Ultrasonic Flaw Detection for TechniciansFIRST IMPRESSION 1978, ‘SECOND IMPRESSION 1981 ‘THIRD IMPRESSION 1967 FOURTH IMPRESSION 1990 FIFTH IMPRESSION 1992 Copyright © O18 Powor & Nuclear Division Publshod by ‘O'S Power & Nuclear Division A rights reserved. No par of tis publication may be reproduced, stored ina rerioval systom, 2 ransmitod, in any form or by any means, ‘electronic, mechanical, photocopying, ‘or otherwise, without he prior parmission ofthe Publishers. Printed in Wales by Dinetw Pross Rawlings Road, Llandybie Dyfed, SAT8 SYD Cover Design: Geof Cament Contents Section Introduction 1. The History of Ultrasonic Flaw Detection 2. Simple vibration and periodic motion 3. The Acoustic Spectrum 4 Modes of Propagation 5 Properties of Sound Wave {The Generation and Detection of Uitrasonic Waves, 7. The Cathode Ray Tube and Pulse Echo System 8 Calibration Standards 9 The Ultrasonic Beam 40. The Decibel System 11. Table of Velocities 42. Twenty Rasic Exercises 1. Assessing the performance characteristics of Ultrsonic equipment 14 Compression Wave Techniques 15. Shear Wave Techniques 16 Surface Wave Techniques 37 Immersion Testing Techniques 48. The Examination of Castings 19. The Examination of Forgings 20. The Examination of Welds 21 Defect Sizing and Evaluation Techniques 22. Inspection Standards and Reporting Page " 9 6 19 a 35 a 52 73 7 101 ns 28 163 196ULTRASONIC FLAW DETECTION FOR TECHNICIANS By J.C. Drury Introduction ‘Ths book s based upon taining notes and materi which | have gotheted and used over the last few years for propating Nondestructive Testing Technicians for C.S.W.IP. and other ‘The bas is towards practical utrasonis, but tthe same tine ting to exolsin why things hep pes in simple terme. Inevitably there & some mathematica involved in ultrasonic flaw dotec: ‘fon, but there's na need for thi to be stumbling block for those of us who are not that way Inclined. Very often the mathematice can be reduced to a simple formula, of graph, or scale ‘Sowing. | Rave ted to bud the steonatives ino agen example sn that tha aden ean chee Solution which fs his ow capaeaives ‘The eaily par ofthe book deals with the fundamental principle of flaw detection at aleve wich | eels approprate to the technician, though not pemops the physicist, This is folowed bya serias of wenty basc precticel exercises which Ihave uead to familiarise trainees withthe ‘operation of @ aw detector. and with interpretation ofthe CRT diapay. Some of these exer les use standard calbration blocks, but a few of them use blocks which | have produced for ‘the purpose. In most eases it wil be possible to improvise the later from odds and ends about ‘thelaboretory, but a fay simple to have special blocks prepared Later chapters deal with specie inspection techniques, and i is from these sections thet | Would antcioate most citism of the book, fom experienced procitoners. Very often ‘esting procedures and training notes are written and stated a the practice were black ‘and white. When the beginner finds that his rests ara not 20 staightfoward, he begins lose confidence, fisy in himselt and ater in she method. | have ted to sketch in the grey frees, and to warn the student whan and why hei ikely to meet grey sea. For example, the section on weld inepection, we normally tle trainee that we position the probe index ‘ne half skip back from the wald conte line, 2 lack of penetration detect will show at a pre ‘ecerminos bear pathlength. During his fst attemat he wil probably see thatthe signal oc ais ait eatior than predicted, and ignore t, getting gradualy more frustated ashe ties 0 tind the detect "in the right place” | have sid that the probe shouldbe positioned at hal skip plus one hao the root 980. and explained tat ether the root gap, or the weld centre nes fat how, ha wl have ta confi his findings by additonal probe movements. This may ‘Seem pedantic 10 the experianced practioner who hae gained the experience 10 "nm Stinctively” sort out root defect from root Dead or undercut signals, but remember thatthe book is sumed at those who stil bainve they ead, or Near, about ultrasonic Maw detection,ULTRASONIC FLAW DETECTION COURSE NOTES 1, HISTORY OF ACOUSTIC METHODS, Many of us, when we frst begin to practice ultrasonics, tend to think of the use of sound waves in tie detection of flaws as being something new. | can cer tainly remember, as | sat down for the first lecture on ultrasonics from Frank Green at the Royal Air Force Central Servicing Development Establishment in 1961, a feeling that | was entering @ field which was only in its infancy, perhaps three or four years old! Inagine my surprise at learning of the work of Sokolov in the prehistoric twenties, when aircraft still caried a spare pair of wings, and the ‘most serious structural problem was woodworm. ‘Yet the beginning, ifone stops to think about it, goes back much further, to be lost in fact in history itself. Who knows which of our ancestors noticed that solid objects, whether glass, pottery, ar metal, give a characteristic ‘ring’ which can sve an. indication of tte presence or absence of major flaws? But the fact is so ‘well known that the word “sound” has for centuries had a connotation indicating ‘quality or perfection, and expressions such as “that rings true” or “sound as 3 boll” are proverbial. Perhaps as we wander around a gleaming exhibit in a second hand car showroom and take a tentative kick at the back wheel, we are folowing some primeval instinct to discover the ring of truth! Many articles manufactured today are stl subjected to an acoustic test of this sort although you are more likely to see a “Wheeltapper” on a pub sign these days, than at your local railway “Tho reason for moving from the simple audible test to the more sophisticated “ultrasonic” medium, in many engineering applications, stems from the need to detect smaller and smaller flaws. It can be shown that the smallest defect which can be detected at a perticuar frequency or pitch of sound is of the order of a ‘wavelength in size. A tyaical sound in the middle of the audible range will have @ Wavelength of a metre oF two in most metals, whereas at typical ultrasonic test frequency wavelength only 2 milimetre or two. It is only comparatively recently that technology has allowed us to produce ana measure sound waves at these very high frequencies. The generation and detection of suitable ultrasonic waves has been made possible by the discovery of the piezo electric effect of certain materials. This discovery was made by the Curie brothers as long ago as 1880. They reported that slabs cut in a particular way trom certain crystals produced an electrical potential when subjected to mechanical pressure. This property has found a practical ever: day use in recent years in producing ignition sparks for gas lighters. A year later Lippman theorized that the reverse effect, that is producing a change of shape, by applying an_ electrical potential to these crystal slabs, might also be true. It was Lippman who suggestec that these crystals could be used to produce vibrations, by applying a suitable alemating voltage, or to produce electrical signals propor- tional ta the mechanical vibrations applied to the crystal. Apart from ultrasonic probes, application of this theory can be seen in crystal microphones and the stylus of a modern record player. However, it was a long time between Lippman’s theories and the applications mertioned.‘A number of factors led to the development of the principles of the pulse ‘echo technique, amongst them was the Titanic disaster in 1912 where the idea for fan iceberg detection system was conceived. This idea grew into reality under the stimulus of submarine warfare in World War 1, followed by marine echo sounding between the wars. The development of television and radar during the thirties and early fortes gave us the cathode ray tube, on which we could measure the very ‘small time intervals necessary in modem flaw detection, and they also gave us some of the electronic circultty and techniques used in the flaw detector. So the piezo electic effect discovered by the Cuties, the pulse echo principle developed for marine echo location, the cathode ray tube and radar, all ied directly to the development by D.0. Sproule, a physicist working for Kelvin & Hughes, of the fir st pulse echo flaw detector in 1942. However, it was Sokolov, in Russia in 1929 who first reported experiments using quartz transducers to induce ultrasonic vibrations into metals, the results of Which showed that ultrasonic waves might be used instead of X-rays for flaw detection. His subsequent, successful work and that of Mulhauser, Pohiman and others in Germany was based on continuous wave propagation techniques. Although the method was successfully applied to castings, the lower absorption Ccharactarstcs of forged and plate materials gave riso to interference effects which ‘made the method unsuitable for these components. The problem continued 10 bedevil the development of ultrasonic flaw detection until Sproule developed the pulse echo technique, ‘After World War Il it was discovered that Trost and Gotz in Germany and Firgstone in the U.S.A. had developed , independently, similar systems. In 1947 Sproule developed the shear wave probe which enabled sound waves 9 be in troduced into the specimen at various angles other than the normal, without the ‘production of spurious signals. Since that time the major princilee of flaw detec: tion have remained the same, the largest developments taking place in the field of instrumentation, electronics, and data processing. The fifties gave us a period of earning how to use the new tool, and how to misuse it too! The sixties removed some of the burdens of everyday fe forthe technician, by giving us transistorized miniature flaw detectors. The seventies have given us more respite by introducing flaw detectors and plotting aids which do some of the thinking for us. They have also given us certification schemes euch as CSWIP to show that we can da some Of the thinking for ourselves, and it has become more important than ever that we get to know how the tools of our trade work their capabilities and limitations, 2. SIMPLE VIBRATIONS AND PERIODIC MOTION 2.1 VIBRATIONS. Sound waves are vibrations of the particles in gases or liquids or solids. The particles oscillate about a mean postion and the number of ‘oscillations made by each particle in one second is called the frequency of the vibration, expressed in cycles per second. Frequency is denoted by the symbol “in the calculations we shall need to make. In order that a body will vibrate, we need two conditions to be satisfied: a} MASS. We need something tangible to move; sound waves cannot travel through a vacuun b) ELASTICITY. We need a restoring force, always tying to return the ‘mass to its original position. it yore oe fe 7 1 Fig.ta Fig. 1b Fig. 19 shows @ wsight (w/ suspended from a beam by a spring. At rest, two equal forces are acting on the weight, gravity (G) in the downwards direction {and the tension in the spring (7) in the upwards direction. If we move the weight downwards the T increases to become greater than G and will ty to take the weight back to its original position. If we lft the weight, T decreases and G wall ‘ry to return W to its original position. We have, then, the two conditions we need for a vibration Mass, of the weight W, and a restoring force due to the elasticity ofthe spring. If we move W. {rom its balanced position A, to the level B, T increases. If we then lat go, W is. 3d from B, towards A, At level A, T and G a equal, but W is ‘now moving at some valocity and so will overshoot A. As it moves towards C, T decreases and G tends to decelerate W unti it has used up all its kinetic eneray and stops at C "[At level C, G, is greater than T, anc so W falls towards A again. At A it possesses kinetic energy and once more overshoots. As W travels between A and B, T gradually increases and slows down W untilit comes to rest at 8. AtB, Tis greater than G, and the whole thing starts agai 2.3. if we plot a graph of the displacement of W above or below A, against time we get something looking lke Fig. 1b We can see that the graph of displacement against time isa sine wave. The distance between two equivalent points on the sine wave is one cycle of the vibrations and the number of cycles per second is the frequency. The maximum displacement fom the base line is called the amplitude of the vibration, 2 3. THE ACOUSTIC SPECTRUM +++ +- Sor tar 3.1.We have said that sound waves are vibrations of particles of gases, solids or liquids. The sounds we hear are vibrations of air particles, and these Vibrations will have a frequency and an amplitude. We recognise the frequency ‘of the vibration as the pitch of the note, and the amplitude as the loudness of the ‘sound, Our ears, however, ate not sensitive to vibrations at any frequency, but ‘only respond 10 vibrations within a certain trequency range. Ins range 1s normally taken to be trom 16 cycles per second to 20,000 eycies per second. Vibrations within this ‘ange are normally said to be in the AUDIBLE RANGE. Frequencies below 16 cycles per second are in the SUBSONIC RANGE, and frequencies above 20,600 cycles per second are said to be in the ULTRASONIC. RANGE, So we have a definition of “Ultrasonic” vibrations, that is, vibrations. above 20,000 cycles per second, '3.2. Dogs can hear ultrasonic waves up to about 25,000 cycles per sacond, and bats use frequencies between 6,000 cycles per second, which is well inside the audible range, to 120,000 cycles per second which is well inside the tltrasonic range, Utrasonic testing of concrete takes place at frequencies between 25,000 cycles per second and 250,000 cycles per second. In metals these test frequencies are even higher, between 500,000 cycles per second and 20 milion cycles per second. The most common range for our sort of flaw ‘detection is from 2 millon to § milion cycles per second. 3.3. Units and abbreviations. Until recently in the English speaking world we talked about trequency as being s0 many cycles per second (abbreviated c/s) So 120 cycles per second becomes 120 c/s. We also talk about thousands or ilo eyeles per second, 120,000 c/s being written as 120 ke/s, and millions oF mega” eycles per second, 5,000,000 c/s being written as § Mc/s. The current international term for acycle per second is the HERTZ, labbreviated Hz). So we have He, kHe and M2. 34 4. MODES OF PROPAGATION, VELOCITY, FREQUENCY AND WAVELENGTH 4:7 ELASTICITY AND RIGIDITY. Consider Figures 3a and b below. They represent two cylinders each open at one end, one cylinder fitting inside the ‘other to make a gas tight seal. In Fig. 3a the space inside the two cylinders is fitted with air and in Fig. 3b with a liquid - say water. Fig. 3e shows a solid metal cylinder or if you like, the cylinders in 3a and b, but filed with a soli, air Water solid Fig. 3a Fig. 3b Fig. 3c 4.2 If | push down on the top of cylinder 38, the top cylinder slides over the hottom ona and compasses the air. The pressure in the cylinders increases and resists my pushing. When | release the top cylinder, it will spring back to its original position. ‘The same resistance to compression would be noticed for cylinders 3b and 3c. Similarly, if | lifted the top cylinder in 3a, a rarefaction or ‘drop in air pressure would result, and resist my upward effort, when | released the lft, the cylinders would “suck” back to their original positions and the same <*ffect would be noticed for 3b and 3c. OF course, the resistance to tension or ‘compression would be higher forthe liquid, and higher again forthe solid. "4.3. | could also get the same effect ifthe cylinders were not gas tight, but ‘contained a coll spring anchored at both ends (Fig. 4). The stronger