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Ray tracing boundary value problems: simulation and SAFT reconstruction for ultrasonic testing
(2016)
The application of advanced imaging techniques for the ultrasonic inspection of inhomogeneous anisotropic materials like austenitic and dissimilar welds requires information about acoustic wave Propagation through the material, in particular travel times between two Points in the material. Forward ray tracing is a popular approach to determine traveling paths and arrival times but is ill suited for inverse problems since a large number of rays have to be computed in order to arrive at prescribed end points.
In this contribution we discuss boundary value problems for acoustic rays, where the ray path between two given points is determined by solving the Eikonal equation. The implementation of such a two Point boundary value ray tracer for sound field simulations through an austenitic weld is described and its efficiency as well as the obtained results are compared to those of a forward ray tracer. The results are validated by comparison with experimental results and commercially available UT simulation tools.
As an application, we discuss an implementation of the method for SAFT (Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique) reconstruction. The ray tracer calculates the required travel time through the anisotropic columnar grain structure of the austenitic weld. There, the formulation of ray tracing as a boundary value Problem allows a straightforward derivation of the ray path from a given transducer Position to any pixel in the reconstruction area and reduces the computational cost considerably.
In the last two decades automated ultrasonic inspection devices took over a lot of applications that prior have been carried out using manual inspection with the evaluation of A-scans only. In parallel phased array systems have been developed and brought to the market which offer detailed and fast control over the sound field. When applying automated inspection phased array systems for UT measurements imaging of the recorded data in combination with the probe positioning data is used for the evaluation of inspections. B-Scan, C-Scan and S-Scan images are typically used with this setup.
For more sophisticated applications with linear arrays echo tomography and syntethic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) are well known methods and often applied for high resolution image reconstruction. Since channel count of phased array systems is constantly rising, matrix arrays with up to 256 elements entered the market. Signal processing in the matrix domain became 3D. Since some years the Total Focusing Method (TFM) is an additional imaging tool for these type of application. It is based on the Full Matrix Capture (FMC) using the elements of phased array probes as separate transmitters and receivers.
In this contribution we discuss the common ground of SAFT and TFM as well as the differences between these imaging tools. The combined use of automated inspection, matrix arrays and signal processing for high resolution measurements is a challenging task where a very long parameter list has to be taken into account. Under which conditions which elements of the full matrix should be taken for the reconstruction for best results?
Based on examples taken from measured and simulated echo signals it will be shown how image resolution can be optimized in dependence of different parameters like the distance between transmitters and receivers and their directivity patterns, the depth of echo source and the specimen geometry.
Ray tracing boudary value problems: simulation and SAFT reconstruction for ultrasonic testing
(2016)
The application of advanced imaging techniques for the ultrasonic inspection of inhomogeneous anisotropic materials like austenitic and dissimilar welds requires information about acoustic wave propagation through the material, in particular travel times between two points in the material. Forward ray tracing is a popular approach to determine traveling paths and arrival times but is ill suited for inverse problems since a large number of rays have to be computed in order to arrive at prescribed end points. In this contribution we discuss boundary value problems for acoustic rays, where the ray path between two given points is determined by solving the eikonal equation. The implementation of such a two point boundary value ray tracer for sound field simulations through an austenitic weld is described and its efficiency as well as the obtained results are compared to those of a forward ray tracer. The results are validated by comparison with experimental results and commercially available UT simulation tools. As an application, we discuss an implementation of the method for SAFT (Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique) reconstruction. The ray tracer calculates the required travel time through the anisotropic columnar grain structure of the austenitic weld. There, the formulation of ray tracing as a boundary value problem allows a straightforward derivation of the ray path from a given transducer position to any pixel in the reconstruction area and reduces the computational cost considerably.
Research and Development in Non-Destructive Testing in Civil Engineering at BAM has de-veloped over more than two decades. Highlights of present research are ultrasound phase array probes, ground penetrating radar applications for the assessment of existing structures and Laser Induced Breakdown Spec-troscopy (LIBS) to determine which chemical elements on the surface of a specimen are. RFID sensor devel-opments for wireless moisture monitoring and data fusion for the combined analysis of sensor data are fast developing areas. In addition, a selection of application cases is briefly described.
Non-destructive testing (NDT) helps to find material defects without having an influence on the material itself. It is applied as a method of quality control, for online structural health monitoring, and for inspection of safety related components. Due to the ability of automation and a simple test setup ultrasonic testing is one major NDT technique next to several existing options. Whereas contact technique allows the use of higher frequencies of some MHz and phased array focusing, air-coupled ultrasonic testing (ACUT) shows different advantages. Most significant for ACUT is the absence of any coupling fluid and an economical test procedure respective time and costs. Both contact technique and ACUT have been improved and enhanced during the past years. One important enhancement is the development of airborne transducers based on ferroelectrets, like charged cellular polypropylene (cpp), which makes the application of any matching layers being mandatory in conventional piezoelectric transducers unnecessary. In this contribution we show ultrasonic inspection results of specimens made of carbon- and glass-fibre-reinforced plastic. These specimens include defects represented by drill holes and artificial delaminations of various size and depth. We compare inspection results achieved by using contact technique to those achieved by ACUT. For ACUT, conventional piezoelectric transducers and transducers based on cpp were used, both focused as well as non-focused types. Contact inspections were performed with a multi-channel matrix array probe. Once the inspection data is recorded it can be analysed in order to detect and evaluate defects in the specimen. We present different analysing strategies and compare these regarding detection rate and sizing of defects.
