Application of Ultrasound to NDE of Materials

Abstract

Absrract-A review of state of the art applications of ultrasonics to the nondestructive inspection of materials for defects is given along with some of the limitations associated with the present state of the art. These limitations include 1) the inability to determine defect dimensions quantitatively, 2) the lack of suitable reference standards, 3) the general lack of equipment for the inspection of parts with complex geometries, 4) the nonreproducibility of transducer characteristics, and 5) the lack of a sound theoretical foundation for ultrasounddiscontinuity interaction. Some of the current research and development work in the use of digital computers for scanning parts with complex geometries and in signal processing to increase inspection reliability and defect detection is also described.