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: : In a TOFD image it is recommended (ASME for example) a complete TOFD image

including also the shear diffracted signals.
: : Where can I find clear and practical guidelines to make decissions and to understand
the signals which appears between the Long- Long backwall echo and the Long-Shear
backwall echo?
: : Thanks in advance.
: : Roberto

Roberto:
I do not know if there is an absolute method for this. In the book by Charlesworth and
Temple there is an image (Figure 5-8) that shows all the arcs for the Compression, Shear
and Rayleigh modes and indicates the top and bottom signals for a single planar flaw.
This image is a VERY confusing "mess" to look at.
The authors state that "...it may be necessary to make a judgement as to which are the
unconverted compression wave signals from the top and bottom of the defect and then
calculate the positions and curve-shapes of all possible mode converted signals."

The example they used had no backwall so it was a very thick section. It can get even
more complicated on thinner sections. You may have a signal that is too weak to see in
the compression mode (or lost in the lateral wave) and it may appear as a mode converted
shear prior to the backwall. OR, it may provide a stronger signal from the shear
headwave that may (or may not) be mode converted to compression mode.

Knowing what is in the specimen and working backwards (as done in the Figure 5-8 of
the TOFD book) is fine for the mathematical assessment of the signals (although not
simple!). But to see the signals without knowing all the details of their origin and try to
account for what caused them is not always a straight-forward mathematic solution (and I
am not sure it can be done with 100% certainty).

Ed