Ultrasonic Testing Level II

(UT)

Part 1
 NDT
Most common NDT methods:
Penetrant Testing (PT)
Mainly used for
Magnetic Particle Testing (MT) surface testing
Eddy Current Testing (ET)

Radiographic Testing (RT)

Mainly used for
Ultrasonic Testing (UT) Internal Testing
 NDT

• Which method is the best ?

Depends on many factors and conditions
 Basic Principles of Ultrasonic Testing

• To understand and
appreciate the capability
and limitation of UT
 Basic Principles of Ultrasonic Testing

Sound is transmitted in the material to be tested

The sound reflected back to the
probe is displayed on
the Flaw Detector
 Basic Principles of Ultrasonic Testing

The distance the sound traveled can be displayed on the Flaw Detector
The screen can be calibrated to give accurate readings of the distance

Signal from the backwall

Bottom / Backwall
 Basic Principles of Ultrasonic Testing
The presence of a Defect in the material shows up on the screen of
the flaw detector with a less distance than the bottom of the material

The BWE signal

Defect signal

Defect
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

60 mm

The depth of the defect can be read with reference

to the marker on the screen
 Thickness / depth measurement
The closer the reflector
to the surface, the signal
will be more to the left of
C B A
the screen

30 46 68

The thickness is read from the screen

The THINNER the material

C the less distance the sound
travel
B

A
Ultrasonic Testing

Principles of Sound
 Sound
• Wavelength :
The distance required to complete a cycle
• Measured in Meter or mm
• Frequency :
The number of cycles per unit time
• Measured in Hertz (Hz) or Cycles per second (cps)
• Velocity :
How quick the sound travels
Distance per unit time
• Measured in meter / second (m / sec)
 Properties of a sound wave
• Sound cannot travel in
vacuum
• Sound energy to be
transmitted / transferred
from one particle to
another

SOLID LIQUID GAS

 Velocity
• The velocity of sound in a particular material is CONSTANT
• It is the product of DENSITY and ELASTICITY of the material
• It will NOT change if frequency changes
• Only the wavelength changes
• Examples:
V Compression in steel : 5960 m/s
V Compression in water : 1470 m/s
V Compression in air : 330 m/s
5 M Hz

STEEL WATER AIR

 Velocity
What is the velocity difference in steel compared with in
water?
4 times

If the frequency remain constant, in what material does

sound has the highest velocity, steel, water, or air?
Steel
If the frequency remain constant, in what material does
sound has the shortest wavelength, steel, water, or air?

Air
Remember the formula
l=v/f
 ULTRASONIC TESTING
Very High Frequency
5 M Hz

Glass
High Frequency
5 K Hz

DRUM BEAT
Low Frequency Sound
40 Hz
 Ultrasonic
• Sound : mechanical vibration

What is Ultrasonic?
Very High Frequency sound – above 20 KHz
20,000 cps
 Acoustic Spectrum
Sonic / Audible
Ultrasonic
Human
> 20kHz = 20,000Hz
16Hz - 20kHz

0 10 100 1K 10K 100K 1M 10M 100m

Ultrasonic Testing
0.5MHz - 50MHz
Ultrasonic : Sound with frequency above 20 KHz
 Frequency
• Frequency : Number of cycles per
second

1 second 1 second 1 second

1 cycle per 1 second = 3 cycle per 1 second = 18 cycle per 1 second

1 Hertz 3 Hertz = 18 Hertz

THE HIGHER THE FREQUENCY THE SMALLER THE

WAVELENGTH
 Frequency

• 1 Hz = 1 cycle per second

• 1 Kilohertz = 1 KHz = 1000Hz
• 1 Megahertz = 1 MHz = 1000 000Hz

20 KHz = 20 000 Hz
5 M Hz = 5 000 000 Hz
 Wavelength
Wavelength is the distance required to complete a cycle.
Sound waves are the vibration of particles in solids, liquids or
gases.
Particles vibrate about a mean position.
wavelength
Displacement

l The distance
taken to
wavelength complete one
cycle
One cycle
Wavelength Velocity

V
l=
f

Frequency
 Frequency & Wavelength

1 M Hz 5 M Hz 10 M Hz 25 M Hz

LONGEST SMALLEST
l=v/f

F l F l
Which probe has the smallest wavelength?

