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Ultrasonic Testing
Part 2
 The Sound Beam
• Dead Zone
• Near Zone or Fresnel Zone
• Far Zone or Fraunhofer Zone
 Sound Beam
Near Zone Far Zone
• Thickness • Thickness
measurement measurement
• Detection of defects • Defect detection
• Sizing of large • Sizing of all defects
defects only
Near zone length as small as
possible balanced against
acceptable minimum
detectable defect size
 The Sound Beam

NZ FZ Main
Beam

Intensity
varies

Exponential Decay

Distance
 The side lobes has multi
minute main beams
Two identical defects may
give different amplitudes of
signals

Near
Side Lobes
Zone
The main beam or the centre
beam has the highest
intensity of sound energy

Main Lobe Any reflector hit by the main

beam will reflect the high
amount of energy
Main Beam
 Near Zone

2
D
Near Zone 
4
V

f
2
D f
Near Zone 
4V
 Near Zone
• What is the near zone length of a 5MHz
compression probe with a crystal diameter
of 10mm in steel?
2
D f
Near Zone 
4V
10  5,000,000
2

4  5,920,000
 21.1mm
 Near Zone
2 2
D D f
Near Zone  
4 4V
• The bigger the diameter the bigger the
near zone
• The higher the frequency the bigger the
near zone
• The lower the velocity the bigger the near
zone
Which of the above probes has the longest Near Zone ?

1 M Hz
5 M Hz
1 M Hz 5 M Hz
 Beam Spread
• In the far zone sound pulses spread out
as they move away from the crystal

/2


 K KV
Sine  or
2 D Df
 Beam Spread
 K KV
Sine  or
2 D Df
Edge,K=1.22
20dB,K=1.08
6dB,K=0.56
Beam axis
or Main Beam
 Beam Spread
• What is the beam spread of a 10mm,5MHz
compression wave probe in steel?

 KV
Sine 
2 Df
1.08  5920

5000  10
 0.1278  7.35 o
Which of the above probes has the Largest Beam
Spread ?

1 M Hz
5 M Hz
1 M Hz 5 M Hz
 Beam Spread
 K KV
Sine  or
2 D Df
• The bigger the diameter the smaller the
beam spread
• The higher the frequency the smaller
the beam spread

Which has the larger beam spread, a compression

or a shear wave probe?
 Ultrasonic Pulse
• A short pulse of electricity is applied to a
piezo-electric crystal
• The crystal begins to vibration increases
to maximum amplitude and then decays
Maximum

10% of
Maximum

Pulse length
• Pulse Length
 Pulse Length
• The longer the pulse, the more
penetrating the sound
• The shorter the pulse the better the
sensitivity and resolution

Short pulse, 1 or 2 cycles Long pulse 12 cycles

• Pulse Length
Ideal Pulse Length

5 cycles for weld testing

 Resolution
RESOLUTION in Pulse Echo Testing is the ability to
separate echoes from two or more closely spaced
reflectors.
RESOLUTION is strongly affected by Pulse Length:

Short Pulse Length - GOOD RESOLUTION

Long Pulse Length - POOR RESOLUTION

RESOLUTION is an extremely important property in

WELD TESTING because the ability to separate ROOT
GEOMETRY echoes from ROOT CRACK or LACK OF
ROOT FUSION echoes largely determines the
effectiveness of Pulse Echo UT in the testing of single
sided welds.
 Resolution

Good resolution
 Resolution

Poor resolution
 Sound travelling through a material
Loses intensity
due to

Beam Spread Attenuation

• Sound beam comparable • Energy losses due to
to a torch beam material
•Reduction differs for small •Made up of absorption
and large reflectors and scatter
 Scatter
• The bigger the grain
size the worse the
problem
• The higher the
frequency of the
probe the worse the
problem

1 MHz 5 MHz
Beam Spread

The sound beam

spread out and the
intensity decreases
 Beam spread and Attenuation
combined
Repeat Back-wall Echoes Beyond The Near Zone

ZERO ATTENUATION ATTENUATION 0.02 dB/mm

 Sound at an Interface
• Sound will be either transmitted across
or reflected back
Reflected

How much is reflected and

Interface transmitted depends upon the
relative acoustic impedance of
the 2 materials

Transmitted
 Acoustic Impedance
• Definition • Formula
The Resistance to the
passage of sound Z   V
within a material  = Density , V = Velocity

• Steel 46.7 x 106

• Measured in
• Water 1.48 x 106
kg / m2 x sec
• Air 0.0041 x
106
• Perspex 3.2 x 106
 % Sound Reflected at an
Interface
2
 Z1  Z 2 
   100  % reflected
 Z1  Z 2 

% Sound Reflected + % Sound Transmitted = 100%

Therefore
% Sound Transmitted = 100% - % Sound Reflected
How much sound is reflected at a steel to water
interface?
• Z1 (Steel) = 46.7 x 106
• Z2 (Water) =1.48 x 106
2
 46.7  1.48 
 46.7  1.48   100  % reflected
 
2
 45.22 
 48.18   100  % reflected
 

0. 93856 100  88.09% reflected

2
 How much sound transmitted?

100 % - the reflected sound

Example : Steel to water

100 % - 88 % ( REFLECTED) = 12 % TRANSMITTED

The BIGGER the Acoustic Impedance Ratio

or Difference between the two materials:
More sound REFLECTED than transmitted.
 Air Steel

Steel
Air
Large Acoustic Impedance Large Acoustic Impedance
Ratio Ratio

Steel Aluminum

Steel
Steel

No Acoustic Impedance Small Acoustic Impedance

Difference Difference
 Interface Behaviour

Similarly:

At an Steel - Air interface 99.96% of the

incident sound is reflected

At a Steel - Perspex interface 75.99% of

the incident sound is reflected
Sound Intensity
2 signals at 20% and 40% FSH.
What is the difference between them in dB’s?

H0
dB  20 Log..10
H1
40
dB  20 Log..10  20 Log ..10 2
20

dB  20 0.3010
dB  6dB
2 signals at 10% and 100% FSH.
What is the difference between them in dB’s?

H0
dB  20 Log..10
H1
100
dB  20 Log..10  20 Log..1010
10

dB  20 1
dB  20dB
 Amplitude ratios in decibels
• 2:1= 6bB
• 4:1= 12dB
• 5:1= 14dB
• 10 : 1 = 20dB
• 100 : 1 = 40dB