In this contribution a 3D ray tracing model for ultrasonic
field evaluation in inhomogeneous anisotropic materials
such as austenitic welds is presented. The inhomogenity of
austenitic weld material is represented as several
homogeneous layers. The general problem of energy
reflection and transmission at the boundaries of the layers
are solved resulting 3D amplitude and energy reflection and
transmission coefficients. The directivity factor for the ray in
general arbitrary oriented austenitic weld material (including
lay back orientation) is determined based on Lambs
reciprocity theorem. The transducer excited ultrasonic fields
are accurately evaluated by employing ray directivity factor,
transmission coefficients, divergence of the ray bundle and
density of rays. Finally, the comparison between theoretical
and experimental results will be described.
Quantitative evaluation of ultrasonic C-scan images in homogeneous and layered anisotropic austenitic materials is of general importance for understanding the influence of anisotropy on wave fields during ultrasonic non-destructive testing and evaluation of these materials. In this contribution, a three dimensional ray tracing method is presented for evaluating ultrasonic C-scan images quantitatively in general homogeneous and layered anisotropic austenitic materials. The directivity of the ultrasonic ray source in general homogeneous columnar grained anisotropic austenitic steel material (including layback orientation) is obtained in three dimensions based on Lamb's reciprocity theorem. As a prerequisite for ray tracing model, the problem of ultrasonic ray energy reflection and transmission coefficients at an interface between (a) isotropic base material and anisotropic austenitic weld material (including layback orientation), (b) two adjacent anisotropic weld metals and (c) anisotropic weld metal and isotropic base material is solved in three dimensions. The influence of columnar grain orientation and layback orientation on ultrasonic C-scan image is quantitatively analyzed in the context of ultrasonic testing of homogeneous and layered austenitic steel materials. The presented quantitative results provide valuable information during ultrasonic characterization of homogeneous and layered anisotropic austenitic steel materials.