattem is going o be between these half and ful skip limits. Figure 15.16 shows plan view ofthe marked area, 160PROBE ANGLE “The Initial choice of probe angle for the weld body scan depends upon the \wald preparation angle (Figure 15.17) The angle should be chosen to meet ‘any lack of sidowal fusion at right angles, for maximum response. The exact ‘angle 19 meat this fusion face a right angles can be calculate trom: Angle = 90~ Where isthe weld preparation angle Example 16 Calculate the most suitable probe angle for examining the fusion faces of a weld with 2 60° weld preparation angle Angie 90-9 Angie = 80-30 Required probe angle = 60° Example 17 Calculate the most suitable probe angle for examining the fusion faces of @ Weld witha 45° wold preparation angle. sng 00-6 snge-0-228 ir tn l= 258 |i the first case, clearly you would use your 60° probe, but in the case of the 48° wold proparation angle itis nt ikely that you will have a 67.5" probe, s0 YEU would choose the nearest -a 70" probe. 161“The procedure, having selected the appropriate probe angle isto scan in a Zigzag patter between the marked sean ints (Figue 15.17) Fe 1537 Each forward scan should beat right angles tothe weld centre line, and the pitch ofthe zigzag shouldbe half probe wicth to ensure full coverage. USING SEVERAL ANGLE PROBES ‘This scan concentrates on the weld body. You have already assessed the root area, and know the range at which the rot bead appears as the probe ‘reaches the hal skip matker. So the part ofthe timebase which is of interest is between the root bead signal, and the calculated beam path length for fll skip. You wil, of course, get some reflections from the weld cap, but these willbe at a range at, or in excess of, the calculated fl skip beam path, and ‘occur as you approach the ful skp limits of your scan. ‘The range at which you are testing, particularly when using a 70° probe to suit the weld preparation angle, can be quite lengthy, and you may feel that the sensivity to other detects within the weld zone may be rather 162tow. In such cases, its reasonable to use 45° or 60° probes to carry out supplementary scans. Remember that this will nt give favourable results for lack o sidewall fusion detects. I the weld cap has been dressed, you wil be ‘able to overcome the problem by scanning across the weld cent line fram tal skip fo the far edge ofthe original cap, instead of changing probe, Caro should be taken to ensure that any residual undulation et wien the cap is ‘re8sed, Is not severe enough to lit he probe index clear ofthe sutace as shown in figure 15.18, Ideally, the weld profile should be flat and flush with the parent metal, however, come undulation ist be expected. USE OF TWIN CRYSTAL ANGLE PROBES \Wnen you are ssanning directly over a dressed weld, some ofthe defects right be very close tothe top surlace. tthe transmission nose ofa single ‘ystal probe lass longer than the return tie in the Perspex shoe, the noise wil obscure part of the timebase and mask the defect echoes close tothe top Surace. In such cases twin crystal angle probes are available and may be sed, ust as twin crystal compression probes are used for overcoming the {ead zone in thickness or lamination testing. Measurement of beam index, {and angle, and timebase calibration can be carried out inthe same way as for single crystal angle probes. USE OF COMPRESSION WAVE PROBES ‘Aso ithe weldis dressed useful confirmation of detects having volume can ‘be made by scanning a compression wave over the weld body. 163PLOTTING WELD DEFECTS Signals that appear on the screen need tobe plated out to determine ther Position within the weld volume. This can be done using the plotting device shown in figure 15.19. The beam centre onthe slide for the probe is used to {termine detect postion; the beam edges are used in defect sizing, and tis ar ofthe operation wil be described fully in Chapter 16. “The plotter is used in the folowing way. Firstly, draw a scale diagram of the ‘wold preparation on the transparent cursor as shown in figure 15.20. This wil ‘enable us to plot detects between top surface and halt skp. Inthe example, \we show a single 'V' weld in 20mm plate 168‘Next, draw a miror image ofthe wold below the fist one. This will enable us to plot detects between haf and full skip. (See figure 15.21), Now let us assume that we have picked up a dofect in the wold and ‘maximised the signal from the detect rom the postion shown in figure 15.22. You note the beam path length, rom the timebase, and measure the surlace ‘stance 's-d between the probe index and the weld cent ine 165Lot us assume that the beam path length was 20 mm and the surace stance was 17 mm, We set 17 mm on the horzontal scale of the side against the ‘T ofthe transparent cursor, as shown in figure 15.23. Place @ fine % mark showing the postion of the defect where the beam centre line crosses the 20mm BPL arc. In this case, the postion ofthe datect is coroctly plottes on he weld centre ine at about halt material thickness.It we 100k at another example, such as the one shown in figure 15.24, in ahh the defects being detected asthe pulse travels between hal skip and full, we can see how fo use the mtrrimage we have dawn onthe slide, a = a estan a pet 9.1824 ‘Once again, we measure the surlace distance and the beam pathlength in this example, we wll say they are 60 mm and 64 mm respectively. With the {60 mm mark of the horizontal scale against the T' ofthe cursor, we see figure 15.25 that 64 mm down the beam centre puts the defect on the side wal ofthe weld nearest tothe probe, and