B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.

) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

UNIT-I

LECTURE NO. - 01

ULTRASONIC TESTING AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION

Introduction
Before World War II, technique of sending and receiving of sound waves in water i.e., Sonar
technique inspired the personnel to impose this technique in medical diagnosis and analysis.
Shortly after world war II, Japan introduced this technique to international medical
community, on use of ultrasonic waves in detection of gallstones, breast masses and tumors.
Then Japan again used Doppler ultrasound technique in detection of internal moving objects
such as blood coursing through the heart for cardiovascular investigation. Later on united
states had contributed many innovations and important discoveries to this field. They led to
use ultrasound to detect potential cancer and to visualize tumors in living subjects and in
excised tissue.

Ultrasonic testing uses very short range, high frequency ultrasonic waves, whose
frequency range lies between 0.1-1.5 MHz, but sometime it may be used up to a frequency
level of 50 Hz. This testing can be performed on steel and its alloys, concrete, wood and
composites. This method finds its application in areas like aerospace, automotive and many
other sectors.
BASIC TERMS ASSOCIATED WITH ULTRASONIC TESTING
(i) Scattering: It is the reflection of sound beam from its original direction of propagation.
(ii) Absorption: It is conversion of sound energy from one form to some another form.
(iii) Attenuation of sound waves: Attenuation is a combined effect of scattering and
absorption, which states that when a sound beam travels through any medium, its
intensity gradually reduces due to scattering and absorption. In simple words,
attenuation defines the decay rate of propagated sound wave. Mathematically it can be
expressed as.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg., MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

𝐴 = 𝑈𝑒−𝑑𝛼
where
A = Amplitude
U = Unattenuated amplitude
D = Distance travelled
α = Attenuation coefficient-(Nepers / length)

Fig. Attenuation (Decay) of sound wave.

(iv) Acoustic impedance: It is defined as the product of density (ρ) and acoustic velocity
(V) of that material. It is used to determine the relative amount of sound energy coupled
through and reflected at an interface and also in design of ultrasonic transducers.
Mathematically, it is expressed as
[ Z= ρ V ]

(v) Reflection and Transmission coefficient: When there is an impedance mismatch

atthe surface of the material, Reflection of sound beam takes place at the boundaries.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg., MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

(vi) Decibel (dB): It is used to express the Reflection and transmission coefficient and is
used to measure the variation in intensity of sound beam.
(vii) Refraction: When a sound beams travels with different velocities within two
materials, then at interface of thes be materials refraction takes place.

(viii) Snell’s law: It is the law which describes the relationship between angles and
velocities of transmitted waves without considering the waves those are reflected back.
It is expressed as
sin 𝑖 𝑉1
=
sin 𝑟 𝑉2
where,
i = Angle of
incidence r = Angle of
refraction.
V1 = Velocity in material
1 V2 = Velocity in
material 2

Fig. Wave propagation between two different mediums.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg., MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

UNIT-I

LECTURE NO. - 02

ULTRASONIC TESTING AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION

(i) Signal to Noise Ratio: It is a measure of difference

of signal of defect from other background signals. For
ambient flaw detection, Preferable signal to Noise
ratio is 3: 1.

Fig. Signals and Noises

S/N ratio also depends impedance mismatch between the defect and the material. In that
case, it is assumed that a void in a material produces greater impedance mismatch than a
material with inclusion. Detectability of defect i.e., S/N ratio depends on following
factors.
(a) Size of probe
(b) Frequency produced by probe
(c) Bandwidth
(d) Location of defect
(e) Shape of Interface between two mediums
(f) Efficiency of probe.

(x) Wave Interference: When sound waves or beams emerges from the surface of piezo
electric material it gets interacted, interfaced or super imposed with each other and
the distance travelled at any point of interaction is the sum of amplitude of two waves.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg., MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

Fig. Wave Interference

(xi) Resolution: It is the capability of a transducer to differentiate between the defect
signal and other background signals of very close defects.
(xii) Bandwidth: It is the difference between higher frequency and lower frequency wave.
(xiii) Q-Factor: It is defined as the ratio between central frequency and difference
between higher and lower frequency.

Fig. Bandwidth
(xiv) Propagation of waves: In test specimens, propagation of waves are accomplished via
any of the four modes as longitudinal waves, shear waves, surface waves and plate
waves. Longitudinal and shear waves are widely used in ultrasonic testing.
In longitudinal waves, the particles are oscillated in longitudinal direction or in
the direction of wave propagation. These waves are also called as pressure or
compression waves as compressive and dilational forces are present in these waves.
These waves can be generated in liquids as well as in solids.

In transverse or shear waves, the particles are oscillated at right angle to the
direction of wave propagation. These waves are relatively weaker than longitudinal
waves i.e., why it requires an acoustically solid test specimen for proper propagation and
therefore can't propagate in liquids or gases.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg., MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

Fig. (a) Longitudinal, (b) Shear wave

Surface waves or Rayleigh waves are very sensitive to surface defects and are
able to inspect the areas that are difficult to reach. Surface waves travels the surface of a
relatively thick solid test specimen and penetrants the specimen upto depth of one
wavelength. Motion of surface waves includes the combination of motion of longitudinal
as well as shear waves. When longitudinal wave intersects the surface of test specimen
with velocity of 0.8 to 0.96 of a shear wave's velocity, an elliptical motion path is
generated.

that propagates parallel to the test specimen surface. Its propagation depends on the
density and elastic properties of the test specimen. These waves are effective in
inspection of steelFig. (a) Rayleigh
plates, wire andortubes.
surface wave (b) plate waves.
Plates waves are also called as lamb waves and are complex vibrational waves

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg., MITRC, Alwar)
 B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

UNIT-1

LECTURE NO. - 3

ULTRASONIC TESTING AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION

Ultrasonic Probes
Piezoelectric material forms the basis of almost all ultrasonic probes. Piezoelectric
transducer consists of an active element which converts the electrical energy to
acoustic

Fig. Working of Ultrasonic Probe

and vice-versa. These active materials are heart of transducers, which isin general
is a piece of polarized material with electrodes at its opposite faces with opposite
polarity as shown in following fig.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
 B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

When an electric field is applied to the polarized active elements, the charged
molecules get aligned in the direction of applied field. This alignment of molecules
will result in change in dimension of the material. This continuous change in
dimension of material will produce vibration and hence ultrasonic waves will be
generated. This phenomenon of change in dimension when electrical pulses are
applied is called as electrostriction and its vice-versa is called as piezoelectric effect.

Fig. Half charged active element.

Basic parts of an ultrasonic transducer are active element, Backing plate and
Matching plate. These three elements are the control functions of any transducer as
shown in following fig. Proper selection and thickness of active element is very
important consideration. The thickness of the active element is determined by the
desired frequency of the transducer (i.e. t = λ/2) and similarly for matching plate (t
= λ /4). In other words, higher the required frequency of transducer, the thinner will
be the active element and matching plate.

The matching plates are used to achieve optical impedance matching. This
plate keeps the reflected waves with in the phase when they leave the matching
layer. Matching plate selection differs, according to the technique used i.e. for
contact technique based transducer, the material having acoustic impedance between
the active element and steel is used, and for immersion technique based
transducer, the material having acoustic impedance between the active element and
water is used. In contact transducer wear plates are used to protect the active

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
 B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

element and matching plate from scratch, while in immersion transducer no such
plate is used.

Fig. Thickness of Active Element and Matching Plate with

their Orientation

Backing plates used acts as a damper, that's why the material of backing plate
has similar impedance, as it is of active element, to produce most effective
damping. Such transducer will produce high sensitivity with a narrow bandwidth.
As the impedance mismatch between active element and backing plate increases,
then sensitivity of transducer will reduce but material penetration increases.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
 B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

UNIT-1

LECTURE NO. - 4

ULTRASONIC TESTING AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION

Type of ultrasonic probes: Ultrasonic probes or transducer are available in

various varieties and it depends upon the application hence it's being very
important factor to choose appropriate transducer for a particular application.
Some important factors responsible for selection of appropriate transducer are
frequency desired, Band width and focussing to optimize inspection capability.
Some important and readily used transducers are:
(i) Single compression transducer: single element or straight beam
transducers are used to measure thickness and to detect flaws on plates, bars,
forgings, castings and extrusions, during testing they are applied directly to
the flat surfaces of the test material.

Transducers with smaller diameter can be applied to test slightly curved

materials. single element contact transducers work by emitting compression
(longitudinal) waves into the test material. Due to the fact that this type of
transducer comes into direct contact with test materials when being used, the
wear plates are constructed with highly durable material to protect it from
scratches.
(ii) Twin Compression: Dual element contact (pitch-catch) transducer's measure
thickness and detect flaws and corrosion in thin materials especially where near
surface resolution is required. They focus very close to the front surface, making
them ideal for pitting and corrosion tests, braze inspection and lamination
evaluation. This focussing effect of dual transducer makes it ideal for pipes and
other curved surfaces.
Dual element transducer utilises separate transmitting and receiving
elements, mounted on delay lines that are usually cut at an angle. This
configuration improves near surface resolution by eliminating recovery
problems. In addition, the "crossed beam" design provides a pseudo focus that
makes duals more sensitive to echoes from irregular reflectors such as corrosion

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
 B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

and pitting. One consequence of dual element design is a sharply defined

distance amplitude curve. In general, a decrease in the roof angle to an increase
in the transducer element size will result in longer pseudo focal distance and an
increase in useful range.

