J Nondestruct Eval (2011) 30:137–142
DOI 10.1007/s10921-011-0101-0
Immersion and TOFD (I-TOFD): A Novel Combination
for Examination of Lower Thicknesses
R. Subbaratnam · Saju T. Abraham · B. Venkatraman ·
Baldev Raj
Received: 14 February 2011 / Accepted: 10 May 2011 / Published online: 24 May 2011
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Abstract Time of flight diffraction (TOFD) is a well-
developed ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT) tech-
nique which has been applied successfully for accurate siz-
ing of defects in thick sections. Codes of practice such as
ASME now permit TOFD for routine examination as an al-
ternative to radiography for thick weldments. However, ex-
amination of thinner sections by TOFD has its limitations.
The main limitation is that as the thickness of the specimen
reduces, the lateral wave, diffracted wave and the back wall
echo merge together and it is very difficult to identify and
size the discontinuity. Also, the size of conventional trans-
ducers limits the required probe separation. Limited success
has been obtained internationally through the application of
miniature probes and software for extending TOFD to lower
thicknesses. In these cases, the minimum thickness that has
been examined is 7 mm. A new methodology based on a
simple and novel combination of TOFD and the immersion
technique has been proposed by the authors that success-
fully extends the application of TOFD to thinner sections
down to 3 mm. Immersion coupling provides a delay line,
the necessary angles and probe separation making it possi-
ble to examine the thin components successfully. This paper
highlights the results of detailed experimental investigations
on immersion TOFD and its successful application for the
evaluation of welds in hexcan used for encapsulating nuclear
fuel pins.
R. Subbaratnam · S.T. Abraham · B. Venkatraman · B. Raj
Quality Assurance Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic
Research, Kalpakkam 603102, Tamil Nadu, India
B. Venkatraman ()
Radiological Safety and Environmental Group, Indira Gandhi
Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603102, Tamil Nadu,
India
e-mail: bvenkat@igcar.gov.in
Keywords Immersion ultrasonics · Time of flight
diffraction · Thin component inspection · Hexcan
1 Introduction
Time of flight diffraction (TOFD), based on the diffraction
of ultrasonic waves, is a well established technique that has
been applied successfully for the accurate sizing of defects
in thick sections [1–5]. Codes of practice such as ASME
now permit TOFD for routine inspection and as an alterna-
tive to radiography for thicknesses greater than 12 mm. The
main advantage of this technique is its higher probability
of detection [6] compared to radiography in the case of lin-
ear indications that are located within the thickness of the
specimen and reduced inspection time through faster scan-
ning. Faster scanning also makes TOFD a preferred tech-
nique for high temperature applications since the transduc-
ers will be exposed for shorter durations to the higher tem-
perature environments [7]. A typical probe set up for TOFD
and the corresponding amplitude (A-scan) signal is shown
in Fig. 1, where Z-axis represents the thickness of the ma-
terial (in A-scan, this axis actually represents the time of
flight, but for the convenience of measurements, it is con-
verted into thickness). Two longitudinal beam transducers of
same angle are used in a pitch catch configuration in which
one probe acts as a transmitter and the other one as a re-
ceiver. The transmitter–receiver pair is placed on the X-Y
plane of the material as shown. The longitudinal bulk wave
which travels just under the surface from the transmitter to
the receiver, called the lateral wave (LW), together with the
back wall (BW) echo, are used to define the region of in-
terest (thickness of the specimen). Additional signals that
appear in between LW and BW are the diffracted ultrasonic
138 J Nondestruct Eval (2011) 30:137–142

Fig. 1 Typical TOFD

arrangement and the A-Scan
display

waves from the top (1) and bottom (2) tips (extremities) of
the discontinuity.
By knowing the transit time between these diffracted
echoes, the depth and size of the discontinuity can be ob-
tained by solving simple trigonometric relations [8]. The
main problems associated with TOFD on thin sections in-
clude:
1. As the thickness decreases, the lateral wave and the back
wall echo spacing decreases, resulting in the merging of
the defect signals.
2. Because of the size of conventionally available TOFD
probes, the required probe separation for thin compo-
nents cannot be achieved. For example, consider a spec-
imen with thickness of 10 mm to be examined using
Fig. 2 Schematic of the experimental setup
45° longitudinal beam probes. The minimum distance
required between the probes is approximately 13 mm.
When the specimen thickness reduces to 3 mm the sep- detailed experimental investigations on immersion TOFD
aration required is about 4 mm. This probe separation is and its successful application for the evaluation of welds
not possible in the contact method because of the geo- in hexcan used for encapsulating nuclear fuel pins are de-
metrical apertures of the available probes. scribed.

