A STUDY ON THE TIME REVERSAL METHOD FOR FOCUSING

ULTRASONIC GUIDED WAVES USING ARRAY TRANSDUCERS

Hak-Joon Kim1, Jong-Ho Seo1, Sung-Jin Song1,

Jae-Hee Kim2 and Heung-Seop Eom2

^ungkyunkwan University, School of Mechanical Engineering, Suwon, Korea

2
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon, Korea

ABSTRACT. For the long range inspection of ultrasonic guided wave using array transducer, phase
tuning methods are quite often adopted to generate ultrasonic guided waves with particular modes.
The phase tuning method is able to control wave modes but not to focus waves on the defects under
interrogation. Thus, a robust tool that can control not only generated wave modes but also focus the
guided waves on the flaw is strongly desired. To address such a need, in this study, we adopted the
time reversal technique for focusing ultrasonic guided waves generated by array transducers on the
defects since the time reversal technique can provide proper time delays for focusing on the defect
and tuning wave modes. For investigation and verification of the time reversal method, we
performed focusing of ultrasonic guided waves on the three types of flaws generated from an array
transducer with time delays calculated by the D.O.R.T method using numerical simulation software.
Then, we compared results obtained by adopting the time reversal technique to those by a
conventional method. In this paper, numerical simulation results and comparison results were
presented.

Keywords: Guided Wave, Array Transducers, Time Reversal Technique, Ultrasonic

PACS: 43.20.Mv, 43.38.Hz

INTRODUCTION

Ultrasonic guided waves have been known as one of effective techniques that can
be utilized for long range inspections since ultrasonic guided waves have an advantage in
inspection area compares with conventional ultrasonic inspection methods which are based
on bulk waves. Thus, researches on ultrasonic guided wave for performing long range
inspections were carried out by many previous researchers. Among them, currently,
ultrasonic guided wave inspection systems using array transducer such as the comb
transducer are being considered as efficient system for long range inspection. Because array
transducer systems is able to generate ultrasonic guided waves with desired mode without
re-positioning of transducers or changing angle of incident by controlling firing time delay
of each individual element transducer. However, to calculate time delay and select wave
mode, dispersion curves of given testing specimen and information of flaw are necessary in
conventional ultrasonic array guided wave system. Thus, an efficient method to determine
proper time delays to control wave modes and focusing on flaw with information of
dispersion curves and flaw is necessary. To address such a need, the phase tuning methods
was proposed by previous researches [1]. This method is able to control the wave modes
but not to focus waves on the defects. Therefore, it is strongly desired to have a robust
technique that can provide proper time delays not only for mode selection but also focusing
generated guided waves on the flaws. To take care of such a need, in this study, the time
reversal technique is adopted since this technique has great potential for focusing ultrasonic

CP894, Review of Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation Vol. 26, ed. by D. O. Thompson and D. E. Chimenti
2007 American Institute of Physics 978-0-7354-0399-4/07/S23.00
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 I'

(a) (b)
FIGURE 1. Schematic diagram for calculation of time delays using the conventional method: (a) dispersion
curves and (b) calculated time delay.

waves on flaws. These have been proposed two kinds of time reversal techniques: 1) the
time reversal mirror (TRM) technique [2-4] and 2) D.O.R.T (French acronym for
Decomposition of the Time Reversal Operator) method [5-8]. Originally, these methods are
proposed for obtaining robust solutions to determine the proper time delays on the flaw for
the phased array transducer using bulk waves. But, recently, the time reversal techniques
are applied for ultrasonic array guided wave systems [9]. So, in this study, we have
investigated the performance of the D.O.R.T. method for focusing ultrasonic guided waves
on the notch types of flaws in 2-D thin plates by using numerical simulation software since
the D.O.R.T method does not need hardware systems like programmable generators and it
allows the simultaneous detection and separation of several defects based on a
mathematical analysis of the iterative time reversal process. In this paper, we describe the
basic procedure of conventional method and the D.O.R.T method. And then, performance
of the D.O.R.T. method for mode selection and focusing on the flaws is discussed by
comparison with those obtained by conventional method.

