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Airborne ultrasonic inspection is performed in through transmission, where the test piece (e.g. adhesive joint or polymer-based composite plate) is placed between the transmitter and the receiver. However, many structures with difficult shapes allow only one-sided inspection. The strong reflection of the signal from the surface overshadows the signals from the inside, so that broadband pulses are required. Thermoacoustic transmission, where the thermal energy of an electrically heated electrode is transformed into the acoustic energy of an ultrasonic wave, opens the possibility to excite broadband pulses and thus to inspect objects with one-sided access.
We present various thermoacoustic transducers consisting of an electrically conductive film on a solid substrate. The first type of transducer is a transmitter with an indium-tin-oxide electrode on a glass substrate combined with a laser Doppler vibrometer as a receiver. The second type of transducer combines thermoacoustic transmission and piezoelectric reception, having a titanium electrode as a transmitter deposited onto charged cellular polypropylene serving as a piezoelectric receiver.
Using a focusing thermoacoustic transmitter and a separate cellular polypropylene receiver, a through-transmission inspection of a 4 mm thick CFRP test piece with inserts as small as 1 mm was performed. The same emitter and a laser vibrometer as a receiver were used for a one-sided inspection of a Plexiglas block with a cross hole at 15 mm depth. A twin probe consisting of a thermoacoustic transmitter on a cellular polypropylene receiver was applied to a profile measurement on a step wedge with flat bottom holes. The smallest detected diameter of a flat bottom hole was 1 mm. Sound pressure level above 140dB was achieved with each of these transmitters. Thermoacoustic transmitters enable a step towards one-sided air-coupled ultrasonic inspection.
Air-coupled ultrasound has been applied increasingly as a non-destructive testing method for lightweight construction in recent years. It is particularly appropriate for composite materials being used in automotive and aviation industry. Air-coupled ultrasound transducers mostly consist of piezoelectric materials and matching layers. However, their fabrication is challenging and their signal-to-noise ratio often not sufficient for many testing requirements. To enhance the efficiency, air-coupled ultrasound transducers made of cellular polypropylene have been developed. Because of its small density and sound velocity, this piezoelectric ferroelectret matches the small acoustic impedance of air much better than matching layers applied in conventional transducers. In our contribution, we present two different methods of spherical focusing of ferroelectret transducers for the further enhancement of their performance in NDT applications. Measurements on carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) samples and on metal adhesive joints performed with commercially available focused air-coupled ultrasound transducers are compared to measurements executed with self-developed focused ferroelectret transducers.
High sensitivity is an important requirement for air-coupled ultrasonic sensors applied to materials testing. With a lower acoustic impedance than any piezoelectric material, charged cellular polypropylene (PP) offers better matching to air with a similar piezoelectric coefficient. The piezoelectric properties of charged cellular PP originate from their polarization, creating permanent internal voltage. The sensitivity of the sensor can be increased by applying additional dc bias voltage, as it has been done already for transmitters. This work presents the first ultrasonic sensor based on charged cellular PP including a high-voltage module providing dc bias voltage up to 2 kV. This bias voltage led to an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio of up to 15 ± 1 dB. The measurement of the received signal depending on the applied bias voltage is proposed as a new method of determining the internal voltage of ferroelectrets. The sensor combined with a cellular PP transmitter was applied to nondestructive testing of a rotor blade segment and glued-laminated timber, enabling imaging of the internal structure of these specimens with a thickness around 4 cm.