Since 1999 there has been a continuous development of non-destructive head check inspection. Especially in case of modern rail inspection systems, high demands on a fast, detailed detection and classification of defects called for improved testing methods. Due to the large amount of different rail types and profiles, the adaptation and optimization of algorithms is still in progress. Additional data analysis is under devel-opment for combined eddy current and ultrasonic inspection methods. This presentation gives an over-view of further enhancement and linking of testing systems as well as data processing. Main foci of the development are an improved sensitivity and an increased reliability of the testing results. Also, additional information can be obtained like determination of local hardness and roughness of the rail as well as an enhanced resolution for locating of defects which will be part of the presented work.
Since 1999 there has been a continuous development of non-destructive head check inspection. Especially in case of modern rail inspection systems, high demands on a fast, detailed detection and classification of defects called for improved testing methods. Due to the large amount of different rail types and profiles, the adaptation and optimization of algorithms is still in progress. Additional data analysis is under devel-opment for combined eddy current and ultrasonic inspection methods. This presentation gives an over-view of further enhancement and linking of testing systems as well as data processing. Main foci of the development are an improved sensitivity and an increased reliability of the testing results. Also, addi-tional information can be obtained like determination of local hardness and roughness of the rail as well as an enhanced resolution for locating of defects which will be part of the presented work.
In order to test their suitability different non-destructive methods were performed to inspect a GFRP plate with artificial defects. These defects were manufactured by means of thin PTFE sheets inserted between two plies in three different depth. The inspection methods were microwave reflection, flash thermography and phased array ultrasonics, all applied to the same specimen. Selected results are shown for all methods demonstrating opportunities and limits of the particular inspection methods. The achieved detection limits and further application aspects are compared directly to provide a useful information for the planning of inspection tasks.
Austenitic stainless steel welds as well as dissimilar metal welds with nickel alloy filler material, used in safety relevant parts of nuclear power plants, still challenge the ultrasonic inspection. The weld material forms large oriented grains which lead on the one hand to high sound scattering and on the other hand – to inhomogeneity and to the acoustic anisotropy of the weld structure. The ultrasonic wave fronts propagate not linearly, as in ferritic weld joints, but along the curves, which depend on the specific grain structure of the weld. Due the influence of these phenomena, it is difficult to analyze the inspection results and to classify the ultrasonic indications, which could be both from the weld geometry and from the material defects. A correct flaw sizing is not possible.
In an ongoing research project, different techniques to improve the reliability of ultrasonic testing at these kinds of welds are investigated. In a first step (in the previous research project) two ultrasonic inspection techniques were developed and validated on plane test specimens with artificial and realistic flaws. In the ongoing project, these techniques are applied to circumferential pipe welds with longitudinal and transverse flaws.
The technique developed at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in Germany uses a combination of ray tracing and synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT). To investigate the unknown grain structure, the velocity distribution of weld-transmitting ultrasound waves is measured and used to model the weld by ray tracing.
The second technique, developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP) in Germany, uses Sampling Phased Array (Full Matrix Capture) combined with the reverse phase matching (RPM) and the gradient elastic constant descent algorithm (GECDM). This inspection method is able to estimate the elastic constants of the columnar grains in the weld and offers an improvement of the reliability of ultrasonic testing through the correction of the sound field distortion. The unknown inhomogeneity and anisotropy are investigated using a reference indication and the special optimization algorithm.
Both reconstruction techniques give quantitative inspection results and allow the defect sizing. They have been compared to conventional ultrasonic testing with techniques, which are state of the art for components in nuclear power plants. The improvement will be quantified by the comparison of the probability of detection (POD) of each technique.
A novel approach for rating fatigue-initiating inclusions in highly demanding steel (INCAFAT)
(2018)
INCAFAT project aimed to improve existing fatigue damage models by establishing the most suitable combination of measurement techniques to characterise harmful inclusion populations in highly demanding steels. The different inclusion assessments carried out confirm that, chemical composition, secondary metallurgy and manufacturing route affect content, nature, size and shape of inclusions. According to the FEM model, inclusions produce an alteration of the stress field in their surrounding region, which can promote a fatigue failure. Experimental work on fatigue testing has demonstrated that depending on the stressed direction fatigue failures in highly demanding steels could be produced by different types of inclusions. Fractography analyses confirmed that meso-inclusions harmful in fatigue cannot be rated by standard methods, nor 10 MHz ultrasonic testing (macro) or micro-cleanness assessments. The necessity of rating these meso-inclusions has led to critical evaluation of Extreme Value Analysis according to ASTM E2283-08 and the development of high frequency immersion ultrasonic testing. EVA methodology based on inclusion width can be applied reliably when principal stress is parallel to the rolling direction. On the contrary, if inclusions are testing in the elongated directions its fails. On the other hand, the guidelines and recommendations for high frequency ultrasonic testing have been compiled in a new European standard draft. This method based on focal beam probes and high-resolution devices is able to provide information on meso-inclusion distribution.