FOCUSING METHODS USING ARRAY ULTRASONIC GUIDED WAVES

Conventional Method

To generate ultrasonic guided wave with a specific wave mode using the
conventional method, time delay Ar is calculated by eq (1).

A r = (1)
v
Ph

where, / is the center-to-center distance of elements and v , is the phase velocity of

desired wave mode. So, as shown in Figure 1, in conventional method [10], sensitive wave
mode for detection of the given flaw has to be determined since each wave has different
wave structure. And then, using phase velocity of the chosen wave mode at the center
frequency of applied transducer and thickness of given specimen, time delay for the array
transducer is determined. Therefore, wave structure for sensitive wave mode and dispersion
curves of phase velocity of the selected wave mode is required to get time delay using
conventional method.

The D.O.R.T Method

The D.O.R.T method is a detection technique that is derived from the theoretical
analysis of TRM. Here, we describe the focusing process of the D.O.R.T method briefly. If

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we consider the ultrasonic testing system as a LTI system, the signal received by the /'
element of array transducers, which has N element can be defined as:

^)=2X(')e(/), (2)
m=\

where em(f) is the input signal applied to the mttl element, klm(f) is the impulse
response from the Ith element to the m"1 element and is the convolution in the time
domain. If we take the Fourier transform of equation (2) and use matrix notation, we have

R(a) = K(a)E((o), (3)

where K(<), the transfer matrix, is an N x N matrix [ref]. Since we consider the linear-
time-invariant system, the new input signal at the ia iteration, E' (a>), can be defined by

E'() = K*()E'"1*() (4)

where * denotes complex conjugation corresponding to a time reversal. Thus, the

received signal at the ia iteration R'(<) can be written as

R'(o)= I K ^ ' K ^ I E ' " 1 ^ ) (5)

where K(<) K(<) is called the time reversal operator [6-8].

Based on the assumptions, a linear time-invariant system and lossless medium, the
transfer matrix is symmetrical. Thus, the time reversal operator is Hermitian positive. Also,
the number of significant eigenvalues of the time reversal operator is equal to the number of
well resolved scatterers. So, from the eigenvector corresponding to the significant
eigenvalues, we can calculate time delays required to focus on the scatterer using equation
(6).

*,=M (6)
a

where, A^. is the phase of the eigenvector.

NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS

To investigate the D.O.R.T method using array ultrasonic guided waves, we have
used 2-D numerical simulation software (Wave2000Pro developed by CyberLogic Co. Ltd).
Figure 2 shows setups for numerical simulation of array ultrasonic guided waves inspection
applied in this study. As shown in Figure 2, we set 5 transducers with 0.5 MHz center
frequency and 2.5 mm inter-element space on 2-D steel plates (4 mm of thickness and 120
mm of length) with 1.4 mm notch place on the top side of the plate and/or in the middle of
the plate.

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 Transducers Transducers
nnnnn 1.4 mm J | nnnnn t 1.3 mm
-4 v-
Specimen
JU
2.5 mm -*| \*~2 mm 2 mm
2.5 mm -*| |*~:
1.4 mm I I Notch

Specimen

(a) W
Transducers
Notch
nnnnn
-i i - 1.3 mm 1.4 mm | 1
2.5 mm -*\ \*-2 mm 1.4 mm ~~l Notch 4 mm
Specimen
70 mm
120 mm
130 mm
(c)
FIGURE 2. A schematic diagram of numerical simulation setups for an array ultrasonic guided wave
inspection for (a) a surface breaking notch (b) an embedded slit (c) an embedded slit and a surface breaking
notch.