just about the middle of the pate thickness, Fe 1525 167In the itstrations so tar we have shown the beam onthe side running from the top left han comer, atthe probe angle 60 towards the right hand side, land we have used this when scanning the wold from the lft ofthe centre line, Figure 15.19 showed thatthe probe card is drawn to show the beam Centre pointing tothe right Irom one edge and from hele a the othor edge. ‘Some people use a probe car that is only half the length ofthe ane shown In igure 15.19 but they draw on both sides ofthe card. One side scans rom the right and the reverse side scans from te let. ‘SCAN FOR TRANSVERSE CRACKS Having examined both the weld roat and the weld body, our next scan isto etect transverse cracks, breaking either top or bottom surfaces. Magnetic particle inspection is obviously a quick and effective method for detecting top surface cracks, and so vary often, you are only looking for cracks breaking the bottom surface. Ifthe weld is ressed, you begin your scan atthe weld conte line and scan along the line in each direction, you then make several scans parallel o, and ether side ofthe weld cent line, trom each direction, ‘making sure you cover the entire weld region. the weld cap has not been dressed, as in figure 15.26, you wil have to scan parallel to the weld centre line, alongside the weld cap wih the probe inclined towards the centre ine as shown, Since a crack tends 10 have @ jagged edge, itis ikely that some energy will be rellected back 10 the transmitter, but a safer technique would be to use a pair of probes, one transmiting and one receiving; this is also shown in figure 18.26.DEFECT IDENTIFICATION [litho scans you have completed up to now have been confined to 2) Finding the detects 1b) Estabishing thir positions in the weld volume, ‘You now know thatthe wold is a) Free trom defects and so is acceptable of b) Isso badly defective itis clearly unacceptable cor more likely 6) Some defects exist, butyou need to know more about their nature and ‘Sze so that you can compare them with an acceptance standard and then make your port Inmost cases, the nex jobs to use one o the sizing techniques to determine the length and through thickness dimension of each detect you have plotted {the same time, you wily assess the nature of each detect. The various methods of detect sizing are deserved in chapter 16. We wil, however, in this Section, look at some of the methods of assessing the nature of the otect. By this, we would like to mean the interpretation from our utasonic results of whether a defect is.a slag inclusion, or porosly, or undercut lack at fusion, crack, and 50 on. However, the flaw detector only gives us two pieces Cf information at any one time; thats, sty, he tine interval between the signal trom some reacting surface, and a known reference, and, secondly, ‘the ampltude ofthat signal. More information can be gleaned fom the way in ich the signal changes in amplitude and time as we move the probe. We can ‘Aso seo whether he signals a single clean ‘spike ora ragged group of echoes. ts rathor ike someone shining a narrow beam toch ona large wall on a dark right Ista garden wal? Ista out-bulsing or ahouse? Aha canbe Seen in tne cio of ight isa fow bricks. To nd out more, we coud ‘explore’ ‘he wal withthe torch, scanning up and down, and tom side to sid, storing incur mines eye, al at had gone before, bu never a one me abe to see 8 whole door, of window,” wall inthe nartow Beam. We might recognise \ 169pat of a door ora window, maybe enough to know that it snot just a garden wal, but we may never be Sure whether itis a house oF a shed, In uasonics, we are going to scan our probe beam over the defect to see how ‘ime and ampitude change in elation to our probe movement; the change of ‘amplitude wil be of major importance. The shape ofthe signal ‘envelope’, as itis called, will give us a clue to the shape ofthe defect, and from ths and our ‘knowledge of tects wich ae likly to occur inthis welding or manufacturing process, we can make an intligant'guess' as othe nature ofthe dtect. There 'S no real substitute fra though knowledge and experince inthe welding or ‘manutacturing process if your guess isto be responsble, but always remember that even at bos, itis only an inteligent guess. The industy has recognised this imitation over the years and itis now common practice oly to categorise dscontnuites in goneral tems suchas Yokumetc ana, ‘ack tke and soon INITIAL ASSESSMENT FROM SIGNALS. \We have seen that in certain parts of the weld, the positon on the tmebase for a known positon of the probe can glve us our intial cue tothe nature ofthe dotect - tor example, the different roo! conltons in a single 'V' wel. These can be confirmed by placing the probe in a similar postion on the other side of the weld conte line, as we have seen. We can also get some ‘negative’ information from a fixed signal. If we plot a defec’s position and find it to be in the contre of he wed, then that detect cannot be lack of sido wal fusion, for instance, neither can it be any ofthe root detects. ‘The profile ofa fixed signal can also give us some cues about the nature of the defect. Consider the two signals shown in igures 15.27 (a) and (b: — o 3S Reece eee @ o Fo.1s27 170In both cases, we have a large indication at about 8 on the timebase. The lenetsy CAUSING the signal in Hgure 15:27 (a), all onginates trom a depth ‘equivalent 10 4.8 timebase divisions, in other words, we have a ‘clean break in the timebase. Compare this withthe energy causing the signals in figure 15.27 (b), where