Examples of ultrasonic applications

for nondestructive testing of plastics

Rainer Frielinghaus, Krautkrmer GmbH & Co., Hrth

From the known and extensive

range of methods for nondestructive testing, the ultrasonic
testing method is one which can
be used in many fields of application including plastics. A few
typical examples are discussed
here with regard to the three different application ranges, flaw
detection, thickness measurement and material characterization.

Principle of the method

In ultrasonic testing the pulse echo
method is mainly used (Fig. 1).

The test instrument generates

electrical pulses which are converted into mechanical pulses by
a probe containing a piezoelectric
converter. These are transmitted into the test object and are
reflected by possible flaws in the
material, e.g. hollow spaces, inclusions as well as the backwall of
the test object. Portions of the
sound return to the probe where
they are converted back to electrical pulses and amplified by the
amplifier in the instrument. Finally
the pulses are displayed on a CRT
screen as a time function. Further
information about this method can
be found in [6]. In [1] it is described

in detail with regard to its physical

basic principles and technical applications.
Flaw detection
In the complete volume
Fig. 2 shows an example for
testing semi-finished products,
formed pieces and other tube or
bar-shaped parts. With manual
testing, the probe is either
coupled directly to the test object
or coupled via a plastic delay path.
The probe with delay path is used
for thin-walled parts because the
relatively wide transmission pulse

Fig. 1: Echo pulse method

transmit into the test object via a

water jet or in the immersion
mode. In addition to the previously mentioned advantage of having
a narrower interface echo, constant coupling and wear-free
probe operation can be achieved
from part to part in this case.
Mostly, wide band probes are
used having frequencies of 1 or 2
MHz, 5 MHz is used with thicknesses below about 10 mm, depending on the sound attenuation
in the material to be tested. Normally, flaw-free test objects are
used as references for reproducible instrument calibration and
checking of the settings. These
have a number of artificial flaws
which are mostly small drilled
holes.
Taking injection moulded housings as an example, Fig. 3 shows
the different echo indications with
various shapes of flaw. Smooth
walled flaws, e.g. gas inclusions,
which are smaller than the sound
beam cross-section, are indicated
in front of the backwall echo
(slightly shadowed) in the form of
a high, narrow flaw echo (2nd picture from the top). Under this,
there is a wide fissured flaw echo

Fig. 2: Testing pipes and bars

is replaced by the narrow interface

echo coming from the plastic
delay/test object interface. Due to
this, greater width of the evaluation
range is achieved in which possible flaw echoes can be directly
observed. Besides this, flaws
which have a greater width than

the cross-section of the sound

beam become noticeable due to
backwall echo shadowing (Fig. 2,
left).
In order to test larger numbers,
coupling is made via a water delay
path by which the probe is able to

Fig. 3: Different echo shapes with different types of flaw

ning to the surface is used as

shown in both the last figures
[2, 3, 4]. With high temperature
wedge bonding, e.g. pipes for
drainage and gas, scanning must
be made at an angle as shown in
Fig. 4 [5]. There is a detailed report
concerning the testing of adhesive bondings (brake linings on the
support material).
Thickness measurements
The distance between the backwall echoes is proportional to the
thickness of the test object. It is of
course assumed that the sound
velocity in the material is constant.
In most cases this is admissible
when certain marginal conditions
are observed. Due to the fact that
the pulse echo method is used,
the test objects need only be accessible from one side in order to
carry out the measurement. This is
of great advantage because this
enables a simple thickness measurement to be made on tubes,
casings, coatings, blow moulded
parts etc.
Fig. 5 shows the test arrangement
for measuring the thickness of
plastic lenses for glasses. The
probe is in a small holder. The
space between the probe and the
upper edge is filled with weakly
flowing water which bubbles over
the edge. The lenses are positioned
by hand and the thickness is,
Fig. 4: Weld testing with different wall thickness

of a strong irregularly shaped flaw.

This flaw has a distinctly larger expansion vertical to the direction of
sound propagation than the one
above due to the fact that the
backwall echo is extensively shadowed. On the bottom picture, the
echo display indicates a cloud of
pores distributed over the crosssection which looks like a wide
brush on the screen.

Material joints
Special significance is attached to
the detection of flaws in material
joints. In this connection it is not
the whole volume which is tested
for flaws but only special levels in
the joint. With welded overlap
joints, e.g. spigot-and-socket
joints on tubes and sealing strips
for refuse dumps, vertical scan-

Fig. 5: Thickness measurement on

lenses for glasses

Fig. 6: Wall thickness measurements of

coverings

depending on instrument calibration, immediately indicated on the

instrument.
A typical ultrasonic application is
the thickness measurement of
plastic coatings on non-metallic
supports, such as glass or, as
shown in Fig. 6, asbestos cement
pipes. Owing to the fact that most
coatings have a low thickness,
high frequency delay path probes
(15 MHz) are used.
Dimension checking of plastic
pipes immediately behind the ex-

truder is another application. The

probes are positioned between
the extruder head and the inlet to
the cooling tank. Either a fixed
number of probes, arranged
equally around the pipe circumference, are used or one or two
probes mounted opposite to each
other and driven in reverse around
the pipe. Due to temperatures of
over 100C in the pipe at this
point, only uneven thickness over
the circumference is readable
from the time of flight or used as a
corresponding controlled variable
for the process. Should the absolute thickness be set to a certain
value then it is initially measured
with an assumed sound velocity.
After being passed through the
cooling tank, the accurately
marked measurement positions
are measured in the cold condition.
The exact sound velolcity can then
be calculated behind the extruder
head using this value. However,
this value only applies to constant
process parameters (material, pipe
dimensions, drawing speed). With

