An investigation of ultrasonic testing method in determining material properties

Abstract

In this project, a non-destructive testing technique known as ultrasonic testing is used to study the material properties. Through the ultrasonic testing, the longitudinal wave velocity, the shear wave velocity and the young’s modulus of various materials were determined.

The longitudinal wave velocities and shear wave velocities from both the single probe transmission and the dual probe full transmission (through transmission) were recorded for various materials. These values were then used to compute the young’s modulus of the materials. Theoretical calculations were also carried out by obtaining the reference longitudinal wave and shear wave velocities of the material, followed by substituting them into the young’s modulus formula. The reference young’s modulus value for various materials were obtained from the internet and a comparison is made by comparing the reference values with both the theoretical values and experimental values.

The repeatability of the results was also investigated via statistical studies of the measured velocities. Various factors affecting the accuracy of the measurements were also discussed in this project.