Air Coupled NDE - Constraints and Solutions for Industrial Implementation
Gordon Hayward
Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering
The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow GllXW, Scotland
ABSTRACT
There is increasing industrial interest in the use of non-
contact, gas-coupled ultrasound for a range of non-destructive
evaluation (NDE) applications. Ultrasonic generation and
detection via piezoelectric or electrostatic transducers have
attracted particular interest and a number of related
publications have appeared in the recent technical literature.
However, these have centred largely on laboratory
experiments since extrapolation of the technology to the real
industrial environment is not straightforward. Questions still
remain with regard to the practical robustness and reliability
of such systems.
This paper addresses the major difficulties associated with
industrial implementation of gas coupled NDE. The influence
of the gas channel on ultrasonic wave propagation is described
with regard to system operating frequency, ultrasonic beam
characteristics and possible environmental variables such as
temperature and pressure. Methods for predicting and
stabilising ultrasonic system performance are proposed, in
conjunction with transducer design, where emphasis is placed
on efficiency for gas operation and the requirement for
minimisation of electronic intrinsic noise. Techniques for
implementing sufficient improvement to enable practical, real
time operation are then discussed, including instrumentation
design and signal conditioning requirements. Finally,
examples of robust NDE systems are presented, embracing
through transmission scanning, array based imaging and
multi-frequency Lamb wave scanning.
INTRODUCTION
Conventional ultrasonic NDE requires some form of coupling
medium to facilitate energy transfer between the transducer
and test specimen. This can take the form of a thin gel
couplant layer (contact NDE), immersion of the specimen in a
liquid bath or the use of water jet columns along which the
ultrasound can propagate. Although commonplace, such
systems suffer from inherent disadvantages due to the
requirement for maintaining an adequate and stable coupling
medium. For example, automated scanning on complex
geometries is restricted in contact systems, while the
alternative of immersion may not always be practical, either
due to sample bulk or potential damage due to water ingress.
In almost all cases, inspection throughput rates are restricted
due to limitations imposed by the coupling mechanism. In
consequence, it is recognised that removal of the coupling
medium and its replacement by an intermediate air gap would
be advantageous if the appropriate technology became
available.
0-7803-4153-8/97/$10.00 0 1997 IEEE
The constraints imposed by air coupling are considerable.
Available transducer technology does not operate efficiently
into gaseous media at the normal frequencies employed in
NDE. An air channel is potentially unstable and influenced to
a much greater extent by environmental conditions than a
corresponding water column. Most test materials are solid in
nature, providing a significant mechanical mismatch with air,
resulting in low transmission of ultrasonic energy into the
sample and virtual entrapment thereafter. This can result in
an extremely high dynamic range requirement ( W B ) and
conventional couplant based NDE system can be expected to
degrade by approximately lOodB when used in through air
situation.
However, in recent years considerable attention has been
devoted to the issue of air coupled, or more correctly, gas
coupled NDE. Significant improvements have emerged,
particularly with regard to transducer technology and a
number of impressive laboratory demonstrations have been
reported in the literature. However, most industrial
requirements are for robust, real time operation with at least
comparable performance to available couplant based
inspection systems. This is the context in which air coupled
NDE must be appraised and given the physical limitations,
represents an extremely difficult task indeed. In the following
sections, the technical difficulties associated with practical
realisation of gas coupled NDE are discussed in conjunction
with possible methods for system implementation in the
industrial environment. Overall, the objective is to achieve
robust real time operation with an adequate signal to noise
ratio and performance to meet a stated requirement. Clearly,
a gas coupled NDE system will not ultimately provide the
same level of performance as a properly designed liquid based
counterpart. Consequently, the former is expected to be
