Guided Waves for Nondestructive

Testing – Experiment and Analysis

T. Kundu

Abstract Use of ultrasonic waves is continuously increasing for nondestructive

evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) in civil, aerospace, elec-
trical, mechanical and bioengineering applications. Between bulk waves and guided
waves, the latter is becoming more popular for NDE/SHM applications because the
guided waves can propagate long distances and reach difficult to access regions.
Recent advances in the research related to nondestructive testing (NDT) of compos-
ites and metals are discussed in this paper. To analyze the experimental results one
often needs to understand the mechanics of wave propagation in various structures.
Unfortunately, only for simple structures, such as homogeneous and layered half-
spaces, plates, rods and pipes, the analytical solutions are available. Complex struc-
tural geometries with internal defects are difficult to solve analytically or numerically
by the popular finite element method because at high frequencies the size of the
finite elements becomes prohibitively small. An alternative mesh-free technique
called the distributed point source method (DPSM) is being developed for solving
such problems and is discussed here in addition to the experimental results.

Keywords DPSM • Guided waves • NDT • SHM • Ultrasound

Introduction

Guided ultrasonic waves are very useful in Nondestructive Testing (NDT) applications.
Their use for material inspection is increasing continuously. The reasons behind its
increasing popularity are: (1) compared to the bulk waves the guided waves can propagate

T. Kundu (*)
Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
e-mail: [email protected]

O. Büyüköztürk et al. (eds.), Nondestructive Testing of Materials and Structures, 567

RILEM Bookseries 6, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-0723-8_81, © RILEM 2013
568 T. Kundu

longer distances before they are attenuated, (2) both longitudinal and shear stresses are
generated by guided waves and thus various types of defects can be detected using the
combinations of normal and shear stresses, (3) guided waves propagate in different
modes and by tuning the appropriate mode it is possible to image hidden defects.
Ultrasonic waves for NDT applications are often generated by ultrasonic piezoelec-
tric transducers or piezo-ceramic patches mounted on the specimen. Piezoelectric trans-
ducers and patches are used both as transmitters to generate and as receivers to receive
ultrasonic waves. Often the specimen is immersed in a fluid medium for NDT inspection
because the fluid serves as a good coupling medium for ultrasonic waves. When the
specimen is immersed in a fluid, the ultrasonic waves can easily travel from the trans-
ducer to the specimen through the coupling fluid. For better understanding of the experi-
mental results and for correct interpretation of acoustic images a good understanding of
the interaction between ultrasonic waves and materials is needed. For this reason a good
modeling of the wave propagation in specimens of various geometry containing internal
defects is necessary. These problems cannot be solved analytically. Numerical tech-
niques like the finite element method (FEM) and boundary element method (BEM) are
not very efficient for modeling high frequency ultrasonic wave propagation problems in
solid structures because the required element size is too small.
An efficient semi-analytical technique called DPSM (Distributed Point Source
Method) has been recently developed for this purpose and is discussed here. This
technique is useful to model the stress and displacement fields generated by ultrasonic
transducers of finite dimensions in the vicinity of a solid specimen when both the
specimen and the transducer are immersed in a fluid. Thus DPSM numerically simu-
lates the ultrasonic experiments. In this new era of computer technology, engineers
and scientists are implementing different numerical and semi-analytical techniques to
solve almost all engineering and scientific problems using high speed computers to
reduce the cost and time associated with carrying out actual experiments. The FEM
has gained popularity in almost all fields of engineering. However, the success of the
finite element method in high frequency wave propagation problems has been limited
due to the requirement of extremely small size elements. DPSM can avoid this
difficulty and successfully model the ultrasonic fields in fluid and solid structures.
DPSM technique for ultrasonic field modeling was first developed by Placko and
Kundu [1]. They successfully used this technique to model ultrasonic fields in a
homogeneous fluid [2], non-homogeneous fluid with multiple interfaces [3], and
fluid containing a cavity [4,5]. It was extended to model phased array transducers
[6]. DPSM was then generalized to model stress and displacement fields near a
fluid-solid interface [7], in plates with uniform and non-uniform thickness [8–10],
and near cracks [11–14].

