Ultrasonic Testing

Ultrasonic thickness testing has been used widely to determine rate of corrosion and erosion, or detecting discontinuities below the surface of a variety of materials. Based on the same principal as sonar, a sound beam is transmitted into a material to determine thickness or soundness, and reflects back to the unit. This provides a thickness measurement with the accuracy of +/– .004" that can be trended for corrosion/erosion rate analysis. The system uses a beam of pulsed ultrasonic energy between 20 kHz to 50MHz in range. The transducer is made of a piezoelectric material which is able to convert mechanical energy into sound waves and then reverse that process, sending the pulse to the ultrasonic equipment. Whatever testing is to be done requires the use of reference standards for calibration and flaw characterization.

In addition to thickness, ultrasonic measurement can also be used to detect delaminated materials or as a "go, no-go" for flaw detection.

Delaminated materials are commonly found in pressed plate material. Regular testing of your equipment can detect these anomalies before catastrophic failure of the materials can occur.

Ultrasonic flaw detection of bolts is widely used where safety is a concern due to pressure and stress. It is a cost efficient way to check the integrity of the bolts to minimize downtime and maximize personnel safety.

Nova Data Testing Services utilizes equipment able to "auto calibrate" to the material being inspected and can inspect high temperature equipment. This allows us to inspect a wide variety of materials, while in process, in various environments. Our equipment also allows for thickness measurements through coatings. This means no more damage to the coating in order to acquire an accurate result.
Not only does the equipment record the accurate measurement of the base material, but it will calculate the thickness of the coating.

The application of ultrasonics can be used on metals, nonmetals and composite materials. It is adaptable to substrates, joints and bonds and structural material.

Some of the limitations to consider when using ultrasonics is that access to one side of the part is required. There are occasional ambiguous signals that may arise as a result of scatter effects, multiple reflections and geometric complexity. Small or extremely thin parts can be difficult to inspect.

Ultrasonic thickness testing can be performed on the following:

Ultrasonic flaw detection can be preformed on the following: