FYI

Practical Contact Ultrasonics - Angle

Beam Inspection

by Jim Houf*
Figures 1-4
Figures 5-8

Angle beam inspection uses shear (transverse) waves to interrogate a part as

opposed to the longitudinal waves used in straight beam testing. Properly used,
highly effective and accurate angle beam evaluations can determine the
soundness of the part being inspected.
In the simplest terms, angle beam inspection combines the basic operating
principle of a fish finder with a bank shot in a game of pool or billiards. The sound
beam is sent through the part at a known angle that is created by attaching a
piezoelectric transducer to an acoustically transparent wedge at a predetermined
angle. The sound beam reflects from the back surface of the part and returns to
the inspection surface some distance away from the transducer. The direction the
sound takes is called the sound path (Fig. 1). For purposes of illustration, only
the centerline of the sound beam is shown. The sound beam between the
transducer and the back surface of the material is called the first leg or node.
Sound that reflects back up from the back surface is called the second leg. The
total distance down the sound path from the entry point to the point where the
beam again hits the top surface, the sum of the legs, is called the skip distance.
As the transducer is moved back and forth over the surface of the part, the sound
beam travels through the part ahead of the transducer. If the sound beam does
not hit a reflector (discontinuity) while traveling through the part, it will simply
reflect back down into the part, traveling outward until the sound attenuates or
dissipates.
This is typical behavior of the angle beam sound path in a piece of flat material.
The next step is to determine precisely where the sound is going. To do this, it is
necessary to know the angle of the sound beam in the part in relation to a line
drawn vertically through the material thickness. This is called the refracted angle
and is determined by the angle at which the transducer is mounted on the wedge
in the transducer assembly or probe. The most commonly used search angles in
contact UT work are 45, 60 and 70 degrees as referenced to steel. The refracted

angle in other materials will not be the angle marked on the probe. Figure 2
illustrates a 45 degree probe.
On the side of most commercial wedges is a mark called the exit point that
denotes the point at which the center of the sound beam leaves the base of the
transducer. When using a 45 degree probe, the distance from the exit point to the
point directly above an internal reflector is the same as the depth to that reflector.
Another use of the exit point is to determine the location of the probe with respect
to a fixed point on the part such as a weld centerline. This distance should be
recorded on the inspection report form as the surface distance and as long as the
reference point is also recorded, the inspection can be accurately repeated
should the need arise.

Probe Selection
In many cases, the governing code or specification will specify the angle to be
used for a given inspection. However, operators may find that for some
inspections no wedge angle, probe size or frequency is specified and the
operator will be required to determine what combination of equipment will be
needed to perform a valid inspection. In this situation, the factors to be
considered are material thickness, length of the transducer's near field, type and
possible orientation of discontinuities and geometry of the part.
Material thickness will define the inspection angle required to adequately cover
the full volume of the area to be inspected. For example, on thinner materials, if a
wedge with a steep angle such as 45 degrees is used, the second leg of the
sound beam may come back up under the front edge of the wedge, making it
impossible to measure the surface distance. If a shallower angle is used such as
70 degrees, the distance the probe must be backed away from the area of
interest may be excessive and can exceed the part size or geometry. Generally,
to ensure a complete inspection, the operator must be able to back the
transducer away from the nearest edge of the area of interest by at least the full
skip distance for the angle being used plus the length of the transducer. This will
permit the sound beam to interrogate the part using both legs of the sound beam
(Fig. 3). The scanning surface must be free of weld spatter, dirt, loose scale and
other foreign matter to allow proper coupling of probe and base metal. Part size
may limit choice of search angle if there is limited scanning space next to the
area of interest.
The near field length of a transducer varies depending on the diameter and
frequency of the crystal. As discussed in the first article of this series, inspections
performed using the near field are not reliable. If uncertain of the length of the
near field for a given transducer, the operator should either calculate it or have
the Level III do so to confirm the proper frequency/diameter combination. Some

