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 Ultrasonic Testing
Level I

The American Society for Nondestructive Testing

Paul Marks, NDT Training Center
 Lesson 2
Basic Principles of Acoustics
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Nature of Sound Waves

When a tuning fork is struck, it vibrates and

produces sound waves by compressing the air.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Nature of Sound Waves

The sound beam from the transducer (crystal) travels

through a couplant to the front surface of the test object.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Host Materials – Solids, Liquids and

Gases
• All types of sound waves travel through solids,
liquids or gases.
• Solids are much better carriers of sound energy
than liquids because of atomic density.
• In turn, liquids are more efficient carriers of sonic
energy than gases.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Modes of Sound Wave Generation

There are four different modes of sound wave

generation that are used in ultrasonic testing:
Longitudinal waves (compression waves)
Shear waves (transverse waves)
Rayleigh waves (surface waves)
Lamb waves (plate waves)
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Modes of Sound Wave Generation

Longitudinal Mode
Longitudinal waves, or compression waves, cause
the particles of the matter to vibrate back and forth
in the same direction as the motion of the sound
wave.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Modes of Sound Wave Generation

Shear Mode
Shear waves, also known as transverse waves, cause
the particles to vibrate back and forth in a direction
that is at right angles to the motion of the wave.

Direction of propagation Particle motion

Basic Principles of Acoustics

Modes of Sound Wave Generation

Rayleigh (Surface Wave) Mode

Rayleigh waves travel along the free boundary
(surface) of a solid. These are also referred to as
surface waves.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Modes of Sound Wave Generation

Lamb (Plate Wave) Mode

The fourth wave mode is the lamb wave or plate
wave. There are two types of lamb waves.

Symmetrical Asymmetrical
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Propagation of Sound Energy

All materials are made up of atoms linked by

electromagnetic forces.

Atoms connected by electromagnetic tendons (density and

elasticity).
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Propagation of Sound Energy

Solid objects have

dense atomic structure SLOW
compared to liquid or
gas (air), and also
have high levels of
FASTER
resiliency that allow
vibratory movement of
the particles within a
certain range. FASTEST
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Comparison of Wave Modes

Longitudinal Wave Mode
• Particle movement is parallel to the direction of wave travel.
• Waves can be
transmitted through Transducer
solids, liquids and
gasses.
Particle Motion
Shear Wave Mode In Path of Wave Shear Wave
Longitudinal Wave
• Particle movement is at right angles to the wave movement
(direction of propagation).
• Waves can only be transmitted through solids.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Comparison of Wave Modes

Rayleigh (Surface Wave) Mode

Waves travel over the surface of a solid, somewhat
resembling waves produced by a pebble dropped
onto the surface of a pond.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Comparison of Wave Modes

Rayleigh (Surface Wave) Mode

When a transducer is mounted on a steeply angled plastic
wedge, the longitudinal beam in the wedge strikes the test
surface at a high angle, producing a surface wave in the
test object.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Comparison of Wave Modes

Lamb (Plate Wave) Mode

There are two general types of lamb (or plate)
waves. They are: symmetrical and asymmetrical.

Symmetrical Asymmetrical
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Comparison of Wave Modes

Lamb (Plate Wave) Mode

Each type of Lamb wave has an infinite number of
modes that the wave may attain. The modes are
dependent on three factors:
• Frequency of the wave
• Angle of incidence
• Material
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Comparison of Wave Modes

The ability of Lamb waves to flow in thin plates makes

them applicable to a wide variety of problems requiring
the detection of subsurface discontinuities.