the signals onginae at dopths between 4.0 and 7.5 timebase dvsions - we have a very '‘agged signal. The defect causing (a) ts fkely tobe smooth and regular in its presentation tothe beam, whereas the signal at (0) might be caused by the very regular outine of a slag inclusion for a jagged crack, or it might be a cluster of smaller defects at diferent eps such as slag inclusions, gas pores, lamelar tearing, tc. The fed signal has not old you what the detects, but thas told you what it might be, ‘and what i probably isnot. To go back to the torch and the dark night, your beam settles on a smal patch of brick work, you know thatthe object is a brick structure, you don't know iit isa uilding or abridge, but you de know thatitis not a car, ora bus, ora cow. ASSESSMENT FROM PROBE ORBITING Consider a planar defect running parallel o the weld axis (for instance, lack of penetration ina single'V weld). Supposing you have found such a defect, ‘and your probe has been positioned to maximise the signal so that the set up 's rater lke the one shown infgure 15.28, (position A), RX SE Fe. 1528 m|when you plot the defect, you determine thats poston sx’ in font of the probe index. Imagine @ cle, rads’ mm centved atthe oign af the reflection; swing the probe around ths cice fram Ato B to -D “EF. and back to so that the beam contre always passes through the same point. At ‘and D you will gat a maximum retlecton from the defect. Ths signal val Quickly disappear as you orbit away trom A or D because the sound fs no longer skng the defect roma, aris threo reflecting away om the probe. ‘Suppose the signal amplitude at and D was 4 divisions, then at 3° rotation before o° alter A and D it was 1.5 divisions, at 5° before or after A and D it was 0.1 divisions. and elsowmnere twas zero. We could draw a sort of polar dagram forthe signal amplitude from various directions of sean - it would look rather ke figure 15.29, showing clearly that planar detects are very directional. In figure 15.29, the radus of the concent exces indicates signal amplitude and the scanning directions Ato E are those shown in the previous diagram. I the reflecting surface was a gas pore rather than a planar defect tke the ‘one shown in figure 15.90, then because the gas pore is spherical in shape twill present the same reflecting surface to the bear al the way round the ‘tit scan, Then the polar cigram would look ke the one shown in figure 15.31, meFe 1531 Supposing the polar diagram fora defect that you have detected Iooks ike the one in figure 15.32, what deductions can we make from the shape ofthe polar dara?Firstly, itis clear that the detective region has volume, because you can elect a signal from any direction, Secondly, the reflecting surfaces within the detect region are iegular in their presentation to the beam. This ‘would be typical of a targe slag inclusion. In addon to the iregular polar clagram, you may already have noticed variations in the timebase range and possibly an irregular fixed signal such asthe one we saw in figure 1527 (b). However, you must remember that a group of gas pores or lamolar tearing, a paticulaly jagged crack could give similar indications. The probabilties favouring this or that defect type narrow as you gather more information ASSESSMENT FROM PROBE ROTATION ‘This technique gives similar information to the orbiting technique, Figure 15.32 represents the same situation as the one we saw in figure 15.28 Instead of orbiting the probe about the defect, the probe is rotted about ts axis, by about 70" or $0 in each direction. Fe 1552 we consider the three defect shapes again: 2) Planar (eg. lack of fusion) by Spherical (e.g. prosiy} ©) regular (e.g. sag) These might give the envelopes for signal amplitudes similar to those shown in figure 15.33 a,b, & 174ASSESSMENT BY TRAVERSING AND LATERAL SCANS ‘Another good cue to the nature of some defects isthe ‘ie! of he detect and this can be established by probe movement foward and back (traverse) or paralel to the weld centre line (lateral), at the same time ploting probe ‘movement and imebase range changes. ‘Supposing you have estabishod, by otal or oaton scans that a defect is essentaly pana. You retum the probe toa positon that gives a maximum eho, and lot the rection point, You move the probe towards the weld centr ine and tho signal moves to the lat onthe time base. Occasionally You stop and measure timebase range an the surface distance between Brobe index and weld conte line. From these measurements, you plct feverai more retecing pons along the dofect. You then move the probe tack (away tom cen ine) and pot further reteting points. Te resting Plot may look ike figure 15.34 line of points along he fusion face. cacao Gi Fo 1534 175 wereNow you return to the maximum echo position, and placing a guide behins the probe, scan sideways parallel othe weld cente lin, fist one way, then the other. Again, you stop occasionally, make measurements, and plat a plan view ofthe rtlecting points (Figure 15:35). These plotted points show that ‘the detect es parallel othe weld centre ine, you now ft together al the information ftom your various seans, you know 8) There is a reflecting source in the body ofthe material b) itis planar in character ©) Iles along the fusion face 4) Itruns parallel to the weld centre tne. ‘This information is compared with your knowledge of the welding process ‘and of weld defects, and you draw the reasonable conclusion that our defect Is lack of sidewall fusion. ‘The case we have just considered was straightforward: so don't tun away withthe idea