near field will always exist, but if made short enough to be kept within the wedge
material, an accurate inspection can be performed.
Probe size is often dictated by the near field effect, but geometry of the part
should also be considered when selecting a probe. In some conditions, the
physical size of the probe can affect the inspection. For example, when
inspecting a girth weld on small diameter pipe, a large transducer may not sit flat
on the scanning surface. It may have a tendency to rock from side-to-side while
scanning the part. When this occurs, the probe is not coupled properly to the part
and some of the sound can be lost. The amount of sound entering the part is less
than the amount of sound used to calibrate the system. This results in less sound
striking the potential discontinuity and negates the value of the inspection.
Changing to a smaller width probe reduces lateral rocking and more nearly
matches the calibration conditions thereby providing better inspection results. In
some situations, it may even be necessary to use a wedge contoured to fit the
inspection surface.
The distance from the probe exit point to the front end or nose of the wedge is
another consideration. If too small a search angle is used, the nose may hit the
toe or edge of a weld crown before the sound beam reaches the root or bottom of
the weld. In this instance, the root will not be interrogated in the first leg and the
probability of missing a root indication is greatly increased. If too steep an angle
is used on thinner materials, the sound path may remain totally under the wedge
and no sound will enter the area of interest.
Orientation of discontinuities should also be considered when selecting a wedge
angle. The greatest amount of sound will be reflected back from a discontinuity if
the sound beam strikes it perpendicularly to the major surface of the
discontinuity. As an illustration, visualize a blade held in a stream of water. If
parallel to the flow, no water bounces off the blade but just flows past it. However,
if held perpendicular to the flow, water hits the flat side of the blade and bounces
back. The same effect occurs with sound and a discontinuity. The best results are
obtained when the sound beam is perpendicular to the largest surface of the
discontinuity.
It should be noted that if the backwall of the material being inspected is not
parallel to the scanning surface, the angle of the second leg will change, and
reflectors will display a screen signal at an improper location. This can occur at
pipe-to-fitting welds where the fitting may have an internal bevel.

Equipment Setup
Once material thickness is determined and the correct probe combination is
selected, the next step is to set up the equipment. Selection of screen width

greatly affects the ability of the operator to discriminate between vertical screen
traces or signals that appear when sound is reflected back to the transducer. The
term screen width refers to the distance that the baseline of the screen
represents. Operators must inspect parts requiring sound paths of various
lengths. It is necessary to adjust the screen face to represent the distance that
best displays the image of the sound reflecting back from the part.
To select optimum screen width, the length of the sound path for a full skip
distance in the thickness of material to be tested must be determined. As
thickness increases, the length of a full skip also increases, and at some point
can require that a wider screen width be used. The screen width must be able to
display the full skip. If not, indications generated at the far end of the second leg
may not appear on the screen.
Commonly used screen widths for general weld inspections are 5 and 10 in. (13
and 25 cm). This means that the width of the screen is set to represent either a 5
or 10 in. sound path. If the screen is set at 5 in., each major graticule (numbered
left to right) represents 0.5 in. (1.3 cm) of sound path with minor graticules equal
to 0.1 in. (0.25 cm). For a 10.0 in. screen, major graticules represent 1 in. and
minor graticules equal 0.2 in. (0.5 cm). Figure 4 shows the sound path and
screen presentation for a sound beam striking a reflector at 1 in. and a back-wall
at 5 in. Each major vertical graticule is shown, with each representing 0.5 in. of
sound path. In an angle beam inspection, different reference blocks would be
used. However, for demonstration purposes, Fig. 4 shows the relationship
between the transducer, sound beam and screen presentation.
When using a 70 degree probe on 1.5 in. (3.8 cm) thick material, the sound beam
reaches the back surface at a distance (sound path) of approximately 4.25 in. (11
cm) with a full skip distance of approximately 8.5 in. (22 cm). Therefore, if a 5 in.
screen is used, 3.5 in. of the sound path is not shown on the screen and any
discontinuities covered by that segment of the beam will be missed. For this
example then, it would be necessary to use a 10.0 in. screen (Fig. 5). As can be
seen, the point where the sound enters the part under the probe exit point, shows
a strong signal at the extreme left of the screen, and the sound reflecting from
the hole shows a screen signal at an 8 in. (20 cm) sound path. No signal is seen
where sound reflects from the back wall at 4.25 in. because all sound is reflected
away from the transducer.
The sound beam is not a single solid line like a laser beam as shown in most
illustrations but is cone shaped and more like the beam of a flashlight that
spreads as it travels farther from the source. This is called beam spread. As the
transducer moves forward toward a reflector, the leading edge of the sound cone
strikes the reflector first. The sound beam is less intense at this location and as a
result, less sound is reflected back. This gives a low amplitude signal at a longer
screen distance or sound path (Fig. 6a).

