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Karsa Kencana Indonesia

Technical Testing & Inspection Services

ULTRASONIC TEST COURSE SUMMARY

Type of Ultrasonic wave Velocity

Compression or Longitudinal wave (Normal probe) Velocity is “Speed of sound inside the material”

 Particle oscillating in the direction of propagation Material Compression Shear

 Can be propagated through Solid, Liquid and Gas Water 1480 m/s -
Perspex 2740 m/s 1320 m/s
Shear or Transverse wave ( Angle probe) Copper 4760 m/s 2325 m/s
Stainless Steel 5740 m/s 3130 m/s
 Particle oscillating perpendicullar to the direction of Carbon steel 5960 m/s 3240 m/s
propagation
 Can be propagated only at Solid
*Velocity of Surface wave = 90% of shear wave
Rayleigh or Surface wave

 Depth of penetration is no more than 1 wavelength

Lamb wave

 Can be flow in thin material

 Good for detect Sub-surface discontinuities
 Surface scale and dirt will affect the test, clean
surface is required

Wavelength Frequency
Wavelength is “distance between two successive peak” Frequency is

Expressed as lambda ( λ ) “Repetition rate or number of vibration in one

period”

Practically, a probe can detect a flaw whose diameter is ½ of

their wavelength

Expressed in cycles per second ( Hz )

The higher the Frequency = the shorter wavelength

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Technical Testing & Inspection Services

Ultrasonic Energy Type of Crystal

Produced by crystal or transducer due to Piezo Electric. Barium Titanate

Piezo Electric = converting electrical energy to mechanical  Curie point 140° C

and vice versa  Heat above curie point will destroy the crystal

Lead Zirconate Titanate

 Excellent sensitivity, little noise

 Commonly used in NDT field

Lithium Sulphate

 Dissolve in water
 Mostly used in Medical field

Lead metaniobate
To produce various frequencies, crystal thickness is the main  High internal damping coefficient
factor.  Transmitting very narrow pulse

Probes Probes
Single crystal or Transceiver Dual Crystal

 Use only 1 crystal for Transmit and Receive energy  Use 2 crystal, one for Transmit & one for
 Operated in “Pulse-Echo” mode Receive
 Operated in “Dual “mode
 Eleminate dead-zone, good for surface defect
 Cork Separator used to reduce cross-talk
chatter

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PT. Karsa Kencana Indonesia
Technical Testing & Inspection Services

Ultrasonic Beam

Dead zone Near zone ( Fresnel Zone )

 Ringing time of crystal The ultrasonic beams remain parallel and have
the same diameter as the crystal over a distance.
 Can be minimized by using damping medium behind However, it is reduced up to the end of the near field
the crystal which is called the focus.

 Shown as initial pulse at the screen time-base Within the near zone unreliable signals amplitude
occurs.
 Not possible to detect defect

 Dead zone increase if frequency decreased

Far zone ( Fraunhoffer Zone ) Beam Spread

 The zone where beam start to diverging Beam spread is function of Frequency & crystal
diameter
 Beam intensity is decreased as distance is increased
• Large reflector, amplitude is reduced by 50% (6
dB)

• Small reflector, amplitude is reduced by 25% (12

dB)
Frequency increased = Beam spread decreased

Diameter increased = Beam spread decreased

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PT. Karsa Kencana Indonesia
Technical Testing & Inspection Services
Reflection
When a beam of sound energy strikes a boundary, it is
normally reflected at the same angle as the incident angle.
The angle of incident equals to the angle of reflection
Snell’s law
Snell’s law determines the angular relationship between
the incident and refracted beam on transmission between
two media with different velocities.
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Refraction
When sound wave pass from one medium to
another, a change in wavelength takes place due to
the differing acoustic velocities of each medium.
As a result, the angle at which the sound enters
the second medium does not equal that of the first
medium. This is known as refraction
Critical Angle
First critical angle ( 27.4° )
When the incident angle reaches the first critical
angle, longitudinal wave will be internally reflected
through 90o.
Only transverse waves exist in the second medium
Second critical angle ( 57.7° )
When the incident angle reaches the second critical
angle, transverse wave is internally reflected
through 90o.
Surface wave will exist at the surface
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PT. Karsa Kencana Indonesia
Technical Testing & Inspection Services

Decibel ( dB ) Acoustic impedance

Decibel is a unit of comparison, it is the measurement of
changes in sound intensities and has a logarithmic base

At any interface between two media of differing

acoustic impedance, part of the ultrasonic energy is
reflected and the remainder is transmitted into the
second material.