that this identiication business is simple. Very fen lack ol fusion is associated with slag entrapment, and orbital scans tell you the elect is “regular. Sometimes the edge preparation is damaged during welding and the non-tusion face doesn't plot aut along the line shown on your scale drawing as the fusion face. It can't be said too often the best you ‘can hope for in mary cases isto shorten the list of possible defects for any one indication, SIZING AND REPORTING ‘Once all the defects have been identiied as far as possible, and sized your final jo is to write a report of your findings, comparing them with some 176‘oceptance standard fequted. However, thisis such an important opc, we wil ‘devote a Separate chapter to acceptance codes and reporting, thats chapter 17 SUMMARY, SINGLE V' WELDS. ‘We s20m to have covered alt of ground taking mainly about the routine for inspecting one weld configuration, but much ofthe subject matter apples to other weld contigurations, or for hal matter, to castings and forgings as well ‘Sobefore wo leave single 'V welds, and go onto look at other coniguration, {ot us just note the routine we have followed: - a) Visual examination ) Compression wave scans 6) Critical rot seans ) Weld body scans ©) Transverse defect scan 1) Detect interpretation and sizing 1) Reporting DOUBLE ‘v' WELDS ‘The routine for double'V welds is basically the same asthe oe just described ‘There are some diferences in deal in he erica oot examination, and the Weld body scan, because o the ferences in weld configuration, CRITICAL ROOT SCAN ‘The typical wel preparation fora double Y’ weldis showin figure 15.3. Figure 15.36 shows the theoretical lack of penetration’ detect in this type of wold 7It can be seen, that in theory atleast, this defect, planar, vertical, and inthe ‘midge of the weld volume, ought not to reflect sound back to the probe. In practice however, there is often enough slag or distortion at the top or otton (ofthe detect, to give a rtlection. I s usual therefore, to use a 70" probe positioned at half skip distance from the wold centre lina, to cary Out th eitical root sean. The anticipated timebase range for an echo from lack o! penetration cannot be predicted as precisly as for single “V' welds, but o course you do not have the added problem of root bead or undercut signal: to contend with ‘TANDEM PROBES FOR CRITICAL ROOT EXAMINATION, ‘Tho cassie method for detecting vertical retleting sulaces within the volume of the materials the tandem technique shown in figure 15.37. Although th iystates lack of coo! fusion in @ double 'V weld, it can be used for any weic preparation having a vertical face. In igure 15.87, is the probe angle, ‘Sis the separation between probe Indices, '¢! = depth of aiming point, and ' isthe specimen thickness. Fe double “V' welds, we aim at the centre of the weld at half parent mete thickness, and the probe separation, ‘Sis equal to half skip distance tc that probe angie. n other applications, we may wish, for instance, 10 expo @ fusion face thal is verbcal throughout the weld thickness. Our prob ‘separation for any depth can be calculate from the formula S=2t-a)tan8 1810 6007 EXAMINATION wet body examination fs much the same as for ingle V welts, bu Ter your san sta atone aarp stance om te wel conte goes back fl skp pus hal weld cap wath (See ture 1.38) Ths You have fouls face o examin, and You ood lo renanber that baton wel cep wil ge rfucone between hal skp beam pth Weg oor 4mm beyond tal skp beam patton Ts cap wl prevent MSamaton oe condone lover on non epost hal of towel coe (Nee Fe 1538 ums | npc Y WELDS WITH BACKING STRIPS (RINGS, OR “EB INSERTS) This type of welds shown in igure 15.3. The inspection procedure ony tors from that fr single ‘V' welds in the deal ofthe citical root examination. In the root examination ofthis type of weld, the prime object isto confim that fusion has taken place between the parent metal root preparation and the backing strip or insert ‘RB'INSERT When property fused, this weld configuration is ike a perfect single’ weld Wit a constant root bead praia. Setting up, than, is exactly as we dd forthe ‘ingle °V' root scan, and we expect to see a root bead signal ata particular lace on the timebase, which remains constant in ampiitude as we scan ‘ong cur probe guide (rovided,of course, couplant and surface coughness. {€0 also uniform). drop in amplitude in the signal from the insert isa clue 179that fusion may not be complete. The prosence of an echo at exactly hn skip beam pathlength would be posiive evidence of non-usion. Since th inser gives a very strong signal as a rule, and that signals ctten ony 2 ‘mm beyond the haf skip pasion, a shor length of nan fusion only shows a: {half skp signal sliding up the front a the inser signal (.e, oly resolved as shown in figure 15.38. oa tasatam—o i o Co) Lack of fusion atthe top ofthe insert (gure 140} can best be detected by compression wave probe, For this eeason itis desirable for the weld cap the dressed to allow the compression wave sean. It his cannot, oF has nc been done, this defect can often be found as a signal originating from jus ‘above the oot, when using a shear wave angle probe because of dstorio or entrapped siag Le Cr Fe 1540 120Ipacxina strips on rns ‘when properly fused the weld cross section laoks Hike the one shown in gue 15.41, ‘Te shear wave roat sean allows energy to pass through the root into the backing strip. Retlections from within the stip will show as a patiem of signals beyond hat skip beam path length (Soe figure 15.42). A decrease in ‘amplitude or total loss o his pattern indicates non-fusion ofthe backing strip. ‘Again, i is desirable to have the weld cap dressed so thal a compression wave probe can be used fo check he roo fusion. With a camaression wave probe ever the wold centre, an echo wil be received rom the back wall, and from the backing stip. Lass ofthe backing trp echo insicates ack of fusion (G00 figure 15.43). 