As the transducer continues to move toward the reflector, the centerline of the
sound beam strikes the base of the notch where maximum reflection will occur
(Fig. 6b), resulting in a higher signal amplitude at a shorter sound path than was
seen in Fig. 6a. As the back portion of the sound beam travels over the notch
(Fig. 6c), the majority of the sound beam has already passed over the notch.
Thus a low amplitude screen signal is seen at an even shorter sound path. The
amplitude of this signal may be higher than that of Fig. 6a because the shorter
sound path results in more sound being reflected back to the transducer.

Scanning Patterns
In order to ensure that the full volume of the area of interest is inspected, several
standard scanning patterns are often required by the governing code or
specification. The more common patterns are described here and shown in Fig.
7. Proper transducer manipulation is required to ensure full coverage, and with
practice and some dexterity the motions will become second nature to the
operator.
The primary scan pattern requires that the operator move the transducer toward
and away from the area of interest for at least a full skip distance back from that
area (Fig. 7a). On each successive scan, the transducer is moved slightly to the
right, so that the path the transducer follows overlaps the previous scan. The
percentage of overlap is usually spelled out in the governing documents. At the
same time as the transducer is being moved forward and back, it also needs to
be oscillated sideways over a range of approximately 15 degrees as in Fig. 7c.
Again, the actual range of oscillation should be set by the code or specification.
The weld (in this example) should be inspected from both sides to ensure no
possible indications are missed.
The scan pattern shown in Fig. 7b is used to detect transverse discontinuities.
The transducer is again oscillated as before but is guided along the side of the
weld with the transducer point slightly in toward the weld centerline so that the
full width of the weld is interrogated. As shown, the weld should be scanned from
both ends and from both sides of the weld.
The need for scanning from both sides of the weld is demonstrated in the
following example. Figure 8 shows a welded plate with a planar discontinuity
oriented parallel to the original weld groove, which is typical of sidewall lack of
fusion.
When scanning from the left side of the weld, as the transducer is moved toward
the weld the nose of the transducer bumps into the weld crown at position A1. At
that point the sound beam has not yet moved forward far enough to reflect off of
the discontinuity. As the transducer is moved back away from the weld, the sound

will reflect from the root reinforcement, and when it does start reflecting from the
base metal back-wall, the second leg is above the discontinuity and it is missed
again. Therefore, if the weld is only scanned from the left side, this discontinuity
would not be found. Because of beam spread, it is likely that some signal would
be seen on the screen caused by the sound at the edges of the sound beam
hitting the discontinuity, but it is entirely possible that the reflected sound would
not cause a signal amplitude high enough to be rejectable.
If the weld is scanned from the right side also, the operator must make sure that
the transducer is moved back far enough to ensure full coverage of the weld
volume. At position B1, the orientation of the discontinuity is such that the
reflected sound would most likely reflect back and down to the back-wall,
reflecting from there back up to a point behind the transducer, so the
discontinuity would again be missed. Only when the transducer is moved back to
position B2 would the main portion of the sound beam hit the discontinuity at a
near-perpendicular angle, giving a solid signal.
This is not an unusual example, for this condition occurs much more frequently
than expected. The condition can be further aggravated if the weld joint has poor
initial fit up. Then, the weld crown can be excessively wide, making the odds of
seeing a far-side planar discontinuity even more difficult. However, experienced
UT operators should realize that if fit-up is poor, greater diligence is required
when they see a weld crown that is too wide for the material thickness. TNT

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Figures 1-4
Practical Contact Ultrasonic Angle Beam Inspection

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Figures 5-8

Practical Contact Ultrasonic Angle Beam Inspection

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