Ultrasonic Testing

By
Geetanjali Sharma
Devendra Singh
Amit Kumar Jha

Defect & Discontinuity

Group A -Discontinuity, Imperfection & In
homogeneities
Group B Defect ,Fault & Flaw
Discontinuity- An intentional or unintentional
interruption in the physical structure or
configuration of a part.
Defect- A condition or discontinuity having a size,
orientation, nature or location that impairs the
useful service of the part or that is rejectable
according to specification or standard.

Need for NDT

NDT or NDE are the terms used to
represent the techniques that are based on
application of physical principles employed
for the purpose of determining the
characteristics of the materials or
components or systems and for detecting
and assessing the in homogeneities and
harmful defects without impairing the
usefulness of such material or components
or systems.

Types of NDT Methods

1.Ultrasonic Testing
2. Eddy Current
3. Magnetic Particle
4. Dye Penetration
5. Radiography

UT Testing
This testing is used for finding surface,
sub surface, internal defects in welding,
castings, plate & forgings etc. It can also
be used for tubes. It is more useful to find
out planar defects.
It can also detect exact depth of the
defect.

Ultra sonic Testing Procedure

Basic Procedure:
1.Prepare the surface to remove to obtain
smooth surface.
2.Apply Couplant (Water ,Grease, oil etc.)
3.Pass Ultrasound, with help of Ultrasonic
probes, ultrasound is reflected from defect
boundary and revealed on CRT of UT
machine.

Basic Principle
1. By Introducing short pulse of sound using
a transducer into a job and receiving the
echo from the defect or back wall then by
finding out the time of journey the defect
location can be determined.
Distance = Velocity X Time

Sound reflection at a flaw

s

Probe

Sound travel path

Work piece
Principle of time of flight measurement : S=vt/2

Flaw

2. Sound passes through homogenous

material and is reflected from back wall. It
will take definite time to do so, depending
upon the material thickness and
properties. If there is discontinuity in the
object, the sound will be reflected from it
and will take lesser time.

Plate testing
IP
BE

D
plate

D1
delamination

IP = Initial pulse
T=D/V
T1=D1/V
T>T1,Since D>D1

F = Flaw
BE = Backwall echo

10

Ultrasonic Instrument

10

Ultrasonic Instrument

+
Uh

10

Ultrasonic Instrument

+
Uh

10

Ultrasonic Instrument
+
Uv

Uh

10

Block diagram: Ultrasonic Instrument

amplifier

IP

screen
BE

horizontal
sweep
clock
pulser

probe
work piece

Pulse
The ball starts to oscillate as soon as it is pushed

Oscillation

Movement of the ball over time

Time

Frequency

Time
From the duration of one
oscillation T the frequency f
(number of oscillations per
second) is calculated: f=1/T

One full
oscillation
T

Types of Sound waves

1. Longitudinal waves/Compressive waves/
Zero Degree Beam/Straight Beam/
Normal beam
2. Transverse waves/Shear wave/Angle
beam
3. Surface wave/Rayleigh wave
4. Plate wave/Lamb waves

Sound propagation
Longitudinal
wave
Direction of
oscillation

Direction of propagation

Sound propagation
Transverse wave
Direction of oscillation

Direction of propagation

Plate Waves

Types of Probes
1.Normal Probe

A piezoelectric element
in the transducer
converts electrical
energy into mechanical
vibrations (sound), and
vice versa.

The transducer is
capable of both
transmitting and
receiving sound
energy.

2.Angle Probe

Principles of Ultrasonic Inspection

Ultrasonic waves are introduced into a material
where they travel in a straight line and at a
constant speed until they encounter a surface.
At surface interfaces some of the wave energy is
reflected and some is transmitted.
The amount of reflected or transmitted energy
can be detected and provides information about
the size of the reflector.
The travel time of the sound can be measured
and this provides information on the distance
that the sound has traveled.

Technicques of UT
1.Pulse Echo Method: In pulse-echo testing, a
transducer sends out a pulse of energy and the
same or a second transducer listens for reflected
energy (an echo).
Reflections occur due to the presence of
discontinuities and the surfaces of the test
article.
The amount of reflected sound energy is
displayed versus time, which provides the
inspector information about the size and the
location of features that reflect the sound.

Digital display
showing signal
generated from
sound reflecting
off back surface.
Digital display
showing the presence
of a reflector midway
through material, with
lower amplitude back
surface reflector.
The pulse-echo technique allows testing when access to only one
side of the material is possible, and it allows the location of
reflectors to be precisely determined.