(iii) Angle Beam transducers: It allows the sound beam to be introduced into
the test material at an angle. Plastic wedges of controlled geometry are attached
to the transducer active element in order to establish the desired angle. Sonatest
wedges are precision engineered to produce a refracted shear wave with in the
test object at specific angles, as indicated on the wedge or transducer
housing. The refracted beam angle should be selected to ensure that the sound
beam angle will be as much as possible, perpendicular to the plane of

expected flaws. In some cases, the geometry of the test object will dictate the
selection of beam angle, with regard to frequency. However, the same general
rule applies-which is to select the lowest frequency which provides adequate
flaw sensitivity. Both material noise and attenuation are minimised at lower
frequencies.

(iv) Delay line transducers: It transmits and receives sound waves with one
element coupled to the surface as with compression transducers. The crystal is
held off from the test piece surface by a delay block. This permits inspection
very close to the test piece surface.

(v) Immersion transducers: They are usually used for mechanised or

automatic systems and it, operates in the same way as normal contact
compression transducers does. Most applications take place in immersion tanks
filled with water, where the test object is placed on a turn table or roller system
so that the object is moved at a constant speed past the probe. This technique
offers the best coupling conditions provides reproducible results. Compared to
contact transducers where all the parameters are defined "as in steel", immersion
transducer parameters are defined in water. Since the speed of sound in steel
is approximately 5920 m/sec and in water 1480 m/sec. This gives a ratio of 4
to 1, which means it takes the sometime to travel through 10 mm of water as it
does to travel through 40 mm of steel. Immersion transducers are available as

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
 B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

flat faced or focussed. There are two types of focussing spherical and line.
Spherical, spot or point focussing gives a reduced but concentrated beam width,
which provides the best possible flaw detection capability, but takes longer time
to scan because of reduced beam width. Line focussed probes give larger beam
width in one axis with a concentrated reduced beam in the other axis. The
working range of the focussed probes is much less than the flat faced probes
and in fact the focal length occurs within the near field length.

(vi) Wheel transducer: It operates in a similar fashion to delay line models.

They are typically used in applications where a large area must be scanned
and/or where the test piece material is sensitive to conventional ultrasonic
couplants.

(vii) Custom transducers: Custom transducers are often required for

specialist applications. These often contain a number of elements for specific
location and angles. An example of this is the probe usedto test railway tracks
that incorporates both forward and backward facing twin element arrangement
either side of a conventional twin crystal arrangement. Complex transducer such
as this are designed in house for a variety of specific applications.

(viii) Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducer: This transducer doesn't

require any couplant as it generates the sound energy directly within the material
placed in contact with this transducer. When a wire carrying current or an
electromagnet is used, with an ultrasonic frequency wave, an eddy current is
induced in the material kept in proximity to the wire or electromagnet. These
eddy currents will experience Lorentz force. Where Lorentz force as F, eddy
current as J, magnetic force as B, the following formulae is used,
F=J×B

Fig. Working of electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
 B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

By using Lorentz force F, ultrasonic waves are generated in the material and voltage
frequency is swept. EMAT can be used in measurement of thickness of specimen,
property of specimen and detection of flaw. For thickness measurement, when
EMAT is applied to any specimen, at a certain thickness, ultrasonic waves become
resonant and maximum amplitude is received, which is further correlated with
the thickness ofthe specimen. This transducer finds its application in manufacturing
and processing industry, boilers, pressure vessels, aerospace, railroads etc.
Difference between Piezoelectric Transducer and EMAT

