Modeling and Experimental Analysis of Roughness Effect on Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation of Micro-crack

A high-precision evaluation of ultrasonic detection sensitivity for a micro-crack can be restricted by a corroded rough surface when the surface microtopography is of the same order of magnitude as the crack depth.In this study,a back-surface micro-crack is considered as a research target.A roughness-modified ultrasonic testing model for micro-cracks is established based on a multi-Gaussian beam model and the principle of phase-screen approximation.The echo signals of micro-cracks and noises corresponding to different rough front surfaces and rough back surfaces are obtained based on a reference reflector signal acquired from a two-dimensional simulation model.Further compari-son between the analytical and numerical models shows that the responses of micro-cracks under the effects of dif-ferent corroded rough surfaces can be accurately predicted.The numerical and analytical results show that the echo signal amplitude of the micro-crack decreases significantly with an increase in roughness,whereas the noise ampli-tude slightly increases.Moreover,the effect of the rough front surface on the echo signal of the micro-crack is greater than that of the rough back surface.When the root-mean-square(RMS)height of the surface microtopography is less than 15μm,the two rough surfaces have less influence on the echo signals detected by a focused transducer with a frequency of 5 MHz and diameter of 6 mm.A method for predicting and evaluating the detection accuracy of micro-cracks under different rough surfaces is proposed by combining the theoretical model and a finite element simulation.Then,a series of rough surface samples containing different micro-cracks are fabricated to experimentally validate the evaluation method.

A novel two-degree-of-freedom spherical ultrasonic motor using three travelling-wave type annular stators

In order to promote the tolerance and controllability of the multi-degree-of-freedom(M-DOF) ultrasonic motor, a novel two-degree-of-freedom(2-DOF) spherical ultrasonic motor using three traveling-wave type annular stators was put forward. Firstly,the structure and working principle of this motor were introduced, especially a spiral spring as the preload applied component was designed for adaptive adjustment. Then, the friction drive model of 2-DOF spherical motor was built up from spatial geometric relation between three annular stators and the spherical rotor which was used to analyze the mechanical characteristics of the motor.The optimal control strategy for minimum norm solution of three stators' angular velocity was proposed, using Moore-Penrose generalized inverse matrix. Finally, a 2-DOF prototype was fabricated and tested, which ran stably and controllably. The maximum no-load velocity and stall torque are 92 r/min and 90 m N·m, respectively. The 2-DOF spherical ultrasonic motor has compact structure, easy assembly, good performance and stable operation.

A Receiver Model for Ultrasonic Ray Tracing in an Inhomogeneous Anisotropic Weld

In this paper, a receiver model for ultrasonic ray tracing simulation is described. This is a complementary part of an existing simulation model and is the next step towards a numerical solution to the inverse problem and thus a NDT methodology for characterization of the dendrite orientation in a weld. The establishment of the receiver model is based on the electromechanical reciprocity principle. A concise retrospect of the weld model and the 2D model is made. The reciprocity principle is applied in an original way to handle the model problem including the back wall. Experimental qualitative validations for both P and SV waves on a specific weld are also made for C-scans included in this paper. Two different cases are studied. The first is a direct incidence of an ultrasonic ray towards the weld, and the second is a reflection from the back surface in the base material followed by an incidence to the weld. Even though mode-converted rays are excluded in the simulations, both the P and SV probe-models show the same behavior as the experimental results. The qualitative validation though reveals that it even if a thorough time-gating of received information would enable exclusion of mode-conversion in the model, inaccuracy of experimental results is affecting the evaluation of the weld model.

The simulation of ultrasonic beams with a Gaussian beam equivalent point source model

Point Sources and Gaussian beams are used frequently as fundamental building blocks for developing ultrasonic beam models. Both these models have different weaknesses that limit their effectiveness. Here, we will show that one can develop a Gaussian Beam Equivalent Point Source （GBEPS） model that removes those weaknesses and combines the accuracy and versatility of the point source models with much of the speed and well-behaved nature of Gaussian beam models. We will demonstrate the efficiency and versatility of this new GBEPS model in simulating the beams generated from ultrasonic phased arrays, using as few as one Gaussian beam per element of the array. A single element GBEPS model will be shown to be as accurate as a point source model even when substantial beam focusing or steering is present in the array or where the array beam is transmitted through an interface. At the same time the GBEPS model will be shown to be several orders of magnitude faster than the point source model.

Simplified circuit model of disk-shaped traveling wave ultrasonic motor

This paper presents a method of establishing simplified equivalent circuit model of traveling wave ultrasonic motor by using 1/2 wavelength stator with the similar vibration characteristics. Combined with the vibration mode characteristics of the composite stator, the method utilizes Hamilton principle to obtain precise solution of the simplified equivalent circuit. The model shows the mechanism of ultrasonic motor, considering the influence of non-axisymmetric vibration mode, tooth outline, anisotropy of PZT (Piezoelectric ceramic), etc. With this method, various electric parameters corresponding to different vibration modes, such as static capacitance, dynamic capacitance, dynamic inductance, dynamic resistance, equivalent input impedance, etc., can be solved. Experiments show good agreement with theoretical results.