G. Baskaran et al. have tried to overcome the limitation

of the merging of signals in thin sections by using minia-
ture high frequency probes coupled with a digital signal pro-
cessing technique called the Embedded Signal Identification
Technique [9] and with shear wave TOFD [10]. However, in
both these cases the minimum thickness that could be exam-
ined was limited to 7 mm. In the present study, the authors
have extended the application of TOFD to thin components
(3.0 mm) by a simple and novel combination of TOFD and
the immersion technique. Immersion testing in ultrasonics is
widely used for testing of materials. Some of the advantages
of immersion ultrasonic testing include minimizing the dead
zone, excellent coupling and the possibility of varied angles
of incidence. Immersion helps in providing sufficient time
delay, the necessary probe separation and the required angle
of incidence. The time difference between lateral wave and
back wall echoes can be increased by decreasing the beam
angle in the material as given in Table 2. This is achieved
in immersion TOFD (I-TOFD) since the immersion probes
can be tilted in water such that the desired angle is gener-
ated within the material by the principle of law of refraction.
This is not possible in conventional TOFD since the conven-
tional TOFD probes have fixed beam angles. In this paper
2 Experimental Investigations: Application of TOFD &
Immersion Combination
The schematic of the experimental setup for the TOFD and
Immersion combination is shown in Fig. 2. A special probe
holder with provision to tilt the probes through the required
angles and for precise vertical and horizontal movements
was fabricated in house. It has a provision to attach an en-
coder for both parallel and perpendicular scans. The TOFD
equipment used was MICROPLUS from AEA Technology,
UK. Immersion ultrasonic probes of frequency 5 MHz and
crystal diameter of 5 mm were used for this study.
For the purpose of calibration and initial studies, notches
and side drilled holes were machined by the EDM process in
two stainless steel plates as shown in Fig. 3. Plate A of thick-
ness 5 mm had two notches of width 1 mm and depths 5%
and 10% of the material thickness (i.e., in the z-direction)
and two side drilled holes of diameter 1 mm. Notch length
is equal to the width of the plate (50 mm) and length of
the side drilled hole was 10 mm in the y-direction. One side
drilled hole was at a depth of T /4 from the surface and other
one was at T /2 and was separated by 20 mm, where T is the
J Nondestruct Eval (2011) 30:137–142 139

Fig. 3 (a) 5 mm thick specimen

with notches and side drilled
holes and (b) 3 mm thick
specimen with notches

Fig. 4 (a) B-scan images of 5 mm thick specimen with notches (blue thick plate (the curvature is due to the profile of the plate). Z-axis actu-
arrows) and SDHs (red arrows), (b) B-scan image of the 5% notch on a ally represents the time of flight but for convenience of measurements,
3 mm thick specimen and (c) D-scan image of the notches on the 3 mm it is converted into depth (thickness of the material)

thickness of the plate. Plate B of thickness 3 mm had three Table 1 Depth measurement of notches on a 3 mm thick plate by
replica and I-TOFD methods
notches of width 0.3 mm and depth 3%, 5% and 10% in
the z-direction (i.e., in the thickness direction of the mate- Notches Depth measured by (in mm)
rial). All notches in 3 mm thick specimen and side drilled Replica I-TOFD
holes in 5 mm thick specimen are of length 10 mm in the y- Notch 1 0.09 0.088
direction. The reference specimens were scanned by the Im-
Notch 2 0.26 0.261
mersion TOFD (I-TOFD) method. A dam was constructed
Notch 3 0.31 0.320
to maintain the required water path and the specimens were
immersed. The probe tilt and probe separation were adjusted
in order to obtain a better spatial resolution. As in the case be considered to be good. However it is well known and
of conventional contact TOFD, it was decided to have 45◦ should be emphasized that artificial flaws can never be con-
wave propagation inside the material. In order to obtain 45◦ sidered to be equal to real flaws. A fatigue crack can have
wave propagation inside the material in I-TOFD mode, the much tighter crack tips and cracks with sharper tips would
probe tilt required inside the water was computed to be 10.2◦ have better detectability. Literature survey and the work of
and set accordingly. The spatial resolution in the TOFD im- Danish welding institute [6] on more than 250 real defects
ages was found to be satisfactory for analysis. have clearly revealed that TOFD has better POD for crack
like indications than traditional pulse echo technique. Ta-
ble 1 shows the depth measurement of the notches on a 3 mm
3 Results and Discussions thick specimen by replica method and I-TOFD.
The experimental observations can be explained based on
Immersion TOFD was carried out on the reference speci- the theoretical analysis given below. The water column in
mens. I-TOFD images of the notches and holes in the refer- immersion ultrasonic testing avoids the dead/near zone and
ence specimens are shown in Fig. 4. These images show the introduces a delay to the signals in the time domain. It also
notches and side drilled holes in the thin specimens with bet- provides the advantage of having various angles of incidence
ter spatial resolution. I-TOFD measurement gives the loca- and provides excellent coupling irrespective of the surface
tions of the side drilled holes and the lengths of the notches conditions. Any angle of propagation can be achieved using
within an accuracy of 3%. The percentage accuracy figures the principle of refraction; according to Snell’s law
quoted are given as the difference in measurements divided  
by measurement × 100. The width of all the notches on the θ = sin−1
C2
sin ϕ (1)
3 mm thick specimen was 0.3 mm. While the width at the C1
centre was 0.3 mm, the edges of the notches would having a
where:
smaller width which tapers down to about 0.1 mm as mea-
sured through microscope. Hence the detection results can θ = angle of refraction,
140 J Nondestruct Eval (2011) 30:137–142