Simulation Results for a Surface Breaking Notch (Setup 1)

As mentioned in the previous section, sensitive wave mode and its phase velocity
at given setup are needed to get the time delay using the conventional method. To find
sensitive wave, we simulated ultrasonic guided wave scattered from the surface breaking
notch using the first element transducer. And then, we performed identifying mode of the
simulated ultrasonic guided wave using short time Fourier transform (STFT) method. As
shown in Figure 3, mode of the simulated ultrasonic guided wave was A0 mode. Based on
mode identification result, phase velocity of A0 mode is 2710.44 m/sec corresponding to 2
of / f i f ( = 0 . 5 M H z x 4 m m ) value. So, the time delay for generating A0 mode at given
simulation setup is 0.923 jus .
To calculate the proper time delay using the D.O.R.T method, inter-element
responses acquired by the array ultrasonic transducer are needed. Figures 4 (a) and (b) show
simulated inter-element firing signals without time delay radiated from the array ultrasonic
transducer and its frequency spectrums, respectively. As shown in Figure 4 (a), we can
clearly identify the ultrasonic guided waves scattered from the notch. Using the frequency
values, we have constructed the time reversal operator and performed the singular value
decomposition to get eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the time reversal operator. Figures 5
(a), (b) show calculated eigenvalues and eigenvectors. As shown in Figure 5 (a), we have
only one significant eigenvalue so that we can expect there is one scatterer since significant
eigenvalues represent the number of scatterers in the inspected specimen. Figure 5 (b)
shows eigenvector corresponding to the significant eigenvalue. From the eigenvector, we
calculated the time delay by using Eq. (6). Figure 6 shows calculated time delays by the
conventional method and the D.O.R.T method.

(a) (b)
FIGURE 3. Calculated (a) SFTP image of ultrasonic guided wave and (b) dispersion curves of the phase
velocity for setup 1 as shown in Fig. 2 (a).

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 (a) (b)
FIGURE 4. (a) Measured inter-element firing signals (b) Measured frequency spectrums.

Using the two different time delays, we have simulated ultrasonic guided wave
signals for the surface breaking notch using the numerical simulation software. Figure 7 (a)
and (b) show the received ultrasonic guided wave signals for the surface breaking notch by
adopting time delays obtained from the conventional method and the D.O.R.T method
respectively. Modes for both of the received ultrasonic guided waves were AO mode. So, we
believe that the D.O.R.T method can provide proper time delays for generating sensitive
wave mode without having the phase velocity and flaw information in advance.

(a) (b)
FIGURE 5. Calculated (a) eigenvalues and (b) eigenvectors corresponding significant eigenvalue by using
singular value decomposition method.
1 D.O.R.T . , h . . l

0.5

li 2 71 3 11 4 U 5

FIGURE 6. Calculated time delays by the conventional method (dashed line) and the D.O.R.T method (solid
line) for the surface breaking notch.

/VWWww

fl
(a) (b)
FIGURE 7. Simulated ultrasonic guided wave signal for the surface break notch with two different time
delay: (a) conventional method and (b) D.O.R.T method.

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Simulation Results for an Embedded Slit (Setup 2)

To find the sensitive wave mode for an embedded slit (show in Figure 2 (a)), we
simulated ultrasonic guided wave radiated from the first element transducer. And then, we
identified wave mode of the simulated ultrasonic guided wave as shown in Figure 8 (a).
The sensitive wave mode for the imbedded slit was SO mode. Thus, we have calculated
time delay for generating SO mode by the conventional method using determined phase
velocity of SO mode at the given setup. The determined the phase velocity was
4.909 mm I/u sec and firing time interval of element by element was 0.509 /u sec.
We have also calculated time delays using D.O.R.T method by the same procedure
as the surface breaking notch case. Figure 8 (b) shows calculated eigenvalues of the time
reversal operator for the embedded slit. And, Figure 9 shows calculated time delays by the
conventional method and the D.O.R.T method. As shown in Figure 9, small difference in
calculated time delays between the conventional method and the D.O.R.T method was
observed. Using the two different time delays, we have simulated ultrasonic guided wave
signals for the imbedded slit using numerical simulation software. Figures 10 (a) and (b)
show the received ultrasonic guided wave signals for the imbedded slit by adopting the time
delays obtained from the conventional method and the D.O.R.T method respectively. As
shown in Figure 10, we have similar shape and amplitude of received ultrasonic guided
wave signals by adopting the time delays using the conventional method and the D.O.R.T
method. After mode identification of these two received signals, we also find the generated
wave mode by both methods was SO mode which is the same wave mode as expected.