adopted only where some form of external constraint (such as
operating environment or cost) is imposed. However, in such
limited instances, it will be shown that gas coupled NDE can
provide satisfactory performance.
AIR COUPLED TRANSDUCER SYSTEMS
Transducer Technologyfor Gas Coupled Ultrasound
Recently, there has been considerable expansion in transducer
technologies for gas coupled ultrasonic applications. For NDE,
spanning the frequency range 200kHz to SMHz, the three
principal contenders are piezmramic, piezocomposite and
electrostatic devices. In the case of piezoceramic transducers,
conventional designs have been modified by the addition of
specialised matching layers, usually in conjunction with
focusing lenses and high excitation voltages. Such devices
1997 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM - 665
have been successful and at least one commercial air coupled
NDE [l] system utilises this technology. However, the
transducers are restricted ultimately by the fact that for perfect
transmission of ultrasound, a quarter wavelength matching
layer of typical specific acoustic impedance 0.1Mrayl is
required. Practical materials are unavailable and
consequently, sub-optimal, extremely narrowband
performance is the norm within the air environment. Adoption
of multiple layers alleviates the problem only slightly, with
very little improvement in device bandwidth. It should be
noted that narrowband operation is not necessarily a
restriction and indeed, as shown later, may be necessary for
practical NDE operation. Piezocomposite transducers,
comprising a controlled mixture of active and passive
materials, offer an improvement over the standard
piemceramic designs. The most efficient configurations are
the 2-2 and 1-3 connectivities, the latter consisting of
piezoceramic pillars embedded within a polymer (or other)
matrix. In theory, such devices offer improved operation into
gaseous media, in terms of efficiency, impedance matching
and bandwidth when compared with standard technologies
and designs for transducers and interface layers have been
proposed [2,3,4]. However, performance is limited ultimately
by the requirement for efficient matching layers and in that
sense, the same difficulties as mentioned previously are
encountered. Electrostatic transducers on the other hand, rely
on the electrmtatic forces acting on a thin elastic membrane to
generate and detect ultrasonic energy, Most recent attention
has focused on these designs, with micromachining techniques
used to control fabrication and permit integration with the
interface electronics [5,6,7,8]. Most of the designs
demonstrate good sensitivity over a wide frequency band, with
the concept of a radiating membrane that is well matched
mechanically to the gas medium, attractive for a large number
of through air applications.
From available data and laboratory measurements, it is
possible to estimate the performance of the three different
transducer technologies [9] and conclude that the electrostatic
designs possess superior bandwidth, but the piezocomposite
devices demonstrate better sensitivity over a much narrower
frequency range. The effect of this in an air coupled, through
transmission NDE situation may be illustrated by considering
the results shown in Table 1. In these experiments, four
planar test samples, comprising a lmm and 5.3- thick
aluminium plate (S1 and S4), and two carbon fibre composite
plates of thickness 5mm ( S 2 ) and 3.8" (S3) were positioned
normally at a distance of 50" between each transmitting
and receiving transducer. Two different transducer pairs were
considered. Firstly, a piezocomposite design, with a transmit-
receive resonant frequency of 550kHz and -6dB bandwidth of
61kHz. The second, broadband electrostatic configuration
possessed a corresponding spectral peak at 374kHz and -6dB
bandwidth of 465kHz. For this experiment, the transducer
diameter in all cases was 30mm, with a common excitation
voltage of lOOv p-p and receiver amplifier voltage gain of
6odB. Unless otherwise indicated, operation was at the
resonant frequency of the composite transducer pair, while for
those examples indicated by the asterisk symbol, the
666 - 1997 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM
transducers were tuned to the half wavelength resonant
frequency of the test sample, at which maximum transmission
is expected to occur. The results are revealing to the extent
that signal enhancement with the composite devices is
significant, along with the evident improvement by tuning to
the resonance of the sample. However, for sample S2, the
untuned composite transducer pair demonstrates an increase
in received signal level by a factor of 7 when compared with