Fig. 7: Thickness lines of an injection moulded part

the corresponding expenditure,

this system can be extended to include the complete dimension data
of the tube, e.g. outside diameter,
thickness, centricity.
Fig. 7 shows an old example taken
from specialized liturature. B. Ladnyi carried out accurate manual
thickness measurements on injection moulded parts which were
produced in different shapes. The
measurement points having the
same thickness were joined by
lines (Fig. 7). This figure shows the
results from two differently injection moulded parts. A vivid impression can be obtained of the
material flow during the production sequence. The weak points in
the part can be clearly recognized,
for example the zone having the
smallest thickness extends over
the parts floor in Method A.
Knowing this, it is then not difficult
to optimize the production process. This formulation of the
question is the focal point in the
following considerations.

Characterization
properties

of

material

Sound velocity and sound attenuation are characteristic values

for material which are of interest
especially in the field of material
and process development. Fig. 8
shows, schematically, two example pieces with the same thickness but having different acoustic
characteristics. The echo display
for Example I indicates a high
sound velocity (low time of flight
t1) and a low sound attenuation
(low amplitude difference from
echo to echo) as opposed to Example II with low sound velocity
and high sound attenuation.
These values change with:
the degree of cross-linking of the
plastic (edge and core zone)
the production method (HP-PE,
LP-PE)
the mixtures (colour particles,
fiber reinforcement)
the temperature of the material
age
With fiber reinforced thermoplastic plates the question can be
posed as to whether the considerable deviations in backwall echo
over the plate area are caused by

Fig. 9: C-scans from fiber reinforced thermoplastic plates

Fig. 8: Echo indications with different

acoustic properties

insufficient wetting power of the

filler material or uneven distribution of the filler material. These deviations can be clearly seen in the
C-Scans (Fig. 9) using the different
densities of blackening.

Additional sound velocity measurements at different points on

the plates produced a constant
value within small measurement
value variations. Therefore uneven
distribution of the filler material is

excluded and insufficient wetting

power, causing amplitude deviations, determined.
The results of measurements on
CFRP leaf springs are mentioned
as a final example. These consist
of unidirectional fiber fleece laminate with a fiber content of 60%.
The dimensions of the individual
springs are 300 x 20 x 3.5 mm.
There were some springs which
became defective after a short period.
Accurate measurements of the
density and the modulus of elasticity determined by mechanical
measurements did not produce
any significant difference with the
springs. However, ultrasonic tests
are able to quickly find a clue. Fig.
10 (left) shows the echo display of
a spring which was in operation for
a long time.
After the interface echo IF there is
a very stable echo indication due
to partial reflections on the individual fiber layers and a high backwall
echo. As opposed to this Fig. 10
(right) shows an echo display from
a prematurely defective spring:

the reflections from the fiber layers

are unevenly distri-buted over the
depth and the backwall echo
strongly atten-uated. If the complete area of the spring is scanned
and the backwall echo amplitude
(C-Scan)
recorded then the good spring displays a constantly high amplitude
over the whole area whilst the
defective spring has, in addition to
low amplitudes, strongly localized
fluctuations and clear differences
between the edge and the center
area. This suggests uneven distribution and wetting power.
Conclusions for the practical
field
The small selection of examples
shown here illustrate the many
possibilities offered by ultrasonic
testing. It can either be made
manually or, with the correspondingly high equipment expense, be
mechanized. The reasons for this
range from general safety
regulations, e.g. fuel tanks, to
process control the same as with
pipe production, via cost or material savings with constant flaw-free
products.

Literature
[1] Krautkrmer, J., Krautkrmer, H.: Ultrasonic testing of materials 4th Edition,
Berlin, Springer (1990)
[2] Gtegemeinschaft ZfP e.V: Ultraschallprfung von PEh-Muffenschweiverbindungen verschiedener Art. Kunststoffprodukte 90 (90), Nr. 9, 286-287
[3] Nossagk, E., Haferkamp, H., Basler,
H.-B., Uhlig, P.-W.: Ultraschallprfung
von Elektroschweimuffen aus HDPE.
DGZfP-Jahrestagung 1990, Berichtband 20 (90), 264-277
[4] Grocurth, M., Vogt, H.: Schweinahtprfung an groflchigen Dichtungsbahnen aus RPE-HD. Tagungsband Zerstrungsfreie Kunststoffprfung mit Ultraschall, 25./26.11.86,
Sddeutsches Kunststoffzentrum,
Wrzburg
[5] Frielinghaus, R.: Areas of application
for ultrasonic testing of thermoplastics
Krautkrmer special print (SD 277)
[6] Frielinghaus, R.: Zerstrungsfreie
Prfung von Klebverbindungen mit Ultraschall. Kunststoffberater 39 (94), Nr.
11, 40-45
[7] Ladnyi, B.: Manyagtermtek roncsolsmentes ultrahangos vizsglata
Diss. TU Budapest 1983

Fig. 10: Echo indications from flaw-free springs and defective springs made of GRP
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