Experimental Investigation

Experimental results on a composite plate and composite-concrete interface are pre-

sented in this section to prove the superiority of the guided wave imaging technique
over conventional C-scan technique that uses bulk waves.
Guided Waves for Nondestructive Testing – Experiment and Analysis 569

Fig. 1 Left Image: third layer of the composite plate specimen showing fibers running in the 0˚
direction are broken; right Image: fourth layer of the specimen showing some of the fibers running
in the 90˚ direction are missing [15]

Fig. 2 Left images are generated by bulk P-waves (conventional C-scan technique); right images
are generated by different Lamb wave modes [15]

Composite plate inspection

To compare guided wave and bulk wave generated ultrasonic images, a

five-layered composite plate was fabricated with some internal defects [15].
Fibers in the top, bottom and middle layers run in the 0˚ direction while the
second and fourth layer fibers run in the 90˚ direction. Top and bottom layers
did not have any imperfection but the fibers in the middle layer were broken as
shown in Fig. 1. Some fibers from the fourth layer were missing, see Fig. 1.
There are no broken or missing fibers in the second layer; however during the
fabrication process the left half of the second layer was not properly attached to
its neighboring layer to create a delamination defect. The objective was to detect
these internal defects (broken fibers in the third layer, missing fibers in the
fourth layer, and delamination in the second layer) in otherwise perfect looking
composite plate specimen by scanning it with the bulk P-wave (Conventional
C-scan technique) and by different Lamb wave modes. Generated images are
shown in Fig. 2. From this figure one can see that bulk wave images can only
show the delamination defect while different Lamb mode generated images can
570 T. Kundu

Fig. 3 Schematic of a composite plated concrete specimen with a hidden delamination defect at
the interface [16]

clearly show all three types of defects. Readers are referred to [15] for more
information on this composite plate inspection.

Composite-concrete interface inspection

A popular technique for strengthening old concrete structures is attaching composite

plates on concrete beams and columns. If composite is properly attached then the
strength of the composite wrapped structure is significantly increased. However, if
there is any delamination or lack of attachment between the concrete substrate and
the composite plate then its strength is reduced significantly. To compare the quality
of images generated by bulk waves and guided waves, a specimen was fabricated
with a debond between composite plate and concrete block as shown by the dotted
line in Fig. 3. In conventional C-scan technique the ultrasonic transducer works as
transmitter as well as receiver for the bulk P-wave and scans the specimen by mov-
ing parallel to the specimen, maintaining a fixed distance between the specimen and
the transducer, as shown in Fig. 3 [16].
Time histories recorded over a perfectly bonded region and over the debonded
or delaminated region are shown in Fig. 4. Note that the peak values for both
signals are the same. This is because the signal reflected from the top surface of
the composite plate is not affected by the presence of the debond. Signal arriv-
ing after the main peak is affected by the debond because the energy reflected
from the interface arrives after the main peak. Ideally, the signals reflected from
the top of the composite plate and from the interface should be clearly sepa-
rated. However, since high frequency ultrasonic signals cannot penetrate deep
inside thick composite plates that are used for civil structure rehabilitation,
lower frequency (500 kHz to 1 MHz) signals were used. At this frequency sig-
nals reflected from the top and the bottom of the interface are not clearly sepa-
rated as shown in Fig. 4.
Images are generated by plotting the peak signal value in the time window where
reflected signal from the interface arrives but the signal reflected from the top of the
composite plate does not appear. Plotting this peak value as a function of the trans-
ducer position the C-scan image is obtained. Left two images of Fig. 5 are obtained
Guided Waves for Nondestructive Testing – Experiment and Analysis 571

500 KHz transducer over good range

150
120
90
Voltage (mV)

60
30
0
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150
45 50 55 60 65 70
Time (microsec)

500 KHz transducer over delaminated range

150
120
90
60
Voltage (mV)

30
0
-30
-60
-90
-120
-150
45 50 55 60 65 70
Time (microsec)

Fig. 4 Reflected (A-Scan) signals from the perfect region (top) and debonded region (bottom) of
a composite plated concrete specimen shown in Fig. 3 [16]

Fig. 5 Ultrasonic images of the delamination region between concrete and composite. Left two
images were generated by conventional C-scan technique placing the transducer normal to the spec-
imen as shown in Fig. 3. Top and bottom images on the left were generated by 500 kHz and 1 MHz,
respectively. The right image is produced by scanning the specimen by a Lamb wave mode [16]
572 T. Kundu

in this manner using 500 kHz and 1 MHz ultrasonic signals [16]. In both images the
debonded region can be seen; however, the quality of the ultrasonic image is
significantly improved in the right image of Fig. 5. The right image is obtained by
scanning the specimen by a guided wave mode instead of the bulk P-wave. For
guided wave scanning two transducers are placed in pitch-catch arrangement. The
guided wave mode is generated by inclining the transmitter at a critical angle cor-
responding to a guided wave mode and then fine tuning the frequency to produce a
strong signal at the receiver position. The generated guided wave propagates through
the specimen for a short distance and then is detected by the receiver. The transmit-
ter-receiver pair then scans the surface of the specimen to generate the acoustic
image of the interface [16].
The Lamb wave inspection technique has been also used to inspect large metal
plates [17, 18], metal pipes [19–21], concrete beams [22, 23] and reinforcing bars
in concrete [24, 25].