the spring the greater the tesietance to compression or tension. a Spring ee 64.4. We call this resistance to tension or compression the elasticity of the material, The gieater the resistance, the greater the elasticity, Elasticity can be measured by plotting a graph of the change of dimension achieved for given fappled loads per unit area, The slope of this graph is called YOUNG'S MODULUS OF ELASTICITY, You can see that solids, liquids anc gases have this resistance to tension of compression, in other words they have elasticity. '4.5. Now consider the cylinders in 39, 3b and 3c arranged so that the, rims just coincide (See Fig. 5) -——“ Fig. 5 IF try to slide the mouth of the top, air filed cylinder across the mouth of the bottom eylinder, Imeet with no resistance. Similarly, if apply @ shear load to the liquid filed cylinders | meet File or no resistance. But the solid cylinder is different, there isa definite resistance to the shear load in that case. The solid is tigid, and this rigidity resists the shear load. Itis as if | were to put a coll spring ‘across the mouths of the cylinders shown in ig. 6 (See fig. 6) Mi Fig. 6 This resistance to shear loads, which is only present in solids, is called the Modulus of Rigi. So solids, iquids and gases fulfl the requirements for sustaining 8 vibration. The particles making up the sold, liquid or gas have MASS, and they all display elastic properties. Solids have two elastic properties, elasticity and Figiity, gases and liquids have only elasticity 4.7. Sound waves can travel through a mate ‘on the nature of the material in 3 main ways, depending a) Compression (Longitudinal, Plane) waves. The particle oscillation is in the same plane as the direction of propagation of the wave. The compression wave can propagate in solids, iquids and gases, b) Shoar (Transverse) waves. The particle oscilation ig at right angles to the direction of propagetion. Shear waves only travel through materials having & shear modulus i.e. solids €) Surface (Rayleigh) waves. The particle motion is eliptical, with the major axis at Fight angles to the direction of propagation. Surface weves can only travel through solids Lamb waves are rarely used in flaw detection but reference to them, in some text books, is made. Lamb waves are used in the examination of thin ‘materials in which the vibrations fill the volume of the material to make It flex, the material acting as a wave guide. Setting up and maintaining Lamb waves requires critical positioring of the transducer and is only used in an automatic, inspection tig. 4.8. VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION. Sound travels through a material at a velocity characteristic of that material, and the type of wave being propagated, Velocity depends on the density and elasticity of the material, and in bulk material on Poisson's ratio. However, for our purposes we can consider the ‘following approximation as accurate enough: where Ve Compression wave velocity Vs Shear wave velocity Density E Young's Modulus of Elasticity G Modulus of Rigicity RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VELOCITY, FREQUENCY AND WAVELENGTH. If a sound wave of frequency 1 Hz moves at a Velocity V ‘m/s,then in one second the wave moves V metres while the vibration goes ‘through f cycles. Each cycle must take a fraction of @ second to complete, during which the sound wave moves forwar ‘through which the sound wave moves while the vibration completes one cycle is ”called the wavelength (), It can be seen that will be the distance moved in one Second (V) divided by the number of cycles in one second ic. y vera Example Calculate the wavelength of a § MHz compression wave in steel Ve= 5960 m/s 1.192mm, Example2 a Calculate the wavelength of » 2MHz shear wave in aluminium 18 5. PROPERTIES OF SOUND WAVES. 5.1. Reflection. We can use sound waves in flaw detection because they wil ceflect when they encounter @ sudden change in acoustic impedance in a material 5.2. Acoustic Impedance (2). Sound waves reflect because of thy in acoustic impedance across the boundary or interface between the two media. The amount of energy reflected at the interface can be calculated from the acoustic impedance (2) of the two materials, acoustic impedance being the product of velocity of sound in the material and the density of the material ie Z=axv Z = acoustic impedance B= Density Velocity ‘The proportion of incident sound energy reflected at an interface is: ZAayp where Z, and Z, are the acoustic ‘The remainder of che energy is transmitted across the interface into the second material 5.3. EXAMPLE. Colculale Une purcenluye of energy retlected at 3 stoel/water interface 2 (Steoll= 46.7 2 (Water 1.48 Reflected energy (S38) «100% 671.48 = (%22)* 100% 48.18 = 8% 5.4. Couplant. It willbe seen that, at an interface between @ gas and a solid, vitualy al the energy is reflected, hance the high sensitty tothe presence of cracks, However, this presents a problem when we are trying to introduce sound ‘waves into a specimen. We have to exclude the air between the transducer and the specimen, and we do this by introducing a substance between the ansducer and the specimen having a higher acoustic impedance then eit. This ‘substance, called the couplant, is usually @ liquid