181or WELDS ‘The examination of both ‘T and Nozzle welds is somewhat diferent to the weld contigurations already studied. For complete inspection, scans from several surtaces are required, and access to more than one surlace may ‘not be available. In other words, you may often have to cary outa limited Inspection only. We will conser the ideal case where ll surlaces are realy accessible, remamber that in practice you may not be able to carry Out all these seane, “T welds may be fuly penetrated, or only parially penetrated by design, ‘The inspection procedure is much the same in either case, but fr pati penetration welds you need te menitor the non-fused portion to ensure that itis not longer than the design permits. Full and partal penetration joints are iustrated in igure 15.44 Fo 15a¢ seeJwonavo.bynow coveredenough olthe bast priples of welnginspecon fo conceive onthe scans to be made. ForT weds, hase are istatod inoue 15.45, nthe dagram tree scans ae indicated by numbers on ho probes: ‘Scan 1 Compression wave «looking for Laminations, Lack of Fusion, Lamelae Tea rng ‘Scan 2__ Shear wave - Weld Body Defects, Toe Cracks. ‘Sean 3. Shear wave - Fusion Faces, Weld Body. ‘As with previously discussed weld configurations, probe angles and frequencies will be chosen to sult the geometry ofthe weld and accessibility For Scan 3 itis useful to choose a probe angle that wil produce a beam centre line parallel tothe weld cap (See figure 18.46) to reduce the tendency for confusing cap echoes. However, this may produce surface waves in the 2p that could also be contusing, Remember that surface waves can be amped with an oly finger and tis may hop with contimation of which wave ‘scausing a signal — 183CH AN 1548 NOZZLE WELDS "Nozzle welds are those in wich one pipe is joined to another as a branch, at either right angles or some other angle. As with ‘joints, the weld may be fully penetrated, or only parially penetrated. The branch may be lt ino the ‘main pipe to lt liquids or gases in and ou, fr instance, or the branch may ‘Simply be mounted on to a pipe that isnot perforated, asin the case of a bracing strut in @ tubular structure, The two types are shown in figure 15.47 in which the shadod portion shows the pipe wall. The main difficulty in the ‘examination of nozzle welds isthe fact thatthe weld profile is changing as yu scan around the weld, Acoess to al the desirable scanning surfaces is also a problem, andi is rare to tind completely free access. So once again. you may anly be able to cary out aliited inspection. [ZZZZZZZZZ aoe 104‘Some typical weld preparations are shown in figures 18.48 to 16.52. I is ‘obviously not within the scope of his book to reproduce all the types of weld preparation in use, We shouldbe able, however, to look at some ofthe basic principles. Inthe diagrams, we ilustate the wal of the main pipe oF vessel (called shel, and the wall of the branch, stub, oF noz2e (called ‘branch’ Svat Fo. 1500 Fe. 1540 Fara ate Pet tent Fe 1550 Fe 15sti FULLY PENETRATED ‘SET ON’ NOZZLE ‘The scans to.be carted out are shown in figure 1553. hence Fe 1554 ‘Scans 1 & 2 are compression wave scans of branch and shell o determine: a) Thickness ) Lamination ©) Fusion of shell wal, weld body. 186173 is a ctical root scan against a probe guide. For a weld preparation langle of 40° as shown, 65° isthe optimum probe angle. Moving the probe [back ovarés psitn 4 sans tho fasion faco and wot bo. PARTIAL PENETRATION SET IN’ NOZZLE ‘The scans are similar to those shown in igure 15.54. However, we do need to check the actual penetration achieved, and to make sure thatthe vertical fusion face is used (See figure 15.55) = ‘ct oaton yn ce Fo 1555 We can find out whether the weld has penetrated far enough to fuse the vertical preparation edge by very careful pling ofthe root signal. It is ‘sual to plot both the maximum rettecting pont, and, as confirmation, the Point at which the signal ust disappears (ie, beam centre and beam edge) From an accurate drawing of the weld preparation, the Intended point of ‘maximum penetration can be determined, and the range ofthis point, using the bear centre and the bear edge, can be measured. The ‘tensity Drop ‘Method of estimating the end ofthe intended nan-tusion (using the beam €edg0) is deserved in chapter 16 ‘SET THROUGH NOZZLE These are rather Ike ful or pata penetration T welds, and can be scanned ‘nthe same way as shown in figure 15.45 (scans for T welds). The main 187‘complication arses trom the fact that the fusion faces, when one pipe fis into another inthis way, le along a line that looks rather like a "sadae’ (see figure 15 56). oe “ne Fp 1558 g ‘The equivalent to scan 1 in igure 15.45, would be made rom the bore of the branch, (Compare figure 15.45 with figures 15.50. 