Incident Angle Mode Produced

33º 1st Asymmetrical Lamb Wave
31º 1st Symmetrical Modes in Aluminum
Modes produced by various
25.6º 2 Asymmetrical
nd
incident angles when
19.6º 2nd Symmetrical transmitting a 5 MHz ultrasonic
beam into a
14.7º 3rd Asymmetrical
0.13 cm (0.05 in.) thick
12.6º 3rd Symmetrical aluminum plate.
7.8º 4th Symmetrical
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Velocity, Frequency and Wavelength

Ultrasonic wave
vibrations possess
properties very similar
to those of light waves.
For example, they may
be reflected, focused and
refracted.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Attenuation of Sound Waves

High frequency ultrasonic waves passing through a

material are reduced in power, or attenuated, by
reflection and scattering of the beams at the grain
boundaries within the material.
This loss is proportional to the grain volume in the
material and the wavelength of the beam.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Attenuation of Sound Waves

Scattering losses are greatest where:

• the wavelength is less than one-third of the
grain size.
As the frequency is lowered and the wavelength
becomes greater than the grain size, attenuation is
caused mainly by damping of the wave.
Damping occurs when:
• wave energy is lost through heat caused by
friction of the vibrating particles.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Absorption/Attenuation
A term closely related to attenuation is acoustical
impedance.
Acoustical impedance can be seen as the amount of
opposition a material offers to the passage of sound waves.
It is explained by a simple equation:
Z = ρV
The impedance (Z) may be computed by multiplying the
density of the material (ρ) by the velocity of sound (V)
through the material. (Absorption is proportional to frequency
and scatter, which is dependent on the ratio of grain size to
wavelength.)
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Acoustical Impedance

Air has a very low impedance to ultrasonic waves

because it is low in density (ρ) and slow in
velocity (v).
Water has much higher impedance than air.
Solids, such as aluminum and steel, have even
higher impedances, due mainly to greater
densities.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Acoustical Impedance

In terms of sonic energy transmission within a

material:
• the higher the acoustic impedance (Z), the
better the transmission through that material.
• air is a very poor carrier of ultrasound (low Z
value).
• steel is a good carrier of ultrasound (high Z
value).
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Acoustical Impedance Ratio

When a transducer is used to transmit an ultrasonic

wave into a material:
only part of the
wave energy is
transmitted; the
rest is reflected
from the surface
of the material.
How much of the
sound beam is reflected depends on a factor called
acoustical impedance ratio.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Acoustical Impedance Ratio

The acoustical impedance ratio between two materials

is:
• the acoustical impedance of one material divided
by the acoustical impedance of the other material.
When an ultrasonic beam is passing from material A
into material B, the impedance ratio is the impedance
of the second material divided by the impedance of the
first material:
• the higher the ratio, the more of the original
energy that will be reflected.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Acoustical Impedance Ratio

Since air has a very small impedance, the

impedance ratio between air and any liquid or solid
material is very high; therefore:
• most, if not all, of the sound beam will be
reflected at any interface between air and any
other material.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Acoustical Impedance Ratio

A high impedance ratio is often called an

impedance mismatch.
If the impedance ratio is 5:1, the impedance
mismatch will be 5:1.
The impedance ratio for:
• a water-to-steel interface is about 31:1
(about 88% reflection).
• an air-to-metal interface is about 115 000:1
(virtually 100% reflection).
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Reflection

High-frequency vibrations act in a way similar to light

beams:
• when they strike an interrupting discontinuity in
the test object, some of the sound beam energy
is reflected back to the transducer ahead of the
back surface reflection.
• all of the
returning
reflections may
then be picked
up by the same
transducer.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Reflection

Here is an example where the time required for the

sound beam to travel through the test object to the
discontinuity and back is only two-thirds of the time
required for the sound beam to reach the back
surface and return.

Transducer Test Object

Back surface

Discontinuity

Two thirds of time

Time
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Reflection

The one-way distance that the sound beam travels

to a reflecting surface can be measured on
the display screen of the ultrasonic instrument,
as shown:
(c)
(a)

(b)
The first sharp indication (a) is
produced by the initial pulse and
echo from the front surface of the
test object; (b) comes from the
discontinuity; (c) comes from the
far surface of the test object.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Refraction and Mode Conversion

Refraction and mode conversion of the ultrasonic

beam as it passes at an angle from one material to
another are comparable to the refraction of light
beams when passing from one medium to another.

