• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.115-121
• /
• 2017

The nonlinear ultrasonic technique is a potential nondestructive method to evaluate material degradation, in which the ultrasonic nonlinearity parameter is usually measured. The ultrasonic nonlinearity parameter is defined by the elastic nonlinearity coefficients of the nonlinear Hooke's equation. Therefore, even though the ultrasonic nonlinearity parameter is not equal to the elastic nonlinearity parameter, they have a close relationship. However, there has been no experimental verification of the relationship between the ultrasonic and elastic nonlinearity parameters. In this study, the relationship is experimentally verified for a heat-treated aluminum alloy. Specimens of the aluminum alloy were heat-treated at $300^{\circ}C$ for different periods of time (0, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 h). The relative ultrasonic nonlinearity parameter of each specimen was then measured, and the elastic nonlinearity parameter was determined by fitting the stress-strain curve obtained from a tensile test to the 5th-order-polynomial nonlinear Hooke's equation. The results showed that the variations in these parameters were in good agreement with each other.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.25 no.7
• /
• pp.131-138
• /
• 2008

The microstructural effects on the ultrasonic nonlinearity were investigated in isothermally degraded ferritic 2.25Cr-1Mo steel and low cycle fatigued copper. The variation in ultrasonic nonlinearity (${\beta}/{\beta}_0$) was interpreted as resulting from microstructural changes supported by the electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, in addition to the mechanical test (Victor's hardness and ductile-brittle transition temperature). The ultrasonic nonlinearity of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel increased abruptly in the initial 1,000 h of degradation, and then changed little due to the coarsening of carbide and precipitation of stable $M_6C$ carbide during isothermal degradation. The ultrasonic nonlinearity of copper increased with the fatigue cycles due to the evolution of dislocation cell substructure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.751-756
• /
• 2010

Ultrasonic nonlinearity is very sensitive to changes in material properties. This paper describes the study of the correlation between heat treatment and ultrasonic nonlinearity by taking nonlinear factors into consideration. A modified formula was proposed for ultrasonic velocity. This formula indicated that the changes occurring in nonlinearity during heat treatments cause changes in the ultrasonic velocity. The experimental results show that the relative nonlinearity parameters calculated from the modified ultrasonic velocities and the ratio of amplitudes of the second harmonic and fundamental wave are in good agreement. The experimental results prove that heat treatment can result in changes in material nonlinearity. Moreover, the relative nonlinearity parameter calculated from the modified velocity formula is has a large value. Since this parameter has high sensitivity to changes in nonlinearity, it can be used to represent the relative nonlinearity change calculated in this study by using the modified formula for ultrasonic velocity.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.285-291
• /
• 2008

We have experimentally investigated the cyclic deformation in copper using ultrasonic nonlinearity. The observation and characterization of dislocation substructure have been conducted using transmission electron microscope and electron backscattered diffraction technique. The ultrasonic nonlinearity (${\beta}/{\beta}_0$) was measured by the harmonic generation technique after various fatigue cycles. The microstructural effect on the nonlinearity was discussed regarding the extent of dislocation substructures evolved from low cycle fatigue. The ultrasonic nonlinearity of copper monotonically increased with the fatigue cycles due to the evolution of dislocation cell substructures.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.239-245
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the degree of microstructural change of materials using ultrasonic nonlinear parameters. For microstructure change, isothermal heat-treated ferritic 2.25Cr steel and low-cycle fatigue-damage copper alloy were prepared. The variation in ultrasonic nonlinearity was analyzed and evaluated through changes in hardness, ductile-brittle transition temperature, electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction tests. Ultrasonic nonlinearity of 2.25Cr steel increased rapidly during the first 1,000 hours of deterioration and then gradually increased thereafter. The variation in non-linear parameters was shown to be coarsening of carbides and an increase in the volume fraction of stable M6C carbides during heat treatment. Due to the low-cycle fatigue deformation of oxygen-free copper, the dislocation that causes lattice deformation developed in the material, distorting the propagating ultrasonic waves, and causing an increase in the ultrasonic nonlinear parameters.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.241-247
• /
• 2014