15.51). To determine ‘the wold limits, itis usual to scan the compression wave probe up and down the bore (ie. parallel to branch axis) noting the change of signal from wal thickness to weld region, and carefully marking the probe position. A series Cf pons plotted inthis way can be joined with a chalk oF wax pene ine to ‘ive you the weld its. FINDING THE WELD CROSS SECTION ‘The main problem with nozzle weld inspection isthe changing geometry as you scan around the weld. Since knowledge ofthe weld cross-section is @ ‘al pat of the inspection procedure, iis important to be able to draw the section at any point around the weld circumference at any point that you ‘ight be testing. The problem i ilustrated in figure 15.57 giving you a view o! the joint looking down the bore of he branch and in figures 15.58 and 15.59 as 188we look at a cross-section ofthe weld through the longitudinal axis ofthe [main vessel (along the line 80° to 270") the weld preparation would look tke the one shown in igure 15.58. However, i we were to look at a cross-section through Oto 180° the weld ‘reparation would look ike the ane shown in figure 15.59. The tly longitudinal section and the truly circumferential are the easy ‘nes to draw! You can of course, construct an accurate scale drawing i 109by conventional engineering drawing techniques, but this can be a time Consuming task. One alternative that gives acceptable results in practic is to use a mime gauge, (normally used or marking Hoo tes so that they can be fitted around dor frames). The gauge consists of a stock through which 416 fled @ number of equal length wikes that are fe to slide through the stock. we position the mimic gauge over the weld and adjacent shell and branch, it takes up the external profile as shown in igure 15.60. We can trace around the mimic profile ono a sheet of pape asin gure 18.63, i i[we know the thicknesses of branch wall and shel, so we ean mark points ‘on the drawing, parallel to the outer surfaces and at the appropriate wall thickness (sve figure 15 62). ae F150 From these marks, itis possibie to construct the complete cross section ot the weld a tht postion. In this context is usell to remember thatthe root ‘98p and the distance between the branch outer surface and shell should be ‘eonstant, so you can deduce an approximate postion forthe fusion faces. 191CHAPTER 16 DEFECT SIZING AND EVALUATION TECHNIQUES ‘The evaluation of detect size and nature are the two most controversial opic= in utvasonic taw detection. Sizing in paricular can be a confusing subjec for the beginner, wth various techniques being advocated or condemnox by the many expers in the feld. n many ways, those of us who have boer invoved inthe training of utrasonic operators have beon as much to biame forthe confusion as have the experts, and those who set the standards. Wi have inthe past taught students a particular sizing technique as iit were ar absolute measuring system and without giving a cautionary note on the lin ‘of accuracy. n this socton it is hoped that we can redress the balance anc ‘show the various techniques and thei limitations. No one technique has ye bboen established which gives a high degree of accuracy orrepeatabily in a Ccteumstances, The ‘Time of tight aaction’ (TOFD) system that has beer 2014) Move the probe again to a obtain a maximum echo and then sean ‘away Kom surlace F to find the top edge ofthe beam by taking the ‘ange as the signal reaches the 20 dB line, in his case we wil say at 24 mm. This point is pleted in the same way so that we now have. thiee ares crossing the horizontal tine corresponding to the beam centre, bottom edge, and top edge as shown in igure 16.12, Flopeat steps “a ~ for each ofthe other holes and again draw the beam edges through the intersections of the arce with the horizontal fines (See figure 16.13) The beam plated using this method will nat be identical tothe beam potted by the previous method, buts stl valid provided you apply the methad that was used to plot the beam to evaluate detect size. Never mix the tvo methods. Fo 1812 Fe 1019 In practic, rather than stepping to plot each hole as you sean it ie more sual simply 10 jot down the ranges in table form, and plot the whole series of points atone sting Groat care is needed during the plating stage whichever method you use Goneraly, you wil fing beam spread diagrams for probes between 95° and 50’ fairy straightforward to plot. The points can be fited into the classic 202beam shape. However, more diticuty willbe experienced with a 60: oF 70 probes Fist, the exact maximum is more dficul to identity because of tne relatively iong vse and decay. Secondly, the beam edges are cicut to define because of the relatively long decay in signal amplitude; a large Jprove movement produces a smal signal change. During this process you fare much more lily to twist the probe and prematurely cut the signal down to the 20d8 line. The probable result i a series of points, defining the beam jedge, which cannot be joined by a straight ne. You will need 0 check the points careuly, but with the subjective influence of knowing that each pint is 100 far out, or not far enough out, rom the beam cente, Finally, you wail have fo draw beam edges that give you the ‘best i forthe plotted points, Wis dtfcut t0 generalise when talking about beam characteristics, but the tendency is for beams tobe less well detined in shape for rectangular jystals, than for circular rystals, and for small diameter high trequency probes, than for large diameter low frequency ones, PLOTTING THE BEAM (HORIZONTAL PLANE) “The beam proile inthe horizontal plane can be determined using the same holes in the IOW block. The pracodure, which i repeated for each depth, i a8 follows a) Obtain and maximise the amplitude ofan echo forthe hole chosen. b) Postion a guide strip across the block in line withthe hee ofthe probe (See figure 16.14) 6} Sean tne probe along the guide unl the signal has reduced by 20 48. 