the tuned electrostatic configuration. Interestingly it was
possible to obtain measurable signals for the composite pair at
the sample resonance of approximately 260kHz, which is far
removed from the actual transducer centre frequency. For the
thinner carbon fibre sample, composite transducer
performance when not tuned to the sample is noted to be
similar to that of the tuned performance of the electrostatics.
This is mainly due to the fact that the electrostatic transducers
are now matched closely to the half wavelength resonance of
the sample. However, the composite pair has demonstrated a
two fold performance improvement when operating at the
sample resonance compared with their self resonance,
indicating that these devices can function outside the normal
bandwidth domain. Neither transducer configuration could be
tuned to the half wavelength resonant frequency of the
aluminium sample S1, which was only lmm in thickness.
However, for sample S4, the half-wavelength resonance
coincided with the piezocomposite centre frequency. The
enhancement in through transmission signal is evident.
I C
E I
I s2
s2
I
I
260*
550
I 50mV
53mV I
E s3 550 27mV
E~
- ~s 3 _ 380* _
_ _305mV
_ _
C s4 550 55omv
I E I 54 I 550 I 28mV I
Table 1: Results of through transmission experiments using
piezocomposite (C) and electrostatic (E) transducers
Sample S1 - Aluminium (thickness lmm),
S2 - Carbon fibre (thickness 5mm),
S3 - Carbon fibre (thickness 3.8"),
S4 - Aluminium (thickness 5.3")
TransducerNoise Analysis
For practical gas coupled NDE, system sensitivity is always at
a premium and for real time operation, correct design of the
transducer and front end electronics is extremely important
[lo]. Considering firstly the receiver, it is possible to
construct a noise model and hence evaluate potential signal to
 noise performance for different transducer and pre-amplifier
configurations [ 111. Figure 1 illustrates a noise model that is
suitable for analysis of any transducer structure and associated
preamplifier stage. In this notation, VSand ET represent signal
(open circuit) and thermal noise voltages from the transducer
respectively, ZE is the transducer electrical impedance,
represented by the real and imaginary parts, G is the
preamplifier gain, ZLis the effective electrical load impedance
as seen by the transducer, and E N and IN represent the pre-
amplifier noise voltage and noise current contributions
respectively. Generally, all parameters are a function of
frequency and from this model it is possible to obtain an
expression describing the system signal to noise ratio (SNR)
at the pre-amplifier input terminals.
...................Z.. E .............
I ; I -
1
- / ,.................................................................
vs
Figure 1. Equivalent noise model for a receive system
SNR
. . . .
I narrowband detection electronics to minimise the noise
-100
-150
0.0
Figure 2. Spectral signal to noise ratio (SNR)characteristics
for a variety of system noise bandwidths
As an example, consider Figure 2 which depicts the simulated
S N R characteristics for a 1-3 piezocomposite transducer pair
operating in through transmission mode in the S 1 aluminium
sample as described previously. Three cases are presented,
corresponding to a system noise bandwidth of lHz, 2OkHz and
500 kHz. For the purposes of the simulation, the composites
are assumed to operate at a resonant frequency of 5OOkHz in
both transmission and reception, are matched mechanically to
the air environment and the pre-amplifier has input noise
voltage and current parameters of 800pV/ dHz and 10pNdHz
respectively. An excitation voltage of lOOV p-p is also
assumed. It is apparent from the Figure that peak SNR occurs
at the transducer system resonant frequency and for maximum
unprocessed sensitivity, the system bandwidth must be
minimised. For example, for a bandwidth of SOOkHz, the
maximum S N R is in the region of 2.5dB, increasing to 35dB
at 20kHz and the impractical figure of 112dB for a 1Hz noise
bandwidth. This illustrates that one way forward for robust,
real time gas coupled operation is to implement narrowband
techniques.
Electronics System Design
i
As indicated previously, conventional NDE techniques
involving wideband, short pulse operation, are impractical for
the majority of gas coupled applications unless significant
processing of the return signals is feasible. This may be
gain G achieved by operating the system in multiple shot mode and
performing a time average on the return data, before moving
on to the next scan position. However, speed of operation is
limited by the sound velocity, multiple reverberation in the
gas column and the power handling capabilities of the
transmitting transducer. For example, the time taken for an
