114 6 Attenuation of Ultrasonic Waves in Solids

crystals are no exceptions in this respect. In such cases the influences of anisotropy
and grain size which can readily be interpreted are observed. If for instance two
samples of cast aluminium and cast brass of identical grain size are compared, the
attenuation in brass is much greater than in aluminium. Further, if two samples of
the same material but of different grain size are tested it is found that the change of
the attenuation due to grain size is much more pronounced in brass than in alumi-
nium. This last-mentioned comparison can also be made with shorter wavelengths
instead of larger grain sizes. A greater ratio of grain diameter to wavelength is thus
accompanied by an attenuation which is the greater, the greater the anisotropy.
According to Roth [1301] a number of important materials can be classified ac-
cording to increasing anisotropy:
W Mg AI-eu AI Fe Ag eu Pb IX-brass p-brass
(95 + 5 %) (72 eu + 28 Zn) (58 eu + 42 Zn)
The coarser grain produces a disturbance which is the greater, the further to the
right the material appears in the above series.
According to Roth, and also Mason and McSkimin [992, 993], the anisotropy
can also be specified numerically, but this will not be discussed here, especially
since the sequences are not identical for different concepts. In the case of trans-
verse waves permutations within the series may result.
Tungsten should be completely isotropic like non-crystalline materials, for ex-
ample glass. Tests on samples, however, are usually hampered by porosity intro-
duced during manufacture.
The low attenuation of the pure light metals and aluminium copper alloys with
only a few per cent copper has been confirmed. As far as the testing of materials is
concemed here the grain size is immaterial.
After iron come the strongly anisotropic materials of which the copper alloy me-
tals in particular cause many difficulties. As far as is known fJ-brass is the most
strongly anisotropic material after austenite.
Iron is considered here only alloyed with carbon and with other metals in the
form of steel. The influence of the grain size is considerable, and this is the main
reason why, essentially, only frequencies below 5 MHz should be used when testing
steel.
In the case of steel the structure is usually not a simple one and does not have
only one approximately uniform grain size and one type of crystal. It is, therefore,
not surprising that the results are as yet unclear. As a first approximation the largest
dimension of grain groupings or domains should replace the actual individual grain
sizes. In relation to the behavior of Austenite see Sections 27 and 28.1.6.
Most materials show a particularly pronounced reduction of the attenuation of
sound if their cast structure is destroyed by working, cold or hot, for example dur-
ing forging, rolling, extruding, etc. To a small extent this effect may be the result of
true compaction of the structure by a reduction of the pore volume. In the main,
however, the deformation process leads to a destruction of the larger grains of the
cast structure, resulting in reduced scattering.
The reduction of the pore volume is usually indicated directly by an increase of
the specific gravity; for example cast copper has a specific gravity of 8.3 to 8.9 but