4) Mack tne centre af the probe (igure 16.15) 1) Measure the distance "x between the edge ofthe block and the probe conte line that you just crew. 1) Measure the distance’ between the prabe index and the side ofthe hole ‘Subtract the cilled depth (22mm) from the measurement °X’ and the results half the beam width ata horizontal distance 'Y hh) Ropeat steps a ~ 9 rom the other side ofthe hole 0 find the wieth of fy 203the othr half ofthe beam igure 16.16). 1) peat steps a -h for each of the remaining holes. }) Draw the horizontal beam spread diagram trom your recorded valu (gure 16.17) Fo 1615 SIZE ESTIMATION (VERTICAL PLANE) ‘We will consider the case of a detect near the sidestall in a 20 mm tht single 'V weld (See igure 16.18). AL this stage, we vill assume that the weld capi dressed.Fe 1018 sty, we find the maximum echo forthe detect, and plot its poston (igure 6.19 positon a’ trom the surface distance and beam pathlength, jst as did in section chapter 15, We then move the probe towards the wela ent line until the signal has reduced by 20 6B. AL this point, measure the lace dstance and imebase range. This information is now plotted on the [sic but nis ime the team pathlength is platted along the otto edge of ‘beam (igure 16.19 positon f y TT) he probe is then moved aay trom the weld centre line, trough the 1aximum, back 10 the 20-48 drap position where the surace distance and eam path length are again measured and the third position (c' in figure 16.19) along the top edge of he beam is pottes this isthe current position in 1 akagram, The three marks an your plotng side in figure 16.19 show the fect ize and erentaion 205the dofecthas.a relatively large dimension inthis plane, you nay experience € large amount of probe movement betore the signal begins to drop towarcs ‘the 20 dB positon. In such cases itis useful to plot the ofietation ofthe elect by plating some intermediate points using the bear centre range. provided those points are plot while the signal amplitude is somewhere ear its maximum valve. SIZE ESTIMATION (HORIZONTAL PLANE) Commonly known as the length of the defect, this dimension can by ‘measured by finding the maximum echo postion and scanning the probe let and right parallel to the weld centre line to establish the left andl igh 20 08 points. The total probe movement fs then measured, and the sutace ‘distance between the beam index and weld centre line &s measured. The length ofthe detect is then obtained by subtracting the beam with in mm at that surface dstance on your beam profile diagram, from the total probe movement. Figure 16.20 shows the probe movement between the 20 at limits fora detect near the centre line ofa wel. Fe 1620 ‘Suppose the probe movement is measured as 27mm and the suract distance as 40mm. To find the length ofthe defect we reer to our horzonts bbeam plot (igure 1621), At the measured surface distance, (40mm) we se that the beam width is $mm. We subtract the Smm from our 27mm probe ‘movement gving a result of 18mm forthe length ofthe defect. 206| . Here ‘Tmere are some reservations to be considered. You must be alert tothe {actors thal influence ampitude when using the dB drop method. It isnot a |eate assumption that amplitude is dropping because the beam is scanning [past the end ofthe defect. The other factors that you must remember are: = 1) Area of defect surface - the defect may taper in section giving a reduction in cross sectional area within the beam; f this is enough to drop the signal by 20 dB, you could wel plt the cu of point several ‘ilimetres before the true end ofthe defect. ) Orientaon- the defect may twist and tis may cause a premature cut off point tobe chosen, Sizing the dafect by using more than one probe angle wil give you the clue if twisting is present (0) Range - there may be a dogleg inthe run of he detect, putting part of its length in an unfavourable position «) Probe rotation - inadvertently twisting the probe as you scan may also lead toa false result, {8} Change in surface roughness or couplant may algo lead ta poor resuts, (MAXIMUM AMPLITUDE TECHNIQUE This technique has at least as much mert asthe dB drop system, but does ‘not seem to have had the same degree of publicity and acceptance. tis a Valuable method of crosschecking results obtained by the dB drop systom, nd for certain detects, it can be clearly shown to be superior I takes into count the fact that most defects that eccur donot presenta single, polished Teflecting surace, but in fact ake a rather tortuous path though the materia With some facets ofthe defect surface suitably orientated tothe beam, and | 207some unfavourably orientated. Figure 16.22 ilustrates this, showing a crack ‘propagating inthe wold, The facets tha are boldly outined are those that are {favourably orientated, C EG fee iF | Each ofthe reflecting facets willbe ata sightly diferent range, and although they may be too close together to resolve as separate signals, the signal envelope can nevertheless be regarded as a series of overlapping separate signals. Infact the envelope may look like figure 16.23 a,b or ¢, depending fon the degree of range variation from the diferent facets, and on the resolution ofthe equipment [As the beam is scanned across the surlace of the fect, the beam centre ill sweop each facet in tum. As i does, the signal trom that facet will each ‘4 maximum and then begin to fal, even though the main envelope may bb, at that instant, ising or faling in amplitude. As each signal reaches i ‘maximum, you stop, measure the surface stance tothe weld centre, anc the timebase rango for that facet, and plot the relecting