ultrasonic wave to cross a 100" air gap is approximately
330p, which for 1000 averages, would permit a new scan
update every third of a second. Assuming a scan increment of
2mm, then a single line scan of l m would take a minimum
time of 165 seconds, which is too slow for most production
. . . . . . . . . . , test applications. The most straightforward alternative
approach is to use a gated tone burst in conjunction with
bandwidth. Using this technique, it is possible to design
practical gas coupled NDE systems without any recourse to
signal averaging. Scan speed is now limited mainly by the
power handling capabilities of the transmitting transducer and
clearly, the drive voltage should be maintained as low as
possible. For efficient and resonant piezocomposite
transducers, typical drive levels of lOOV p-p, with an
operating repetition rate of 500 pulses per second are feasible
and produce relatively few restrictions on practical scanning
rates [ 121. Less efficient, piezoceramic transducers may
require at least an order of magnitude increase in excitation
levels to achieve similar performance, with subsequent
0.5 1.0 1.5 implications for transducer longevity and system cost.
Frequency (MHz) Conventional electrostatic transducers on the other hand can
tolerate theoretically very high drive power levels, but are
limited by the membrane fragility, which restricts the practical
bias voltage, in turn limiting minimum membrane thickness
and device bandwidth [13].
Although the single frequency approach has been shown to
work in practical NDE situations, it can be very inflexible
with regard to quantitative testing. An attractive alternative,
1997 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM - 667
which maintains the noise advantages of narrowband
operation, is to sweep the frequency in transmission and to
lock the receiver onto the particular transmission frequency by
means of a heterodyne receiver. Such a technique has been
reported for single sided Lamb wave scanning, whereby the
desired Lamb mode is launched into flat test samples from a
fixed angle of incidence [14]. Variation in test specimen where fr,o is Oxygen relaxation frequency,
thickness are accommodated readily by the straightforward fr,N is Nitrogen relaxation frequency,
adjustment of frequency. Altematively, it is possible to Po = 1 atmosphere To = 293.15 OK
perform optimised through transmission operation by altering f = frequency of radiation P = ambient pressure
the frequency to match the natural resonance of the test T = ambient temperature
sample [15]. Again, accommodation of different sample
thicknesses or velocities is achieved by sweeping the From this equation, it is apparent that attenuation increases
frequency. Electrostatic transducers are advantageous for this rapidly with frequency and that it also depends on ambient
mode of operation because of their relatively wide bandwidth. temperature and pressure. To illustrate some of these effects,
For example, to launch the a0 Lamb mode into aluminium consider Figure 3 which shows the theoretical axial field
plates varying from 0.76mm to 3.8mm in thickness, a fixed profiles of an ideal, 10" diameter disc transducer with
transducer angle of incidence in air of 8.6' and a frequency uniform surface displacement amplitude and phase
range of 200Wz - 1MHz is required. This is within the characteristics. Figure 3(a) depicts the expected variation at a
bandwidth of modern electrostatic designs and provided that fiied temperature of 20'C and frequencies of 500kHz and
the sensitivity is adequate, permits extremely flexible and WOWz., while Figure 3(b) shows the corresponding data for
practical operation using standard electronics at relatively temperatures OC ' and 40'C at a single operating frequency of
modest cost. An example of such operation is presented later. 700Wz. The influence of attenuation is evident from the
Another approach that permits an increase in effective signal reduced peak at the near-far field boundary and smeared near
energy, while at the same time maintaining the time field structure. Small changes in ambient temperature would
resolution of a wideband transducer, is to employ a relatively appear to exert relatively little influence on the transducer
long pseudorandom code in transmission, with appropriate field structure.
aoss correlation to implement pulse compression on the 2
return data. A wide variety of suitable codes have been 1.8
investigated over the years and the technique is used routinely e, 1.6
$14
in radar systems and modem underwater sonar. Although the f = 900% ab 209c
012
technology is mature and well established, there has been 5 .l
-f=500kHzat20"C

