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This paper is concerned with the design of magnetostrictive transducers for the excitation and detection of guided waves in metal pipes of small diameter (mm) and their application to the study of wave propagation in pipes filled with water or supercritical CO2. Optimized system design is based on a simulation of the overall signal pathway which includes the electric circuit conditions at the transducers, mode excitability, and the wavenumber filtering effect of the spatial distribution of the exciting alternating magnetic field. A prototype system was built, and experimental observations on small diameter pipes indicated good agreement with expected results from simulations. The reassigned spectrogram has been used to compare expectation on the basis of guided wave dispersion curves for fluid-filled pipes with experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new technique for measuring the longitudinal bulk velocity and shear viscosity of a fluid contained inside a pipe without a need for extracting a sample from inside of the pipe is presented. It is based on the measurement of the change of the dispersion properties and attenuation of longitudinal guided modes propagating in the pipe due to the presence of the fluid. The technique to extract longitudinal bulk velocity and shear viscosity is discussed and experimentally demonstrated by measuring both low-viscosity (distilled water and glycerol) and highly viscous fluids. The measured properties of glycerol agreed well with conventional methods and literature data for both the longitudinal bulk velocity (within 0.8%) and the viscosity (within 4%). For highly viscous fluid, the accuracy of the velocity measurement was found to be reduced slightly (within 1%), and the viscosity measurement became more accurate (within 1%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planar coil electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) are investigated for the excitation and detection of Lamb waves in nonferromagnetic metallic waveguides. Such EMATs are attractive for certain applications due to their omni-directional sensitivity to wave modes with predominantly in-plane surface displacement, such as the So Lamb wave mode. A model is developed that enables the modal content of the radiated Lamb wave field from a transmitting EMAT to be calculated, and the output voltage from a receiving EMAT to be predicted when a Lamb wave mode is incident on it. The predictions from this model are compared with experimental data obtained from 12 different EMATs tested on a 5-mm thick aluminum plate, and good agreement is obtained. The model then is used to analyze the different effects that contribute to the overall Lamb wave modal sensitivity of an EMAT. The relationship between coil geometry and wavelength is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theoretical basis for a testing tool in the form of a circular waveguide for measuring both the dynamic viscosity and the longitudinal bulk velocity of viscous liquids is presented. It is based on the measurements of the attenuation of the fundamental torsional mode, T(0,1), and the fundamental longitudinal mode, L(0,1), of the waveguide when immersed in the liquid. The modeling techniques to extract the shear viscosity and the longitudinal bulk velocity are explained and experimentally verified. Results for two viscous liquids are presented: good agreement between theory and experiment was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of the reduction in the propagation speed of an ultrasonic wave when it travels through a fatigue zone has been well studied in the literature. Additionally, it has been established that shear waves are more severely affected by the presence of such a zone, compared with longitudinal waves. Our study utilises these phenomena to develop a method able to characterise the fatigue state of steel pipes. Initially, the existing theory regarding the increased sensitivity of shear waves to the presence of fatigue is validated through measuring and comparing the change in propagation speed of both longitudinal and bulk shear waves on flat geometries, at different fatigue states. The comparison is achieved with the aid of ultrasonic speed C-scans of both longitudinal and shear waves, with the latter now being obtainable through our implementation of advances in Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMAT) technology. EMATs have not been traditionally used for producing C-scans, and their ability do to so with adequate repeatability is demonstrated here; we show that shear wave scanning with EMATs now provides a possibility for inspection of fatigue damage on the inner surface of pressure-containing components in the nuclear power industry. We find that the change in ultrasonic wave speed is amplified when shear waves are used, with the magnitude of this amplification agreeing well with the theory. Following the verification of the theory, the use of EMATs allowed us to tailor the shear wave scanning method to pipe geometries, where C-scans with conventional piezoelectric transducers would not have been possible, with the results successfully revealing the presence of fatigue zones.

Defects which possess rough surfaces greatly affect ultrasonic wave scattering behavior, usually reducing the magnitude of reflected signals. Understanding and accurately predicting the influence of roughness on signal amplitudes is crucial, especially in nondestructive evaluation (NDE) for the inspection of safety-critical components. An extension of Kirchhoff theory has formed the basis for many practical applications; however, it is widely recognized that these predictions are pessimistic because of analytical approximations. A numerical full-field modeling approach does not fall victim to such limitations. Here, a finite element (FE) modeling approach is used to develop a realistic methodology for the prediction of expected backscattering from rough defects. The ultrasonic backscatter from multiple rough surfaces defined by the same statistical class is calculated for normal and oblique incidence. Results from FE models are compared with Kirchhoff theory predictions and experimental measurements to establish confidence in the new approach. At lower levels of roughness, excellent agreement is observed between Kirchhoff theory, FE, and experimental data, whereas at higher values, the pessimism of Kirchhoff theory is confirmed. An important distinction is made between the total, coherent, and diffuse signals and it is observed, significantly, that the total signal amplitude is representative of the information obtained during an inspection. This analysis provides a robust basis for a less sensitive, yet safe, threshold for inspection of rough defects.