ϕ = angle of incidence, Taking into account the height of the water column intro-
C1 = velocity of sound in first medium, duced between the probe and the material, (3a) and (3b) get
C2 = velocity of sound in second medium modified in the case of I-TOFD to
 
The beam spread in water is considerably lower than that in h d tan θ
tlat(ITOFD) = 2 + (4a)
steel. The beam spread can be determined by the equation C1 cos ϕ C2
  and
λ
θ = sin−1 1.22 (2)  
D h d
tbw(ITOFD) = 2 + (4b)
C1 cos ϕ C2 cos θ
where:
where:
λ = wavelength of the ultrasonic beam,
D = diameter of the transducer, h = vertical thickness of the water column,
θ = half angle of beam divergence. d = thickness of the material,
φ = the wave propagation angle in water,
The beam spread angle given by (2) represents a measure θ = angle of refraction in material,
from the centre of the acoustic axis to the first null in the C1 = wave velocity in water
pressure field and is valid for a circular transducer as de- C2 = wave velocity in the material,
termined by the pulse echo technique. Because of the lower 2S  = probe separation in water as shown in Fig. 5.
beam spread in water, the height of the water column will not
The required probe spacing can now be calculated in the
reduce the energy of the transmitted ultrasonic waves con-
case of thin specimens using (4a) and (4b). For a specimen
siderably. In immersion TOFD, the waves travel through dif-
thickness of 3 mm and θ = 45◦ , the probe separation con-
ferent media—the water and the material as shown in Fig. 5.
ventionally (2S) works out to be 6.015 mm while with im-
In the case of conventional TOFD, the mathematical
mersion TOFD the probe separation 2S  is 15.63 mm. For
equations for the arrival time of the lateral wave and back
a specimen thickness of 5 mm and θ = 45◦ , 2S works out
wall echo are given by
to be 10.02 mm while with immersion TOFD the spacing
2S 2S  is 23.65 mm. This calculation clearly indicates the ad-
tlat = (3a) vantage of I-TOFD on thin specimens. The calculated 2S 
C
in both cases is quite adequate to accommodate the avail-
and able immersion ultrasonic transducers. Table 2 summarizes
the effect of variation in the angle of incidence on the probe
2 2 separation and the arrival times of the lateral and back wall
tbw = S + d2 (3b)
C echoes. Here the height of water column was considered to
be 10 mm.
respectively where,
It is observed from Table 1 that the smaller the angle and
2S = probe centre separation the smaller the probe separation, the higher the time differ-
d = material thickness ence between the lateral wave and back wall echo, which in-
C = velocity of sound in the material. dicates better spatial resolution. In this particular case, it is
assumed that C1 = 1.5 mm/μs, C2 = 6 mm/μs, h = 10 mm
and d = 3 mm. These angles and probe separation are not
possible in the conventional TOFD method. The angle set
in this case is 10.2◦ , which results in a 45◦ entry angle of
the wave in the material. The probe separation is also quite
sufficient and the time difference is also adequate to result
in well resolved images as shown in Fig. 4. While the de-
tection of notches by TOFD can be well explained based
on the diffraction of waves from the notch tips, for rounded
discontinuities like porosity or an artificial side drilled hole
detection can be explained as follows. The elastic waves in-
cident on the top of such rounded indications will be partly
reflected and reach the receiver. Some portion of the incident
wave creeps around the indication and by a process of con-
Fig. 5 Wave propagation in Immersion TOFD method tinual diffraction it radiates into the material along its path
J Nondestruct Eval (2011) 30:137–142 141