little impetus to incorporate it within NDE systems, mainly .s 0.8

due to hardware and processing expense. However, $0.6
pr; 0.4
programmable waveform generators and digital correlation 0.2
systems are now available at very low cost and in gas coupled 0
ultrasonic NDE, the advantages of techniques such as chirp 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Distance on main axis (mm)
compression could be significant.
Figure 3(a): Variation in axial field profile with frequency.
THE PROPAGATION CHANNEL. '" I I
14

All ultrasonic NDE systems require a stable propagation a12

channel for accurate interpretation of return data. In gas g 1

-T = 0C at 70-
...... T = 40C at 700kHz
coupled ultrasound, this can pose difficulties, since the $0.8
>
characteristics of the gas channel can depend critically on f 0.6
temperature and humidity, with the ultrasonic signals d 04
influenced adversely by motion within the gaseous medium. 0.2

Moreover, ultrasonic attenuation in air at frequencies above 0

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
100kHz can be very high and for most practical systems, Distance on main axis (mm)
operation above 5 MHz is extremely difficult. Attenuation Figure 3(b): Variation in axial field profile with temperature
characteristics for air have been investigated in detail [16] and
may be described adequately by the following experimentally
Although gas temperature does increase ultrasonic
derived expression.
attenuation, a more practical difficulty is encountered with
thermal currents in the gas propagation channel. Consider
A = Aoe-ad Figure 4 which depicts the return signals from an air coupled
Exponential decay over distance d at a rate defined by ultrasonic transducer operating in pulse echo mode where the
attenuation coefficient a reflecting object is a large steel plate. Figures 4(a-c) illustrate
the signal quality when the plate temperature is at ambient

668 - 1997 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM

(23'C), 2'C and l00'C above ambient respectively. From this
it is apparent that even very slight changes in temperature can
introduce thermal gradients which greatly influence signal
clarity.
The importance of transducer surface uniformity for gas
coupled ultrasound is highlighted further in Figures 6 and 7.
Figure 6 shows the measured surface displacement amplitude
and phase variation for a 14" square, 50()1diz, 20%
piemmposite transmitting device. Clearly, the vibration

0.05

0.0
I (a)AMBIENT
I pattern is non-uniform (caused by temperature damage) and
this is reflected in the beam profiles shown in Figure 7. In
Figure 7(a), the field structure has been predicted using a
simulation model and the measured displacement data, while
Figure 7(b) shows the measured profile in air using a scanning
a -0.06 . hydrophone. A comparison with Figure 7(c), which illustrates
a
the expected field profile for a uniformly vibrating aperture,
E
g 0.0 . (b) + 2 a c
reveals considerable degradation of the radiated field pattern.
=.E Interestingly, Figure 7(d) shows the predicted field profile
e when the aperture is vibrating with a uniform magnitude and

0.0 - (e)*lOo~C the phase variation shown in Fig 6(b). Although the near field
is now symmetrical, the observed collapse of far field
structure when compared with Fig 7(c) is unacceptable for
most applications. Given that the phase variation across the
aperture is approximately 1.2 radians, equivalent to h/5, this
290.0 300.0 310.0 320.0 result serves to highlight the importance of phase uniformity.
The new generations of electrostatic transducers permit
accurate control of surface properties and should serve to
minimise this problem.
In many cases the standard design rules for estimation of
near/far field boundary and angle of beam divergence have to
be treated with caution, particularly for wideband operation.
This is especially true for those transducers that demonstrate
non-uniform vibration characteristics across the surface, such
as electrostatic devices with polished backplates and certain
piemmposite configurations. In such instances, even
relatively small phase variations across the radiating aperture
can cause the beam profile to deviate substantially from
expectations based around uniform and lossless planar
aperture theory. As an example, consider Figure 5, which
illustrates the axial beam profile characteristics for a 18"
square, 394.5kHz, 40% volume fraction piezocomposite Figure 6: Laser vibrometer measured surface displacement
transducer, operating under gated continuous wave conditions amplitude and phase of 14 mm square, 500 kHz
at the transducer centre frequency. In one case (b) the 20% volume fraction piezocomposite transducer:
transducer field was predicted after laser vibrometer
measurement of the actual aperture profile, while the other (a)
assumes that the aperture is uniform and that the propagation
channel is loss free. Clearly, the former case is much closer to
the experimentally measured profile (c), which in this case
was obtained via a scanning hydrophone.
(a) Predicted from laser vibrometer surface displacement
measurement,

-' (b) Experimentally measured,

0
I
Q
4
zo
, .
40
,
EO
, , , , , . ,
m i w i m i m i m i m m m z a m m x u
. . . . CO

~ o o r m i l l a o t i c ( ~
Figure 5: Axial beam profiles of 18 mm square, 394.5 kHz
40% volume fraction piezocomposite transducer:

