Ultrasonic Guided Wave NDT for Hidden Corrosion Detection

Abstract An experimental study of hidden corrosion detection by using ultrasonic guided waves is presented combined with a BEM numerical simulation. Both corrosion simulation specimens by machine cutting and real corrosion specimens by electrochemical processing were used in the investigation, with a range of corrosion depths from 0.02 to 0.4 mm (1.5 to 20% of the original plate thickness). Various wave modes were subsequently generated on these specimens to examine the implications of thinning on mode cutoff, group velocity, and transmission and reflection amplitudes. The transmission and reflection of guided waves upon entering the corrosion zone were simulated by a hybrid BEM calculation that combines a normal mode expansion technique of Lamb waves for far fields with the boundary element representation for the scattered near fields. A quantitative technique for hidden corrosion depth with guided waves is developed based on a frequency compensation concept. The estimated depth of the real corrosion by this method shows good agreement with that by an optical microscope.