Table 2 Effect of variation in

the angle of incidence on the ◦ θ◦ 2S (mm) 2S  (mm) t lat-ITOFD t bw-ITOFD t diff
probe separation and the arrival (μs) (μs) (μs)
times of the lateral and back
wall echoes 1.00 4.00 0.42 1.19 13.37 13.84 0.47
2.00 8.02 0.85 2.39 13.41 13.85 0.43
3.00 12.08 1.28 3.62 13.46 13.86 0.40
4.00 16.20 1.74 4.88 13.51 13.89 0.38
5.00 20.40 2.23 6.21 13.57 13.92 0.35
6.00 24.71 2.76 7.62 13.64 13.96 0.32
7.00 29.17 3.35 9.15 13.71 14.01 0.29
8.00 33.83 4.02 10.85 13.80 14.07 0.27
9.00 38.73 4.81 12.78 13.90 14.14 0.24
10.00 43.99 5.79 15.10 14.02 14.23 0.21
11.00 49.74 7.08 18.04 14.17 14.36 0.18
12.00 56.25 8.97 22.19 14.38 14.53 0.15
13.00 64.11 12.34 29.30 14.71 14.83 0.11
14.00 75.32 22.85 50.68 15.65 15.71 0.06

around the defect [3, 11] and finally reaches the receiver.
A main limitation of I-TOFD is the detection of smaller dis-
continuities. In this case, the waves are likely to merge to-
gether making it difficult to determine the defect’s dimen-
sion in the thickness direction. But the exact location and
length of the discontinuity parallel to the surface can still be
easily determined.
In the 500 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR)
at an advanced stage of construction at Kalpakkam, the fuel
pins are accommodated in a hexagonal subassembly. The
PFBR has a total of 181 fuel subassemblies. The hexcan
fuel subassembly is 131.6 mm across flats (outer) with a
wall thickness of 3.2 mm and a length of 3000 mm. Each
subassembly holds 217 helium bonded fuel pins of diam-
eter 6.6 mm. As PFBR is a pool type reactor, these sub-
assemblies are immersed in a pool of sodium. As part of
modelling and validation studies, more than 100 hexcans of
length 4500 mm were fabricated at the Central Workshop
Division of IGCAR. The hexcans were fabricated as two
halves each of length 1.5 m through forming in the press
brake. The “L” seam was then welded together by the GTAW
process. Figure 6 shows a typical hexcan. With two more
“C” seams the total length of 4.5 m of the subassembly was
achieved.
Structural integrity of these welds and the hexcan sheath
is very important as failure of these during service may re-
sult in separation of the fuel pins from the bundles. Qualify- Fig. 6 Hexagonal sheath used as fuel sub-assembly in prototype fast
ing such welds demands complementary non-destructive in- breeder reactor
spection techniques. In the actual subassembly, radiography
is quite difficult and time consuming and hence I-TOFD was
considered. Based on a similar experimental setup, I-TOFD is shown in Fig. 7(b). A total of four lack of penetrations
was carried out on the hexcan. were detected in that particular subassembly. The radio-
Figure 7(a) shows a typical I-TOFD weld image with graphs were edge enhanced and the defects then measured.
lack of penetration. The corresponding radiographic image Table 3 shows the lengths measured by radiography and
142 J Nondestruct Eval (2011) 30:137–142

Fig. 7 (a) B-scan image of an

LP on a hexcan weld (slop is
due to the shape of the material)
and (b) the radiograph of the
same

Table 3 Comparison of defect length measured by radiography and well with other conventional NDE techniques such as radio-
TOFD
graphy with the variations in defect dimension characteriza-
Defect RT (mm) TOFD (mm) % accuracy tion being less than 2%.

LP 1 12.25 12.44 1.6 Acknowledgements The authors thank Shri Y.C. Manjunatha, Di-
LP 2 10.50 10.68 1.7 rector, Engineering Services Group for his constant encouragement and
LP 3 8.88 8.98 1.1 support for this study. The authors also thank all the staff members of
Quality Assurance Division and Central Workshop Division for their
LP 4 12.21 12.38 1.4 kind support in the fabrication of specimens.

TOFD. It can be observed that the values from radiographs
and I-TOFD measurements are very close, with the differ-
ences being less than 2%. In the case of thin materials, mea-
surement of the depth is difficult in radiography, even by
the double exposure method, and the inaccuracies are large.
Hence depth measurements have not been tried in radiogra-
phy and only lengths were compared. I-TOFD has this addi-
tional advantage apart from the faster scanning time.
4 Conclusion
A new methodology based on a simple and novel combina-
tion of TOFD and immersion has been proposed which is an
interesting solution to the problem of defect detection and
location in thin weldments. Using this combination, chris-
tened “I-TOFD”, the authors successfully detected the artifi-
cial defects in thin plates and also established the feasibility
of applying this method for the actual inspection of welds
in hexcan subassemblies of a prototype fast breeder reactor.
Compared to conventional pulse echo, this methodology re-
duces the total amount of time required for scanning and is
quite fast. Further, presenting the results of an inspection as
an image often represents an excellent solution which helps
in the easy identification of defects. The method compares
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