Which probe has the longest wavelength?

 Wavelength is a function of frequency and
velocity.
Therefore:
V f =V
l= or or V= f l
f l
5MHz compression
wave probe in steel

5,900,000
l= = 1.18mm
5,000,000
• Which of the following compressional probe has the
highest sensitivity?
• 1 MHz
• 2 MHz
• 5 MHz
• 10 MHz

10 MHz
 Wavelength and frequency
• The higher the frequency the smaller the wavelength
• The smaller the wavelength the higher the sensitivity
• Sensitivity : The smallest detectable
flaw by the system or
technique
• In UT the smallest detectable flaw is ½ l (half the
wavelength)
 The Sound Beam

• Dead Zone
• Near Zone or Fresnel Zone
• Far Zone or Fraunhofer Zone
 The Sound Beam

NZ FZ Main
Beam

Intensity
varies

Exponential Decay

Distance
 The side lobes has multi
minute main beams
Two identical defects may
give different amplitudes of
signals

Near
Side Lobes
Zone
The main beam or the centre
beam has the highest
intensity of sound energy

Main Lobe Any reflector hit by the main

beam will reflect the high
amount of energy
Main Beam
 Sound Beam
Near Zone Far Zone
• Thickness • Thickness
measurement measurement
• Detection of defects • Defect detection
• Sizing of large defects • Sizing of all defects
only

Near zone length as small as possible

 Near Zone

2
D
Near Zone =
4l
V
l =
f
2
D f
Near Zone =
4V
 Near Zone
• What is the near zone length of a 5MHz compression
probe with a crystal diameter of 10mm in steel?

2
D f
Near Zone =
4V
2
10  5 , 000 , 000
=
4  5 , 920 , 000
= 21 . 1 mm
 Near Zone
2 2
D D f
Near Zone = =
4l 4V
• The bigger the diameter the bigger the near zone
• The higher the frequency the bigger the near zone
• The lower the velocity the bigger the near zone

Should large diameter crystal probes have a high

or low frequency?
 Which of the above probes has the longest Near Zone ?

1 M Hz
5 M Hz
1 M Hz 5 M Hz
 Near Zone
2 2
D D f
Near Zone = =
4l 4V
• The bigger the diameter the bigger the near zone
• The higher the frequency the bigger the near zone
• The lower the velocity the bigger the near zone

Should large diameter crystal probes have a high

or low frequency?
 Beam Spread
• In the far zone sound pulses spread out as they
move away from the crystal

/2



Kl KV
Sine = or
2 D Df
 Beam Spread
 Kl KV
Sine = or
2 D Df
Edge,K=1.22
20dB,K=1.08
6dB,K=0.56
Beam axis
or Main Beam
 Beam Spread

Kl KV
Sine = or
2 D Df
• The bigger the diameter the smaller the beam
spread
• The higher the frequency the smaller the beam
spread

Which has the larger beam spread, a compression

or a shear wave probe?
 Beam Spread
• What is the beam spread of a 10mm,5MHz
compression wave probe in steel?

 KV
Sine =
2 Df
1 . 08  5920
=
5000  10
o
= 0 . 1278 = 7 . 35
 Which of the above probes has the Largest
Beam Spread ?

1 M Hz
5 M Hz
1 M Hz 5 M Hz
 Beam Spread

Kl KV
Sine = or
2 D Df
• The bigger the diameter the smaller the beam
spread
• The higher the frequency the smaller the beam
spread

Which has the larger beam spread, a compression

or a shear wave probe?
Testing close to side walls