Modeling

In the preceding section it is shown that guided waves are more effective in
detecting and imaging internal defects. For accurate determination of their location
and size it is necessary to understand the interaction between elastic waves and
internal defects. Unfortunately, only for some simple defect geometries, such as
circular and elliptical cracks in an infinite solid the analytical solution is available.
For any other problem geometry one needs to depend on numerical or semi-analyt-
ical solutions. Finite element method (FEM) is the most popular numerical tech-
nique in engineering and science. However, in ultrasonic applications the
advancement of FEM has been relatively slow for the reasons stated in Introduction.
With the advancement of computation power and development of more sophisti-
cated finite element codes, such as PZFLEX and COMSOL, specialized for han-
dling ultrasonic problems, the FEM is becoming more popular for solving ultrasonic
problems as well. It should be noted here that the FEM based ultrasonic wave
propagation analyses available in the literature today are mostly confined to 2D
problems [26–28]. For plane-stress, plane-strain and axi-symmetric problems FEM
works very well. However, it is difficult to solve a true 3D ultrasonic problem at
high frequencies by FEM even today [5].

Semi-analytical DPSM technique

The semi-analytical technique called Distributed Point Source Method (DPSM) for
solving different ultrasonic problems has been discussed in various publications
[1–14]. In DPSM modeling a number of point sources are placed inside the solid
Guided Waves for Nondestructive Testing – Experiment and Analysis 573

Fig. 6 M point sources, 1

placed at the centers of small
2rs 2
spheres located behind the 1 9 3
transducer face, model the 2 4
transducer. Field values 5 3 x 5
(pressure, velocity etc.) are 4 6
comptued at N target points
rm 7
m
in front of the transducer [5] 8
rnm
n

M
Transducer with
M source points N number of
Target points
N

transducer slightly behind the transducer face as shown in Fig. 6 to generate the
acoustic field in the fluid medium in front of the transducer face. This figure shows
M spheres of radius rs placed behind the transducer face. At the centers of these
spheres M source points are placed. Therefore the point sources are located at a
distance rs behind the transducer face.
The pressure field in the fluid at point x at a distance rm from the m-th point
source of strength Am is given by [5],

exp (ik f rm )
pm (X ) = pm (rm ) = Am (1)
rm

By placing the point sources slightly behind the transducer face the need to com-
pute the pressure at rm = 0 is avoided. If M point sources model the transducer, as
shown in Fig. 6, then the total pressure at point x is obtained from

M M exp (ik f rm )
p (X ) = å pm (rm ) = å Am (2)
m =1 m =1 rm
If there is an interface in front of the transducer then additional point sources
should be placed on two sides of the interface. Point source strengths are
obtained by satisfying the boundary and continuity conditions on the transducer
surface and at the interface. Readers are referred to references [5] and [29] for
detailed DPSM formulation. DPSM solutions for various ultrasonic problems
are given below.
574 T. Kundu

Fluid-solid interface

Fig. 7 An ultrasonic transducer genarating 2.25 MHz beam strikes water-aluminum interface at
15.4˚ (left), 30.4˚ (middle) and 45.4˚ (right). Note leaky Rayleigh wave generation for Rayleigh
critical angle in the middle image [7]

Solid flat plate immersed in fluid

Fig. 8 A solid plate is excited by two identical ultrasonic transducers placed on two sides of the
plate. Signal frequency and inclination angle of the transducers are adjusted to generate sym-
metric (left) and anti-symmetric (right) Lamb modes. Difference between two normal stresses
(s11- s33) is plotted [8]
Guided Waves for Nondestructive Testing – Experiment and Analysis 575

Solid plate containing a crack immersed in fluid

Fig. 9 A solid plate (middle image) containing a crack near the bottom surface is struck by ultra-
sonic beams from two sides (top and bottom) of the plate [11, 12]

