Effect of Ultrasonic Beam Frequency and

Focalization on Detectability and

Resolution of Minute Discontinuities
by Alexander Leybovich*

This article gives the practical aspects of ultrasonic testing. The

author has successfully demonstrated the influence of excitation
frequency, transducer focal length and the sample thickness on the
resolution of the technique. Readers should find this article useful
as it reexamines the relationship between various parameters of
ultrasonic testing and the capability of the system in resolving
minute discontinuities.
G.P Singh
Associate Technical Editor

Introduction

According to fundamental principles of discontinuity detection, in order to detect and

reliably resolve tiny discontinuities, the wavelength of ultrasound should be chosen as
close as possible to the discontinuity size. For instance, to resolve 1 mm (3.9 x 10 -5 in.)
discontinuities, the ultrasound wavelength should be in the range of several
micrometers. Detection of discontinuities of this size will require the use of an
ultrasound frequency in the range of 0.5 to 1 GHz. Unfortunately, at these frequencies,
the ultrasound does not penetrate sufficiently into the target material, reaching only the
very thin, immediate undersurface layer several micrometers thick. Therefore, these
frequencies cannot be used for discontinuity detection inside the specimen beyond the
immediate undersurface layer. However, even frequencies in the range of 50 MHz
cannot be used for material through thickness discontinuity testing since the ultrasound
is still severely attenuated by the material texture (Hirsekorn et al., 1994).

When the focal zone is too long, the test resolution and detectability may
degrade significantly.

Thus, even lower frequencies have to be used to detect discontinuities located relatively
deeply in the specimen. The frequencies ranging between 5 to 25 MHz are commonly

used for industrial discontinuity detection. It should be mentioned that although higher
frequencies in the range of 15 to 25 MHz are typically employed to improve the test
resolution, it is at the expense of ultrasonic penetration depth. On the contrary, lower
frequencies of 5 to 10 MHz are used to improve the ultrasonic penetration depth and
detectability, although at the expense of the test resolution. In reality, the ultrasound
frequency should be chosen carefully based on test objectives and, to some extent, as
a tradeoff between detectability and resolution.
The other parameter to be chosen carefully is the transducer focal length. It is important
to choose the appropriate focal length since it will eventually affect the length of the
focal zone. Reduction in the focal zone length enhances the beam energy concentration
that may significantly improve both detectability and resolution. A certain relationship
(Krautkramer and Krautkramer, 1990) exists between the transducer focal length and
the focal zone length. Namely, shortening the focal length results in simultaneous
shortening of the focal zone and vice versa. When the focal zone is too long, the test
resolution and detectability may degrade significantly. Therefore, when higher resolution
and detectability are required, it is important to choose shorter focal lengths. The actual
length of the -6 dB focal zone can be estimated using Equation 1 (Panametrics, Inc.,
1995).
(1)
where
Fz = focal zone length
F = transducer focal length
SF = F/N (normalized focal length)
N = D2f/4c (near field distance)
f = frequency
D = transducer diameter
c = sound velocity.
In the test described below, two transducers with frequencies of 10 and 15 MHz and
focal lengths of 50.8 and 76.2 mm (2 and 3 in.), respectively, were compared for their
ability to detect minute discontinuities.

Experiment
One focused, broadband, immersion transducer of 15 MHz frequency, 12.5 mm (0.5 in.)
diameter and 50.8 mm (2 in.) focal length and one of 10 MHz frequency, 9.5 mm (0.4
in.) diameter and 76.2 mm (3 in.) focal length are employed. Two specimens, an
aluminum flat bottom hole 100-3 specimen with the hole measuring 100 m (3.9 x 10 -3
in.) and a copper flat bottom hole 250-6 specimen with the hole measuring 250 m
(0.01 in.), are tested. The first number in the specimen identification designates the flat
bottom hole diameter (in micrometers), while the second indicates the distance (in
millimeters) between the flat bottom hole surface and the front surface of the specimen.
Discontinuity free 99.999% purity low alloyed aluminum with 0.5 weight percent copper
and 99.999% purity copper were used to make these specimens.
During the test, the ultrasonic pulse is introduced into the specimen at a normal
incidence through a water column in the C-scan tank. The echo, which is reflected back
from the flat bottom hole, is received by the same transducer and processed by the
computer based data acquisition system. The data acquisition system employs a
receiver with a signal conditioning circuitry, low noise tuned preamplifier, low noise
gated linear amplifier and a peak detector loaded with a 12 bit analog to digital
converter.
The maximum amplitude of the radio frequency signal is converted into the analog
output, which is digitized by the analog to digital converter and stored in the memory of
the computer for future processing. The radio frequency signal is also displayed on the
oscilloscope screen (Figure 1).