A 2-D and 3-D numerical modeling approach for calculating the elastic wave scattering signals from complex stress-free defects is evaluated. In this method, efficient boundary integration across the complex boundary of the defect is coupled with a time-domain finite element (FE) solver. The model is designed to simulate time-domain ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation in bulk media. This approach makes use of the hybrid concept of linking a local numerical model to compute the near-field scattering behavior and theoretical mathematical formulas for postprocessing to calculate the received signals. It minimizes the number of monitoring signals from the FE calculation so that the computation effort in postprocessing decreases significantly. In addition, by neglecting the conventional regular monitoring box, the region for FE calculation can be made smaller. In this paper, the boundary integral method is implemented in a commercial FE code, and it is validated by comparing the scattering signals with results from corresponding full FE models. The coupled method is then implemented in real inspection scenarios in both 2-D and 3-D, and the accuracy and the efficiency are demonstrated. The limitations of the proposed model and future works are also discussed.

Improving the ultrasound inspection capability for coarse-grained metals remains of longstanding interest and is expected to become increasingly important for next-generation electricity power plants. Conventional ultrasonic A-, B-, and C-scans have been found to suffer from strong background noise caused by grain scattering, which can severely limit the detection of defects. However, in recent years, array probes and full matrix capture (FMC) imaging algorithms have unlocked exciting possibilities for improvements. To improve and compare these algorithms, we must rely on robust methodologies to quantify their performance. This article proposes such a methodology to evaluate the detection performance of imaging algorithms. For illustration, the methodology is applied to some example data using three FMC imaging algorithms; total focusing method (TFM), phase-coherent imaging (PCI), and decomposition of the time-reversal operator with multiple scattering filter (DORT MSF). However, it is important to note that this is solely to illustrate the methodology; this article does not attempt the broader investigation of different cases that would be needed to compare the performance of these algorithms in general. The methodology considers the statistics of detection, presenting the detection performance as probability of detection (POD) and probability of false alarm (PFA). A test sample of coarse-grained nickel super alloy, manufactured to represent materials used for future power plant components and containing some simple artificial defects, is used to illustrate the method on the candidate algorithms. The data are captured in pulse-echo mode using 64-element array probes at center frequencies of 1 and 5 MHz. In this particular case, it turns out that all three algorithms are shown to perform very similarly when comparing their flaw detection capabilities.

Guided wave tomography offers a method to accurately quantify wall thickness losses in pipes and vessels caused by corrosion, using ultrasonic waves transmitted over distances of approximately 1 to 2 m, and measured by an array of transducers. These measurements are then used to reconstruct a map of wall thickness throughout the inspected region. To achieve accurate estimations of remnant wall thickness, it is vital that a suitable Lamb mode is chosen. This paper presents a detailed evaluation of the two most suitable modes, S0 and A0, to compare their performance using both numerical and experimental data. The sensitivity of A0 to thickness variations was shown to be superior to S0; however, the attenuation from A0 when a liquid loading was present was much higher than S0. A0 was less sensitive to the presence of coatings on the surface than was S0. Finally, it was shown that both modes could achieve a similar level of resolution in the plane of the plate surface.

Practical ultrasonic inspection requires modeling tools that enable rapid and accurate visualization; because of the increasing sophistication of practical inspection, it is becoming increasingly difficult to use a single modeling method to represent an entire inspection process. Hybrid models that utilize different or interacting numerical schemes in different regions, to use their relative advantages to maximal effect, are attractive in this context, but are usually custom-made for specific applications or sets of modeling methods. The limitation of hybrid schemes to particular modeling techniques is shown here to be related to their fundamental formulation. As a result, it becomes clear that a formalism to generalize hybrid schemes can be developed: an example of the construction of a generic hybrid modeling interface is given for the abstraction of bulk ultrasonic wave phenomena, common in practical inspection problems. This interface is then adapted to work within a prototype hybrid model consisting of two smaller finite element model-domains, and explicitly demonstrated for bulk ultrasonic wave propagation and scattering examples. Sources of error and ways to improve the accuracy of the interface are also discussed.

A new technique for measuring the longitudinal bulk velocity and shear viscosity of a fluid contained inside a pipe without a need for extracting a sample from inside of the pipe is presented. It is based on the measurement of the change of the dispersion properties and attenuation of longitudinal guided modes propagating in the pipe due to the presence of the fluid. The technique to extract longitudinal bulk velocity and shear viscosity is discussed and experimentally demonstrated by measuring both low-viscosity (distilled water and glycerol) and highly viscous fluids. The measured properties of glycerol agreed well with conventional methods and literature data for both the longitudinal bulk velocity (within 0.8%) and the viscosity (within 4%). For highly viscous fluid, the accuracy of the velocity measurement was found to be reduced slightly (within 1%), and the viscosity measurement became more accurate (within 1%).

The prototype of a guided ultrasonic wave array for the structural integrity monitoring of large, plate-like structures has been designed, built, and tested. The development of suitably small transducers for the excitation and measurement of the first antisymmetric Lamb wave mode Ao is described. The array design consists of a ring of 32 transducers, permanently bonded to the structure with a protective membrane, in a compact housing with the necessary multiplexing electronics. Using a phased addition algorithm with dispersion compensation and deconvolution in the wavenumber domain, a good dynamic range can be achieved with a limited number of transducers. Limitations in the transducer design and manufacture restricted the overall dynamic range achieved to 27 dB. Laboratory measurements for a steel plate containing various defects have been performed. The results for standard defects are compared to theoretical predictions and the sensitivity of the array device for defect detection has been established. Simulated corrosion pitting and a defect cut with an angle grinder simulating general corrosion were detected.