Conclusions

In this paper some experimental results and semi-analytical DPSM generated results
are provided. Experimental results show the advantage of using guided waves for
internal defect detection. Different computed results demonstrate the flexibility of
DPSM in modelling wave scattering by solid specimens and internal cracks.
Interested readers are referred to a number of references provided in the text and in
the figure captions for more detailed discussion and analysis.
576 T. Kundu

References

[1] Placko, D. and Kundu, T. (2004), In: Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation: Engineering and
Biological Material Characterization, pp. 124-138, T. Kundu, (Ed.), CRC Press.
[2] Yanagita, T. Kundu, T. and Placko, D. (2009), J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 126, n. 5, p. 2331.
[3] Banerjee, S., Kundu, T. and Placko, D. (2006), ASME J. Appl. Mech., vol. 73, n. 4, p. 598.
[4] Placko, D. Yanagita, T., Kabiri Rahani, E. and Kundu, T. (2010), IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferro.
Freq. Control, vol. 57, n. 6, p. 1396.
[5] Kundu, T., Placko, D., Kabiri Rahani, E., Yanagita, T. and Dao, C. M., (2010), IEEE Trans.
Ultrason. Ferro. Freq. Control, vol. 57, n. 12, p. 2795.
[6] Ahmad, R., Kundu, T. and Placko, D. (2005), J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 117, p. 1762.
[7] Banerjee, S., Kundu, T. and Alnuaimi, N. A. (2007), Ultrasonics., vol. 46, n. 3, p. 235.
[8] Banerjee, S. and Kundu, T. (2007), Int. J. Sol. Struct., vol. 44, p. 6013.
[9] Banerjee, S. and Kundu, T. (2006), J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 119, n. 4, p. 2006.
[10] Das, S., Dao, C. M., Banerjee, S. and Kundu, T. (2007), IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferro. Freq.
Control, vol. 54, n. 9, p. 1860.
[11] Banerjee, S. and Kundu, T. (2007), Optical Eng., vol. 46, n. 5, p. 053601–1.
[12] Banerjee, S. and Kundu, T. (2008), Wave Motion, vol. 45, n. 5, p. 581.
[13] Das, S. and Kundu, T. (2009), Struct. Health Monit.: Int. J., vol. 8, n. 5, p. 369.
[14] Shelke, A., Das, S. and Kundu, T. (2010), Struct. Health Monit: Int. J., vol. 9, n. 6, p. 527.
[15] Kundu, T., Maslov, K. I., Karpur, P., Matikas, T. E. and Nicolaou, P. D. (1996), Ultrasonics,
vol. 34, n. 1, p. 43.
[16] Kundu, T., Ehsani, M., Maslov, K. I. and Guo, D. (1999), NDT&E Int., vol. 32, p. 61.
[17] Ghosh, T. and Kundu, T. (1998), J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 104, n. 3, p. 1498.
[18] Ghosh, T., Kundu, T. and Karpur, P. (1998), Ultrasonics, vol. 36, n. 7, p. 791.
[19] Guo, D. and Kundu, T. (2000), Mat. Eval., vol. 58, n. 8, p. 991.
[20] Guo, D. and Kundu, T. (2001), J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 110, n. 1, p.303.
[21] Na, W.B. and Kundu, T. (2002), J. Press. Vessel Technol., Trans. ASME, vol. 124, n. 2,
p. 196.
[22] Jung, Y. C., Kundu, T. and Ehsani, M. R. (2001), Mat. Eval., vol. 59, n. 3, p. 418.
[23] Jung, Y. C., Kundu, T. and Ehsani, M. R. (2002), ACI Mat. J., vol. 99, n. 3, p. 292–299.
[24] Na, W. B., Kundu, T. and Ehsani, M. (2002), Mat. Eval., vol. 60, n. 3, p. 437.
[25] Na, W. B. and Kundu, T. (2003), J. Exp. Mech., vol. 43, n. 1, p. 24.
[26] Hosten, B. and Blateau, C. (2008), J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 123, n. 4, p. 1963.
[27] Hosten, B. and Castaings, M. (2005), J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 117, n. 3, p. 1108.
[28] Hosten, B. and Castaings, M. (2006), NDT&E Int., vol. 39, n. 3, p. 195.
[29] Banerjee, S. and Kundu, T. (2007), In DPSM for Model. Eng. Probl., pp. 143–229, D. Placko
and T. Kundu (Eds.), John Wiley & Sons.