(a)

(b)

Figure 1 - The radio frequency signal displayed on the oscilloscope screen: (a) echo
waveform from the 100 m (3.9 x 10-3 in.) aluminum flat bottom hole 100-3, amplified;
(b) echo waveforms from the surface and the aluminum flat bottom hole 100-3

The focalization curve for each of these two transducers is determined for both
specimens. The curves are developed by varying the echo round trip delay time. The
delay time (measured in microseconds) can be easily converted into round trip distance
in millimeters (or inches) by multiplying the delay time by the ultrasonic velocity of the
water at known temperature. The round trip delay time, as well as water path,
completely defines the location of the focal spot and the length and the location of the (6 dB) focal zone inside the specimen (Krautkramer and Krautkramer, 1990).

Results
The results show that the decrease in the frequency with the simultaneous increase in
the focal length cause the focal zone to extend, but as is mentioned above, at the
expense of test sensitivity (Figure 2). This effect is more pronounced for the copper
specimen (Figure 2b) due to a stronger ultrasonic attenuation. As a result of ultrasonic
interaction with specimen texture, a texture noise caused by wave diffraction and
attenuation should also be accounted for.

(a)

(b)
Figure 2 - Effect of frequency and focal length on test sensitivity: (a) signal to noise ratio
versus round trip water path delay for aluminum flat bottom hole 100-3; (b) signal to
noise ratio versus water path round trip delay for copper bottom hole 250-6.

This noise causes echoes from minute discontinuities to be buried within a texture
noise, especially at low echo intensities. As seen in Figure 3b, even relatively large flat
bottom holes, such as 250 m (0.01 in.), become nearly invisible when the 10 MHz
transducer is used. The focal zone of the transducers can be estimated using Equation
1. As it follows from the equation, the increase in the focal length from 50.8 to 76.2 mm
(2 to 3 in.) as well as the decrease in both the frequency from 15 MHz to 10 MHz and
transducer diameter from 12.5 to 9.5 mm (0.5 to 0.4 in.) result in the focal zone increase
from 12.4 to 61.6 mm (0.49 to 2.4 in.) in water. A similar change occurs for the
aluminum and copper specimens, where the focal zone length is changed from 3 to
14.5 mm (0.1 to 0.6 in.) in aluminum and from 4 to 20 mm (0.2 to 0.8 in.) in copper.

(a)

(b)
Figure 3 - Effect of frequency and focal length on signal to noise ratio: (a) aluminum flat
bottom hole 100-3; (b) copper flat bottom hole 250-6.

At first glance, the increase in the transducer focal length looks very promising since it
allows us to test thicker layers of the material with relatively uniform sound pressure
intensity over a focal zone. However, as is shown in Figures 2 and 3, this will occur at
the expense of test sensitivity. Therefore, the 10 MHz with longer focal length
transducer has a certain disadvantage regarding detection of minute discontinuities
since minute discontinuities remain almost invisible for this transducer. Therefore,
shortening the focal zone and increasing the ultrasonic frequency provide a certain
advantage in the case of minute discontinuity detection.
Finally, it should be noted that neither transducer is capable of scanning through the
entire thickness of the specimen when the specimen thickness exceeds the focal zone
length. Hence, in every case when the specimen thickness exceeds the -6 dB focal
zone, the test result should be considered a statistical sampling for the material.
Therefore, the final judgment - as to what kind of sampling (with shorter or longer focal
zone) is better suited for the particular test - can be based on the test objectives.