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Guided Ultrasound Inspection of Small Features Using a Horn-Type Transducer Design

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Abstract

Background

Common piezoelectric transducers have large contact areas to maximize sensitivity but are hard to position on small features. Yet, with the advance of additive manufacturing, such small features are becoming increasingly relevant to inspect, even in hard-to-reach areas within larger structures.

Objective

Design and test an ultrasound transducer for nondestructive inspection of small, hard-to-reach features.

Methods

Transducer design is supported by stiffness-matching methods, numerical simulations for studying the internal wave scattering as well as system identification experiments for a prototype transducer. Damage detection is demonstrated and compared to a pair of commercial transducers through laboratory experiments on thin rods.

Results

Frequency response data extracted from numerical simulation are in general agreement with data from laboratory experiments. The application of damage indices to the recorded data for nondestructive inspection demonstrates the performance of the prototype transducer, identifying a small crack in a thin rod.

Conclusions

The proposed transducer design paves the way for future investigations to provide damage detection capabilities for small features.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, California State University, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, 91330, CA, USA

    M. Costa & C. Schaal

  2. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University of California, BOX 951597, 48-121 E4, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, USA

    C. Schaal

Authors
  1. M. Costa
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Correspondence to C. Schaal.

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Costa, M., Schaal, C. Guided Ultrasound Inspection of Small Features Using a Horn-Type Transducer Design. Exp Mech 63, 251–262 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11340-022-00915-w

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