A transducer inducing a
longitudinal sound beam
into water.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Mixed Mode Conversion

As shown here, as the incident angle is changed

from the initial 0º position, refraction and mode
conversion occur.

The refracted angle for

the longitudinal wave
beam is four times the
incident angle, and the
shear wave beam
angle is more than
twice the incident
angle.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Mixed Mode Conversion

If the incident angle is rotated further, the refraction

angles of the longitudinal wave and the shear wave
increase.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Snell’s Law and Critical Angles

When the ultrasonic

velocities in the
water (used in
immersion testing)
or the wedge
material (used in
contact testing) are different from the ultrasonic
velocity in the test object, the longitudinal beam passing through
the couplant (or wedge) at an angle greater than 0° is refracted
when the sound beam enters the test object. Snell’s law may be
used to compute incident or refracted angles.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Snell’s Law Calculations

Snell’s law states that the sine of the angle of

incidence in the first medium is to the sine of the
angle of refraction in the second medium as the
velocity of sound in the first medium is to the
velocity of sound in the second medium.

sin θ vI
=
sin θR vR
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Critical Angles of Refraction

• Sound beams passing through a medium such as

water or plastic are refracted when entering a
second medium at an incident angle.
• For small incident beam angles, sound beams are
refracted and subjected to mode conversion,
resulting in a combination of shear and
longitudinal waves.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Critical Angles of Refraction

• The region between normal incidence and the first

critical angle is not as useful for ultrasonic testing
as is the region beyond the first critical angle
where only shear waves are produced.
• The presence of two beams results in confusing
signals.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Critical Angles of Refraction

First Critical Angle: As the angle of incidence is

increased, the first critical angle is reached when the
refracted longitudinal beam angle reaches 90º. At
this point, only shear waves exist in the second
medium.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

First Critical Angle

When selecting a contact shear wave angle beam

transducer, or when adjusting an immersed
transducer at an incident angle to produce shear
waves, two conditions are considered:
1. the refracted longitudinal wave must be totally
reflected so that the penetrating beam is
limited to shear waves only.
2. the refracted shear wave must enter the test
object in accordance with the requirements of
the test standard.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Second Critical Angle

• As the incident angle is increased further, the

second critical angle is reached when the
refracted shear beam angle reaches 90º.
• About 10% beyond this point, all shear waves are
reflected and, in the case of contact testing with
the test object in an air medium, surface waves
are produced.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Second Critical Angle

In immersion testing, the liquid medium dampens

the production of surface waves to a large degree,
but it should be noted that surface waves have
been produced in experimental tests on immersed
test objects.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Calculation of Critical Angles

If the sound beam velocities for the incident wave and

for the refracted wave (VI and VR) are known, either
critical angle may be calculated with Snell’s law using
the sine of 90º.

Since sin θR has a value of 1, the following formula may

be applied:
sin θI = vI / vR
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Calculation of Critical Angles

• Divide vR into vI = 0.45641 = 27°9’ (27.15°) for the

first critical angle.
• If the second critical angle is desired, vR is the
sound beam velocity for a shear wave in steel:
0.323 cm/µs.
• Again, vR is divided into vI = 0.82662 = 55°45’
(55.75°) for the second critical angle.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Calculation of Critical Angles

Basic Principles of Acoustics

Fresnel and Fraunhofer Effects

Sound Beam Patterns: In ultrasonic testing, the

ultrasonic beam is generally considered to be a
linear projection perpendicular to the face of the
transducer. In reality, the beam is not at all
straight sided or even energy consistent along
the beam centerline.
Basic Principles of Acoustics

Fresnel and Fraunhofer Effects

If the beam intensity is measured

at various distances from the
transducer, two distinct zones are
found. These zones are known as
the near field (fresnel zone) and
the far field (fraunhofer zone).
More information on near fields
and far fields will be explained in
Lesson 4.
 Basic Principles of Acoustics

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The American Society for Nondestructive Testing

Lesson 2 End Lesson 2 End Lesson 2

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