UT LECTURE GUIDE

LESSON 6

SOUNDBEAM PATTERNS
1. GENERAL
IN ULTRASONIC TESTING, THE SONIC BEAM IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE
STRAIGHTER AND FULL ONCE IT IS PROJECTED OF THE FACE OF THE
TRANSDUCER. IN REALITY, THE BEAM IS NOT ALL THAT CONSISTENT. IF THE
BEAM INTENSITY IS MEASURED AT VARIOUS DISTANCES FROM THE
TRANSDUCER, TWO DISTINCT ZONES ARE FOUND AS SHOWN IN FIGURE
BELOW. THESE ZONES ARE KNOWN AS THE NEAR FIELD, OR FRESNEL ZONE,
AND THE FAR FIELD, OR FRAUNHOFER ZONE.

FIGURE: BEAM PROFILE

2. NEAR FIELD (FRESNEL ZONE)

IN THE ZONE CLOSEST TO THE TRANSDUCER, THE MEASURMENT OF THE
SONIC INTENSITIES REVEALS AS IRREGULAR PATTERN OF LOCALIZED HIGH
AND LOW INTENSITIES. THIS IRREGULAR PATTERN RESULTS FROM THE
INTERFACE BETWEEN SOUND WAVES THAT ARE EMMITED FROM THE FACE OF
THE TRANSDUCER.

THE EFFECT THAT THE PRESENCE OF THESE ACOUSTICAL PATTERNS IN THE

NEAR ZONE WILL HAVE ON THE ULTRASONIC TEST VARIES, BUT IF THE
OPERATOR HAS PROPER TEST BLOCK AND CORRELATE THOSE INDICATIONS
WITH THE INDICATIONS IT IS GETTING FROM THE TEST.
 UT LECTURE GUIDE
LESSON 6

THE LENGTH OF THE NEAR FIELD IS DEPENDENT ON THE DIAMETER OF THE

TRANSDUCER AND THE WAVELENGTH OF THE SONIC BEAM AND MAY BE COMPUTED
FROM THE EQUATION.

L = D2/4λ
OR L = (D2 X L) / (4 X V)

WHERE: L = THE LENGTH OF THE FIELD.

D = THE DIAMETER OF THE TRANSDUCER.
λ = THE WAVELENGTH OF THE SONIC WAVE.
F = THE FREQUENCY OF THE SONIC WAVE.
V = THE VELOCITY OF THE SONIC WAVE.

SINCE THE WAVELENGTH OF A SONIC BEAM IN A PARTICULAR MATERIAL IS INVERSLY

PROPORTIONAL TO THE FREQUENCY. THE LENGTH OF THE NEAR FIELD IN A
PARTICULAR MATERIAL CAN BE SHORTENEND BY LOWERING THE FREQUENCY.

3. FAR FIELD (FRAUNHOFER)

IN THE ZONE FURTHEST FROM THE TRANSDUCER, THE ONLY EFFECT OF

CONSEQUENCES IS THE SPREADING OF THE SONIC BEAM. FRAUNHOFER
DIFRACTION CAUSES THE BEAM TO SPREAD STARTING AT THE END OF THE NEAR
FIELD AT THIS DISTANCE, THE BEAM APPEARS TO HAVE ORIGINATED AT THE CENTRE
OF THE RADIATING FACE OF THE TRANSDUCER AND SPREAD OUTWARD THE DEGREE
OF SPREAD MAY BE COMPUTED FROM THE EQUATION:

SINø = (1.22 X λ) / D
OR SINø = (1.22 X V) / (F X D)

WHERE: SIN ø = THE HALF-ANGLE OF SPREAD.

D = THE DIAMETER OF THE TRANSDUCER.
λ = THE WAVELENGTH OF THE SONIC WAVE.
F = THE FREQUENCY OF THE SONIC WAVE.
V = THE VELOCITY OF THE SONIC WAVE.