point on your bear plotter. You increase the gain to folow the series of maximum echoes unt the beam sweeps the last facet, which you plot. After that the signal only falls, no futher maximum is observed. On your beam plotter you wit no hhave a series of points marked, which trace out the extent of the detec. ‘\ I, dh tl th 208| 1p DIFFRACTION SIGNAL. | toe maximum echo tactigu an expat a phenomenon repented by ‘Sproule some yoars 399. This i the ciracon of ha sound beam at te {pola detec. The aitracton signal hen races from th ofthe detect 25.2 ofcular wave fot, rather lke the ropes ona pon rom the pint at wich a stone enters the water The signal wil venus reach he materi surtaco over @ wid range of he sure. It can be detected by the robe ven though he delet orentation may appear most unsuitable (See ou 16.28), The ampite of his gna rather waak, about 90 8 fone han comer elector athe same depth This tp ciracton signal will generally be the last maximum echo that you 820.1 the detect is very smooth, there wil probably only be three maxima, the main echo and the tip difracion signal from each and. Let us take a practical example that ilustrates one limitation ofthe dB drop methad and the use of tip fraction to advantage. Figure 16:25 shows the A2 block, looking atthe 300mm edge. The machined alts marking the 100mm radius can be seen to be 4mm deep, and form a comer reflector in the block. Lng 2 70" prbe postoned Eom back fom the so: you shoud get ' boom comer reflector signa a 7anm range. Maximise hs by robe Irovemen and et ofl screen height. Plt he maximum pot on your | 209beam platter - it should come on the 25mm depth line, Now go through the 20 dB scanning procedure to determine the vertical extent of the ‘select Platting top and bottom beam edge reflection points. I you do it careful, all three points (top edge, bottom edge and beam centre) should coincide suggesting that the detect has no verical extent. In ther words, the system hasnt worked, This wil always be true ifthe defect is as smooth as our sit (e.g. lack of penetration), and you wil only get a positive result ifthe top of the sit has a slag inclusion associated with i It you now go back tothe 69 mm surface distance and again maximise the ‘echo, we wl ry the maximum amplitude method with tip dracton giving us ‘a second maximum to pol. Firstly, measure the surface distance (69m) to ‘he bottom corner maximum, andthe timebase range (73mm). Plt these ov ‘and you should get @ mack atthe 25 mm depth ine on your plot, just a before. Now adjust the gain so thatthe signal amplitude is at about one fit {ull screen height, note the amplitude and the gain setting. Then increase th ‘gain by 30 dB and scan towards the slot. As the main signal s going down In amplitude and moving to the let on the CRT. watch the leading edge c the signal closely, and you wil see a new signal creep up the leading edge ‘and maximise somewhere near one fih screen height As this dlfracto ‘signal reaches its maximum, nate the surface distance and the range (thes should be 58mm and 61mm respectively). Plot this point out, and you shou! {ge a mark on your plotter 4 mm above the bottom corner mark, showing th verical extent ofthe st ‘Another practical exercise which you can do 10 practice the maximus ‘amplitude method is to use the group of ie holes inthe IOW block. The! ‘give @ signal patter rather lk that rom a jagged crack. I you scan this ar Plot each maximum, you should geta series of § points corresponding ot holes, and the row of ponte at 10° othe vertical. It you use the 20.48 dt ‘method, you should also be able to construct a line whose length is to the distance betwoen the fst and fith hole, and which lies at 10° tot vertical. For this sort of relator, both techniques work. 210‘Both methods we have discussed attempt to establish the tue dimonsions of the defect. An experienced and conscientious technician will no faliow ether technique binly, but will vary the procedure according tothe characteristics of the retlecting surlace, Both techniques may be used in order to conti 2 citical defect size. For example, wien using the dB drop technique to find the length ofa smooth sidewall non-fusion defect. can be shown that, using the crystal dlameter as beam width (.e., assume a parallel beam) oF Using a 6 dB drop technique produces a mare accurate resut than the 20 B technique. I is useful to note which type of defect each method is relatively good at measuring, and which type each method is relatively poor at measuring Nature of Detect 8 Drop Maximum Amplitude ‘Smooth without volume Good tip Poor (Lack of penstration diraction is lack o side wait fusion) used ‘Smooth with volume Very good Good (Porosity, pipes, ete) Planar, regular profie Good Very good (Cracks, lamer tatng) Volume, regular profile Good Very good (Porosity clusters, slag) ‘Because of tho diferencesin interpretation and personal choice of technique Watations, there is Ikely to be @ wide variation inthe size estimation ofthe ‘ame detect by several technicians, This fact has caused much concern in the past and stimulated research into improved methods of dofect sizing c latest of these, and the mast suocessulif the TOFD system. FECT SIZING USING TOFD ‘TOFD technique, frst used by Sik in 1977, uses tip aifraction to identity i :the top, bottom and ends ofa dscontinuity in one pass. Sik chose to use an “angled compression wave for the TOFD technique rather than a shear wave, fortwo reasons Firstly, the tip dfracton signals stronger than a shear wave

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