FIGURE 8. Calculated (a) SFTP image of ultrasonic guided wave and (b) calculated eigenvalues from the
time reversal operator for setup 2 as shown in Fig. 2 (b).

FIGURE 9. Calculated time delays by the conventional method (dashed line) and the D.O.R.T method (solid
line) for the embedded slit.

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 Time x IQ-' Time

(a) (b)
FIGURE 10. Simulated ultrasonic guided wave signal for the imbedded slit with two different time delay: (a)
conventional method and (b) D.O.R.T method.

Simulation Results for an Embedded Slit and a Surface Break Notch (Setup 3)

To find sensitive wave modes for the given simulation setup, we also performed the
numerical simulation with single element firing and receiving. From the STFT image of
single element firing signal as shown in Figure 11 (a), we found that SO mode and A0 mode
were generated for the embedded slit and the surface breaking notch, respectively. Again,
we have calculated time delays for the imbedded slit and the surface break notch using the
conventional method. And then, we also calculated eigenvalues for time reversal operator
obtained from inter-element fired signals. As shown in Figure 11 (b), there were two
significant eigenvalues named as "#1" and "#2" so that we expected there are two flaws. As
comparison results of calculated time delays based on the two significant eigenvalues, #1
and #2 eigenvlaues were corresponding to the embedded slit and the surface breaking notch
respectively. Figure 12 shows the received ultrasonic guided waves for the imbedded slit
and the surface breaking notch by adopting calculated time delays using the conventional
method and the D.O.R.T method. From these four received signals, we find the generated
wave modes by both methods were A0 mode and SO mode for the imbedded slit and the
surface breaking notch, respectively. So, we believe that the D.O.R.T method provides
proper time delays for detection of each flaws even though they have different sensitive
wave modes.

SUMMARY

In this study, we investigated performance of the D.O.R.T method, which is one of

the time reversal techniques, for the array ultrasonic guided wave inspection by using 2-D
numerical simulation software. From the time reversal operators of simulated inter-element
firing signals for three different types of simulation setups, eigenvalues and eigenvectors
were calculated using singular value decomposition method. And then time delay for each
simulation setup was calculated. And then, we have compared the calculated time delays
and the received signals to the results obtained by a conventional method. For the surface

(a) (b)
FIGURE 11. Calculated (a) SFTP image of ultrasonic guided wave and (b) calculated eigenvalues from the
time reversal operator for setup 3 as shown in Fig. 2 (c).

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 (a) (b)

(c) (d)
FIGURE 12. Simulated ultrasonic guided wave signal for (a) and (b) the embedded slit and (c) and (d) the
surface break notch with two different time delay calculated by conventional method and D.O.R.T method
respectively.

break crack in the 2-D thin plate, AO mode was generated by both of the D.O.R.T method
and the conventional method. For the embedded slit in the middle of the 2-D this plate, SO
mode was generated by both methods. On contrary to the conventional method, the
D.O.R.T method can provide proper time delays without dispersion curves of the phase
velocity and flaw information in advance. Therefore, the D.O.R.T method would be an
efficient method to calculate proper time delays for array ultrasonic guided wave inspection
system.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work is supported by a grant for Nuclear Research and Development Program
provided by Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP),
Korea.

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