Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation

, Volume 33, Issue 4, pp 535–546 | Cite as

Reflection Phase Measurements for Ultrasonic NDE of Titanium Diffusion Bonds

  • Edwill Escobar-Ruiz
  • David C. Wright
  • Ian J. Collison
  • Peter Cawley
  • Peter B. Nagy
Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The adoption of diffusion bonding in fracture critical titanium components has been limited by the complications that macroscopic anisotropy introduces to typical ultrasonic inspections. Previous attempts to overcome these limitations by using signal phase to extract otherwise hidden interface information showed promise but were susceptible to measurement error and proved impractical for typical aerospace component geometries. In the work presented here, significant improvements to the existing phase measurement approach are proposed alongside adaptations that permit its broader practical implementation. The principal parameters that affect the phase analysis of ultrasonic signals were investigated and their optimisation resulted in up to an order of magnitude improvement in phase measurement reliability, even at low signal-to-noise ratios. The application of these optimised parameters without a priori knowledge of the signal arrival time in an otherwise noisy waveform is illustrated, and the sensitivity of the approach to ambient temperature and annealing effects is also explored.

Keywords

Diffusion bond Interfacial stiffness  Single-sided Signal phase True phase Titanium Ultrasound 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This work was jointly funded by Rolls-Royce plc, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the UK Research Centre in NDE. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Phill Doorbar and David Rugg.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Edwill Escobar-Ruiz
    • 1
    • 2
  • David C. Wright
    • 2
  • Ian J. Collison
    • 2
  • Peter Cawley
    • 1
  • Peter B. Nagy
    • 1
    • 3
  1. 1.RCNDEImperial College LondonLondonUK
  2. 2.Rolls-Royce plcDerbyUK
  3. 3.Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering MechanicsUniversity of CincinnatiCincinnatiUSA

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