Energy transmitted Energy reflected

Resolution Attenuation or Absorption

Resolution is “The ability to identify two or more reflector Attenuation or weakening of the echoes is a
that are close each other” combination of absorption and scattering, leading to
energy loss.

Absorption of the wave can refer to loss through heat

due to internal friction.

High frequency = High Attenuation = Low Penetration

High frequency = Good Resolution Surface condition, Acoustic impedance, couplant,

mode conversion and Spurious indication are
affecting Ultrasonic.

CRT Presentation

A-scan ( Amplitude Vs Time ) B-Scan ( Cross-sectional ) C-Scan ( Plan View )

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Technical Testing & Inspection Services

Indication, Discontinuity and Defect

Indication = Response from the method or apparatus, could be the results of something in the specimen under
investigation, faulty equipment, or external factor.

Discontinuity = Interruption in the physical structure or configuration of a material or component.

Defect = Discontinuity which is unacceptable to the quality level established by the specification.

Indication type Discontinuity type

Linear (planar)
Aligned Indication Two dimensional resembling a straight line,
which length is greater than its width.
Indication that having length
greater than three times its width  Crack, lack of fusion, incomplete penetration,
burn through, undercut, cold lap, misalignment.

Spherical (volumetric)
Three dimensional having the form of a sphere.
 Single pores, non-elongated slag.
Rounded Indication
One of circular or elliptical Cylindrical (volumetric)
shape with a length equal or Three dimensional having the form of a cylinder.
less than three times its width
 Elongated slag, wormholes, aligned pores,
hollow bead, and concave root.

Probe movement in discontinuity

The reflector is to be scanned by “Orbital”, “Swivel” and “Lateral” movement of the probe

Orbital scanning is made around the discontinuity in a circular path

with the discontinuity at the centre of the circle.

Swivel scanning involves rotation of the probe around an axis through

the centre of the probe body.

Lateral scanning is movement of the probe perpendicular to the

scanning surface.

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PT. Karsa Kencana Indonesia
Technical Testing & Inspection Services

Discontinuity signal interpretation

Spherical reflector
 The signal remains basically unchanged as the probe moved around the reflector in orbital fashion
 There is no respond signal to “swivel “ scan and shows no length with the “lateral “ movement
 Signal normally small with narrow base, because only small area of the discontinuity actually reflects the
ultrasonic beam.
 A single pore produces sharp indication and a cluster pore will produce multiple or broad based indication
with many peaks.

Cylindrical reflector
 Produce weak indication signal if “orbital “ or “swivel “ scanning is performed
 With “swivel “scan, the peak of indication signal will be decreased, but in the same time another peak in
the same signal will rise.
 With “lateral” movement of the probe, a varying constant signal may result, continuity of the signals
indicates length of the reflector
 When tested with different probe angles, will produce equivalent or significant signal at all angles of
incidence

Planar reflector
 Produce no indication signal if “orbital “ or “swivel “ scanning is performed
 With “lateral” movement of the probe, a varying constant signal may result, continuity of the signals
indicates length of the reflector
 When tested with different probe angles, significantly greater amplitude signal from a particular angle
probe will occur, because sound is reflected at its maximum from only one angle of interception, i.e.
around 90°
 Crack indications typically show multiple peaks and of wider shape because of the many discontinuity
facets usually presents. When the probe is rotated (orbited) 20° to 30° angle can be maintained before
the echo is totally reflected.
 Lack of side-wall fusion produce sharp indication and usually detectable from one side. The maximum
signal remains constant for some distance of the probe movement perpendicular to the weld axis.

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PT. Karsa Kencana Indonesia
Technical Testing & Inspection Services

Common screen signal interpretation

Root

Excess
Pent.

Inclusion / Slag Excess Penetration Porosity

Lack Of Fusion Crack

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