TOFD Dead Zone Calculator

Ed Ginzel Materials Research Institute, Waterloo

Balazs Feher
Ontario, Canada

Corresponding Author Contact:

Email: eginzel@mri.on.ca, Internet: www.mri.on.ca

Introduction:

Most users of the TOFD (time of flight diffraction) technique are familiar with the loss of
information that occurs immediately under the test surface. This is sometimes referred to as the
lateral wave dead zone. It results due to the fact that the pulse ring-time limits the resolution of
flaws immediately below the surface for a time approximately equal to the depth equivalent to that
ring time for the probe configuration used.

However, some users of TOFD seem to be unaware that the same effect occurs at every diffraction
interface below the surface and a similar effect is had from the backwall reflection boundary.

These three "dead zones" are identified and approximated in the EN standard EN-583-6 in
paragraphs 10.1.5 and 10.2. Although no special corrections are made for wedge angle variations
with depth and the assumption is made that the indication is at the midpoint of the Probe centre
Spacing (PCS), the approximations are generally adequate for most applications.

Estimations of resolution limits of TOFD are, in the writers' opinion, one of the most important
considerations when using TOFD with fracture mechanics based acceptance criteria. When using
TOFD to estimate flaw size (height) the smallest resolvable flaw is a function of the PCS, probe
frequency and damping quality and the depth of the flaw below the surface. Failure to understand
this could lead to grossly overestimating the capabilities of a system. We recently read a
specification developed by a consultant that required extreme sizing capabilities on the inside
surface of a putatively critical component nearly 40mm thick. Small (<0.5mm high) surface
breaking flaws were considered critical and TOFD was identified as the means to both "detect" and
"size" any flaws on that surface. This seems to have been the result of an assumption that the
improved time resolution as one approaches the far wall would allow sizing and detection on this
scale of things. This assumption optimistically ignored the ring-time limits. Even when using a
10MHz probe with a 45° L wave, detection and sizing capability of <0.5mm would be unlikely. In
fact the 0.5mm calibration notch on the far wall was apparently not detected (therefore not
sizeable).

Template for Calculations

The calculations of the three dead zones are derived from relatively simple trigonometric equations.
 The ring time near the test surface is defined by the pulse-duration
tp is the pulse duration to where the amplitude is 10% of peak
where : S is half the PCS
c is the velocity of sound of the mode used
Reduction of lateral wave dead zone is by decreasing PCS or use probes with shorter pulse duration
(and to some extent a higher angle)
 The ring time near the backwall surface is also defined by the pulse-duration

tw is the backwall time of flight and W is the wall thickness

Where:
of the component

Reduction of the backwall dead zone is by decreasing PCS or use probes with shorter pulse duration
(and to some extent a smaller angle)
 Spatial resolution defines ability to resolve upper and lower tip signals (between the lateral wave
and backwall);

tp is the length of the acoustic pulse and td is the time-of-flight

Where:
at depth d.

Resolution increases with increasing depth, and can be improved by decreasing the probe separation
or the acoustic pulse length.
The authors have developed a free downloadable (and share-able) software that calculates these
three TOFD dead zones. This is an Excel® compatible worksheet so requires Excel be present on
the user's computer. Users enter a set of parameters typical of a TOFD setup and in addition to a
numeric value of the three ring-times a graphic presentation is provided.
For the most part TOFD probes are relatively broadband, i.e. have short pulse durations on the order
of a single cycle or 1.5 cycles. The software has fixed the ring to 1.5 cycles. Since these are
approximations for ideal conditions they are to be used as a guide only.
Figure 1 illustrates the parameter entry (yellow) and calculated values (green) for a test setup on a
38mm wall thickness. The user must decide the depth at which the flaw is located to determine the
depth resolution. In the example in Figure 1 this is 16mm.
 Figure 1: Data Entry and Numeric Solutions

As an aid to visualizing the limits a dynamic graph is provided. This is illustrated in Figure 2 for the
setup defined in Figure 1. The three ring times are denoted by the coloured lines extending back to
the scale on the left. The red line indicates the lateral wave dead zone, the yellow lines indicate the
resolution that may be expected for a flaw at the specified depth (i.e. the minimum flaw height to
see a separate upper and lower tip signal) and the blue line indicates the height above the opposite
surface that a flaw must exceed before it is reasonably detected as separate from the backwall echo.

Figure 2: Weld Plot with Dead Zones

References

1. CEN DD ENV 583-6: 2000, Part 6: Time of Flight Diffraction Technique as a method for
defect detection and sizing