 The bigger the flaw is in the path of echo

longer the indication & vice versa.
If the defect will lye near the focus zone of
the echo, the indication will become
bigger.
Focus

Crystal

Accoustical axis

Angle of divergence
6

D0

Near field

Far field

Calibration of UT Machines.
Range Calibration:-A block of known thickness
and material is used for calibrating x axis
(time/depth).
Sensitivity Calibration:-A block of similar material
having standards shape & size reflectors are
used for calibrating Y axis (amplitude/size).

IIW V1 Block

Test Techniques Through-Transmission

Two transducers located on
opposing sides of the test specimen
are used. One transducer acts as a
transmitter, the other as a receiver.
Discontinuities in the sound path will
result in a partial or total loss of
sound being transmitted and be
indicated by a decrease in the
received signal amplitude.
Through transmission is useful in
detecting discontinuities that are not
good reflectors, and when signal
strength is weak. It does not
provide depth information.

1
1
T

1
1

10

Test Techniques Through-Transmission

Digital display
showing received
sound through
material
thickness.

Digital display
showing loss of
received signal
due to presence
of a discontinuity
in the sound field.

Test Techniques Normal and Angle Beam

In normal beam testing, the sound
beam is introduced into the test
article at 90 degree to the surface.
In angle beam testing, the sound
beam is introduced into the test
article at some angle other than
90.
The choice between normal and
angle beam inspection usually
depends on two considerations:
- The orientation of the feature of
interest the sound should be
directed to produce the largest
reflection from the feature.
- Obstructions on the surface of the
part that must be worked around.

Angle beam probe calibration

S1=25mm
S2=50mm
Block Factor-25+50=75mm
1st echo-25mm
IInd echo-25+BF(75)=100mm

IIW V2 Block

Snells Law

Refraction : 1 critical angle

st

Calibration of angle probe

Step1. Connect DAC Calibration Adapter to the
UT instrument and manipulate its delay
regulator to get the 7mm UT instrument digital
distance indication. Adjust amplitude of the
indicated pulse to the 100% of the screen
height. Mark the top of the pulse as a point 1 of
the DAC curve.
Step2. Change the delay of DAC Calibration
Adapter to get the 75mm UT instrument digital
distance indication. Reduce the Gain of UT
instrument in 11dB. Mark the top of the pulse
as a point 2 of the DAC curve
Step3. Change the delay of DAC Calibration
Adapter to get the 38mm UT instrument digital
distance indication. Increase the Gain of UT
instrument in 5dB. Mark the top of the pulse as
a point 3 and create DAC curve

Spectrum of sound
Frequency range
Hz

Description

Example

0 - 20

Infrasound

Earth quake

20 20,000
> 20,000

Audible
sound
Ultrasound

Speech, music
Bat, Quartz
crystal

Atomic structures
gas

low density
weak bonding
forces

liquid

solid

medium density high density

medium bonding strong bonding
forces
forces
crystallographic
structure

During one oscillation T the wave front

propagates by the distance :

Distance travelled
From this we derive:
c=/T or c= f

Wave equation

Wave propagation
Longitudinal waves propagate in all kind of materials.
Transverse waves only propagate in solid bodies.
Due to the different type of oscillation, transverse
waves
travel at lower speeds.
Sound velocity mainly depends on the density and Emodulus of the material.
Air
Water
Steel, long
Steel, trans

330 m/s
1480 m/s
5920 m/s
3250 m/s

Behaviour at an interface
Medium 1

Medium 2

Incoming wave

Transmitted wave

Reflected wave
Interface

Wall thickness measurement

s
s

Corrosion

10

Through transmission testing

Through transmission signal

2
0

Flaw

10

Ultrasonic Probes
socket
crystal
Damping

Straight beam probe

TR-probe

Delay / protecting face

Electrical matching
Cable

Angle beam probe

Block diagram: Ultrasonic Instrument

amplifier

IP

screen
BE

horizontal
sweep
clock
pulser

probe
work piece

Weld inspection
a = s sin

a' = a - x

s
0

20

d' = s cos
40

60

80 100

d = 2T - t'

a
a'

Work piece with welding

= probe angle
s = sound path
a = surface distance
a = reduced surface distance
d = virtual depth
d = actual depth
T = material thickness

Lack of fusion

Straight beam inspection techniques:

Direct contact,

Direct contact,

single element probe

dual element probe

Through transmission

Fixed delay

Immersion testing

Immersion testing
1

surface =
sound entry

water delay

backwall

flaw

IP

IE

IP

BE

10

IE

F
0

BE

10