1997 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM - 669


(c) Predicted from assumed uniform surface displacement,
(d) Predicted from assumed uniform surface displacement
amplitude and measured phase,
Figure 7: Full field profile of 14 mm square, 500 kHz 20%
volume fraction piezocomposite transducer:
EXAMPLES OF AIR COUPLED NDE
Channel Control at Elevated Temperatures
The previous Section served to emphasise the potential
difficulties introduced by even relatively minor temperature
gradients across the gas channel. Similar problems are also
encountered with movement of the gas causing sufficient
variation in the received ultrasonic signal to make defect
interpretation extremely difficult. One method for improving
received signal stability is to control the gas channel by means
of an extemal supply. This is analogous to the standard water
jetting arrangement in conventional NDE, whereby the water
is replaced by a gaseous column. Consider for example the
arrangement shown in Figure 8, which is similar to the
experiment described in previously, with the transducer now
operating through an external and controllable air supply.
Test Sample
n
Hotplate
Figure 8. Experimental procedure for high temperature
pulse-echo testing
The front surface echo obtained from a steel plate at a
temperature of 2WoC is shown in Figure 9. A comparison
with Figure 4(a) indicates that there is now little discernible
degradation in the return echo at the elevated temperature.
670 - 1997 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM
Such methods for stabilisation of the air channel are
extremely useful in contaminated environments and can
promote confidence in practical application of gas coupled
NDE.
0.050
0.025
-0.025
-0.050
290.0 300.0 310.0
1
320.0
Time (us)
Figure 9. Improvement of received signal stability utilising
illustrated protective nozzle arrangement and
controlled air flow
Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement Using Longitudinal Waves
The concept of air channel stabilisation can be adopted for
most applications of air coupled ultrasound. An example is
illustrated in Figure 10, where it is required to extract the
thickness of the steel plate over an extended temperature
range. In this case difficulties are presented by thermal
gradients and the extremely wide dynamic range (90 dB)
between the desired backwall return signals and direct
reflections from the front face. In such instances, receiver
saturation may be avoided by utilising a separate transmitter
and receiver arrangement and at the same time protecting the
receiver as much as possible from direct top surface
reflections. Provided that the signals are still discernible, it is
advantageous to operate in the frequency domain, since the
spectral content of the return data is less influenced by the
presence of temperature differences. Figure 11 shows the
magnitude spectrum obtained when a 25" steel plate was
elevated to a temperature of 15OoC. Two main frequency
components are evident, corresponding to the transducer
centre frequency and a resonance. due to the plate thickness. In
this case a pair of 500kHz piezocomposite transducers were
employed at a stand off distance of 33" from the plate
surface. The resultant thickness was extracted readily from
the retum spectrum at 25.5mm, which compares well with the
actual value.
 rml air coo1 air

~~\ transmitter
baffle
I receiver

Hardware

Frequency Tuning from P.C.

Figure 12. Design schematic for frequcncy agile scanning

system
Figure 10 Normal incidence testing of heated test specimen
l.w , I The principal advantage of the single sided, air coupled Lamb
wave approach is that it permits rapid, couplant free scanning
of a wide range of plate type materials. The Lamb wave
transducers may be 'hand held' and the scanning performed
manually, provided that positional information is maintained.
To illustrate this concept, a Lamb wave transducer
arrangement was incorporated within a commercial
manipulator, the ANDSCAN [18], which comprises a
position-sensing arm to which the transducers are attached. A
typical scan obtained from a Imm thick steel plate containing
an artificial defect in the shape of a cross, is shown in Figure
13, from which the defective area is clearly visible. In this
-..I example, the transducers were a pair of electrostatic devices
700
generating the fundamental anti-symmetric Lamb mode. The
fnq-9 +*I
frequency range was 150kHz to 1.5MHz, and for a fixed probe
Figure 11 Magnitude spectrum obtained from single sided angle of 9 degrees, allows a potential thickness range of
examination of 25" steel plate at 150C 0.4" - 4mm in steel, or alternatively 2.1" - 21" in
carbon fibre.
Thickness Measurement and Scanning Using Lamb Waves

The technique of single sided inspection by scanning a pair of

matched piezocomposite transducers for the generation of the
Lamb mode in thin plates has been reported previously
[17]. In this work, both metallic (steel and aluminium) and
carbon fibre composite samples were examined and defective
areas identified successfully. However, the system described
is relatively inflexible, since it relies on a fixed angle of
incidence at a fixed frequency to generate the desired Lamb
mode in a specific plate geometry. Difficulties are thus
encountered if the plate thickness or material properties alter,
and it is necessary to adjust the angular orientation of the
transducer pair to the plate surface. A more convenient
approach is to incorporate the concept of frequency sweeping,
in conjunction with a heterodyne receiver and sufficiently
wideband transducers [14]. By altering frequency, it is
unnecessary to adjust incident angle to accommodate different
sample properties and significantly, it is also possible to Figure 13. Scanned image obtained using lamb wave
extract information on plate thickness and for example, the transducers coupled with 'ANDSCA" manipulator
depth of delamination type defects, provided that the material
properties are known.