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

UNIT-1

LECTURE NO. - 5

ULTRASONIC TESTING AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION

ACOUSTIC EMISSION TESTING
Introduction
Acoustic emission technique (AET) is emerging as a powerful tool for NDE of
plant components such as pressure vessels, pipes, welds etc. Acoustic Emission
(AE) is defined as the class of phenomenon whereby transient elastic waves are
generated by the rapid release of energy from localized sources like places of
transient relaxation of stress and strain fields. Fracture, plastic deformation, crack
initiation and growth are a few examples of the phenomenon resulting in AE. This
dynamic nature of AE makes it a highly potential technique for monitoring the
integrity of critical structures and components in various industries like nuclear and
fossil fuel power plants, aerospace, chemical, petrochemical, transportation,
manufacturing. fabrication etc.
AET, as a technique for monitoring and evaluating structural integrity, is
superior to other techniques because of its capability for:
(i) continuous monitoring,
(ii) inspection of complete volume of the component,
(iii) issue of advance warning and
(iv) detection and location of any crack initiation and propagation and system leaks.
The genesis of today's technology in AE was the work of Josep Kaiser. In
$1950,$ Kaiser published his Thesis, where he reported the first comprehensive
investigation into the phenomenon of AE. Kaiser used tensile tests of convetional
engineering materials to determine
(a) types of noises generated from within the specimen;
(b) the acoustic processes involved:
(c) the frequency ranges and amplitude levels found; and

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

(d) the relation between the stress, strain and the frequencies recorded at
various stress levels to which the specimens were subjected to.

Principle of AET
Acoustic emission inspection detects and analyses minute AE signals generated
by growing discontinuities in material under a stimulus such as stress and
temperature. Proper analysis of these signals can provide information concerning
the detection and location of these discontinuities and the structural integrity.
Another important feature of AE is its irreversibility, If a material is
loaded to a given stress level and then unloaded, usually no emission will be
observed upon immediate reloading until the previous stress has been exceeded.
This is known as Kaiser effect and is due to the fact that AE is closely related to
plastic deformation and fracture. This irreversibility of AE has important,
practical implications because it can be used in the detection of subcritical growth
of flaws, such as fatigue crack growth, stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen
embrittlement
Depending on the nature of energy release, the two types of AE
observed are: (i) continuous and (ii) burst.
Continuous emission is characterised by low amplitude emissions. The
amplitude varies with AE activity. In metals and alloys, this type of emission
occurs during plastic deformation by dislocation movement, diffusion controlled
phase transformations and fluid leakage. Burst emissions are characterized by
short duration (10 μs to a few milliseconds) and high amplitude pulses due to
discrete release of strain energy. This type of emission occurs during diffusionless
phase transformations, crack initiation and propagation, stress corrosion
cracking etc.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

UNIT-1

LECTURE NO. - 6

ULTRASONIC TESTING AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION

Acoustic Emission Technique

It is difficult to use a single all-encompassing parameter to describe an
experimental result uniquely. Hence a number of AE parameters are used for
interpreting the experimental results. Some of the parameters are used to
identify the change in source of AE during the progress of a test, while others are
used to eliminate background noise. Following figure shows a typical AE
signal and the various parameters used for interpretation. Ringdown counts is
the number of times the signal crosses a threshold level set for eliminating
background noise. This could be used independently or as the cumulative counts
with respect to time, load or any other parameter. Count rate is another parameter
commonly used.

Fig. AE Signal Parameters

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

The most common ways in which AE signals can be processed are:

(i) Counting: Ringdown counts, Ringdown count rates, events.
(ii) Energy analysis: used for both continuous and burst type emissions.
(iii) Amplitude analysis: used to characterise emissions from different
processes.
(iv) Frequency analysis: used to identify different types of failures.
(v) Advanced signal analysis concepts such as pattern recognition,
spectral analysis, maximum entropy etc.

In many instances, especially on large pressure vessels, it becomes

necessary not only to detect AE signals but also to locate their sources. This can
be accomplished by suitably spacing several sensors over the surface of a
pressure vessel and monitoring the time of arrival of the signals to various sensor
locations. Because of the high velocity of sound and the relative closeness of
sensors on a steel vessel, time resolutions in microsecond range must be made in
order to locate the source to within less than about 25 mm. The major impetus for
the development of such system was the desire for safe operation of pressure
vessels, particularly in nuclear-power systems.
AET is capable of detecting growing flaws at least an order of magnitude
smaller than those detectable by any other known NDT method. AET is also
capable of locating one or more discontinuities while they are growing. When the
discontinuity approaches critical size, the AE count rate increases markedly, thus
giving a warning for impending instability and failure of the component.
AE evaluation of structures depends on the ability to detect weak signals in noisy electrical and
mechanical environment. Proper instrumentation and effective methods are needed to
discriminate between wanted and

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)
B. Tech. -6th Sem. (MECH. ENGG.) Non Destructive Testing (6ME5-11)

Fig. (a) Transmission of waves through flaw free specimen with high signals.
(b) Transmission of waves through specimen with flaw giving small signal for flaw.

Notes By: - Rajesh Bhargava (Asstt. Prof., Deptt. Of Mech. Engg.,MITRC, Alwar)