This study presents the ultrasonic nonlinearity of AISI316 austenitic stainless steels subjected to longterm isothermal aging. These steels are attractive materials for use in industrial mechanical structures because of their strength at high-temperatures and their chemical stability. The test materials were subjected to accelerated heat-treatment in an electrical furnace for a predetermined aging duration. The variations in the ultrasonic nonlinearity and microstructural damage were carefully evaluated through observation of the microstructure. The ultrasonic nonlinearity stiffly dropped after aging for up to 1000 h and, then, monotonously decreased. The polygonal shape of the initial grain structures changed to circular, especially as the annealing twins in the grains dissolved and disappeared. The delta ferrite on the grain boundaries could not be observed at 1000 h of aging, and these continuously transformed into their sigma phases. Consequently, in the intial aging period, the rapid decrease in the ultrasonic nonlinearity was caused by voids, dislocations, and twin annihilation. The continuous monotonic decrease in the ultrasonic nonlinearity after the first drop resulted from the generation of $Cr_{23}C_6$ precipitates and ${\sigma}$ phases.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.576-581
• /
• 2007

Ultrasonic nonlinearity has been considered as a promising method to evaluate the micro damage of material; however, its magnitude is so small that its measurement is not easy. Especially, when we use contact PZT transducer, if the contacting pressure is not kept in constant during the measurement then there exists extraneous fluctuation in the measured nonlinearity caused by the unstable contact condition, In this paper, we developed a pneumatic control system to keep the contacting pressure of transducer in constant during the measurement and analyzed the effect of contacting pressure to the ultrasonic nonlinearity measurement As a result, we found that the pressure of transducer in our measurement system should be greater than 170 kPa to measure the ultrasonic nonlinear parameter in stable with no dependency on the contacting pressure.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.121-129
• /
• 2016

As the lifespan of concrete structures increases, their load carrying capacity decreases owing to cyclic loads and long-term effects such as creep and shrinkage. For these reasons, there is a necessity for stress state monitoring of concrete members. Particularly, it is necessary to evaluate the concrete structures for behavioral changes by using a technique that can overcome the measuring limitations of usual ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation methods. This paper proposes the use of a nonlinear ultrasonic method, namely, nonlinear resonant ultrasonic spectroscopy (NRUS) for the measurement of nonlinearity parameters for stress monitoring. An experiment compared the use of NRUS method and a linear ultrasonic method, namely, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) to study the effects of continuously increasing loads and cyclic loads on the nonlinearity parameter. Both NRUS and UPV methods found a similar direct relationship between load level and that parameter. The NRUS method showed a higher sensitivity to micro-structural changes of concrete than UPV method. Thus, the experiment confirms the possibility of using the nonlinear ultrasonic method for stress state monitoring of concrete members.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.451-457
• /
• 2010

In the present study, the influences of grains and precipitates of microstructural evolution on the ultrasonic nonlinearity have been experimentally investigated. The prior-austenite grain and precipitate size are controlled by the variation in austenitizing and tempering conditions in reactor pressure vessel materials of nuclear power plant, SA508 Gr.3 low alloys. The ultrasonic nonlinearity was found to have strong correlations with grains and precipitates since the ultrasonic nonlinear parameter $\beta$ shows decrease trend with coarsening of grains and precipitates. Although the prior-austenite grain size increased, the $\beta$ changed little due to the effects of subgrains, packets and laths. For the preciptate effects, the $\beta$ decreased sharply due to decrease in $Mo_2C$ causing the coherency stain in addition to the precipitate size. The results in this study may provide a potential for characterizing the microstructural evolution, grains and precipitates, by measuring the ultrasonic nonlinearity.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.53-59
• /
• 2016

Ultrasonic nonlinear evaluation is generally utilized for detection of not only defects but also microdamage such as corrosion and plastic deformation. Nonlinearity is determined by the amplitude ratio of primary wave second harmonic wave, and the results of its comparison are used for evaluation. Owing to the experimental features, the experimental nonlinearity result contains system nonlinearity and material nonlinearity. System nonlinearity is that which is unwanted by the user; hence, it acts as an error and interrupts analysis. In this study, a bulk wave mixing technique is implemented in order to minimize the system nonlinearity and obtain the reliable analysis results. The biggest advantage of this technique is that experimental nonlinearity contains less system nonlinearity than that for the conventional nonlinear ultrasonic technique. Theoretical and experimental verifications are performed in this study. By comparing the results of the bulk wave mixing technique with those of the conventional technique, the strengths, weaknesses, and application validity of the bulk wave mixing technique are determined.