1997 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM - 671

Through Transmission Measurements
The arrangement of a separate transmitter and receiver
aligned on opposite sides of a test specimen has perhaps been
the most widely reported application of gas coupled
ultrasound (see for example [1,12,15]) and systems
incorporating single transducer pairs are available on a
commercial basis. A more recent development has involved
multiple transducer arrays to accelerate inspection rates and
an illustration of potential performance is shown in Fig 14. In
this example, the test sample comprised of a 3.7" thick,
carbon fibre plate with artificial 'defects' created by insertion
of F'TFE inclusions (of different size and shape) within the
structure. Two images are shown, with Figure 14(a)
illustrating the through transmission C-scan obtained by raster
movement of a single pair of transmit-receive transducers in
2mm increments. The various inclusions are clearly visible.
The second image shown in Figure 14(b) was obtained by
using an 8-element linear array of 2mm pitch to enable
parallel capture of data and more rapid inspection rates. As
expected, the resolution in the latter image is slightly
degraded, but all the defective regions have been identified
clearly. This system is currently under evaluation by a
commercial aerospace manufacturer and to date, progress has
been satisfactory.
Another recent application of air coupled through transmission
operation has involved the extraction of elastic material
properties [ 19,20,21]. Despite the obvious sensitivity and
frequency limitations, operation in an air environment has
certain advantages over conventional immersion testing.
Provided that the air channel is regulated, evaluation of
material properties at elevated temperatures is possible and
since many polymeric materials possess specific acoustic
impedances close to that of water, separation of the required
critical angles is more straightforward in air. As an
illustration, Table 2 compares a set of material properties
measured under air and water coupled conditions for two
different polymeric materials. The close agreement helps
confirm the viability of the gas-coupled approach.
Table 2: Elastic Properties of Ciba Aralditem Epoxy Potting
Compounds Determined by Water and Air-coupled Through
Transmission Time-of-Flight Measurements.
I Coupled I Coupled I Coupled I Coupled
Longitudinal I 2567 I 2565 I 1855 I 1881

Poisson Ratio 0.379 0.379 0.390 0.393

B, (GPa)
E, iGPa) 4.030 4.029 1.990 1.999
-180 - 1 ~ )-140 -120 -100 ao -60 -40 30 o
G, (GP4 1.461 1.461 0.716 0.717
a*t-(") Acoustic
Figure 14(a) C-scan of carbon fibre plate with single Impedance 2.93 2.92 2.13 2.16
element scanning system (WaYl)

CONCLUDING REMARKS

This work has attempted to highlight some of the difficulties

inherent in practical application of gas coupled ultrasonic
NDE in the context of current systems technology. Although
commercial implementation of air coupled ultrasonic
inspection is already in place, the problems in achieving
reliable and workable signal levels will always be
considerable. The technology is therefore unlikely to replace
conventional ultrasonic NDE unless additional constraints
impose air or gas coupled solutions. Some potential
applications have been included here and along with the
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

aslance @mI)
considerable work of others, a viable industrial applications
base may be established in the future.
Figure 14(b) C-scan of carbon fibre plate with 8element
linear array scanning system

672 - 1997 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT [15] Schindel, D.W., Fors@, D.S., Hutchins, D.A. and Fahr,
A., 'Aircoupled ultrasonic NDE of bonded aluminium lap
The author would like to acknowledge the following joints', Ultrasonics, Vol35(1), 1997, pp 1-6.
stafflstudents from the Ultrasonic Group at Strathclyde [16] Bass, H.E., Sutherland, LC., Zuckerwar, A.J.,
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1997 IEEE ULTRASONICS SYMPOSIUM - 673