Ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation of porosity in particle-reinforced metal matrix composites with mean grain size

The ultrasonic pulse echo method is widely used for non-destructive evaluation of properties of alloys and composites and monitoring of internal damage; however, important characterization parameters such as the pulse echo method for ceramic-metal composites are still unknown. Therefore, in this article, the porosity dependence of transverse and longitudinal sound wave velocities, hardness values, mean grain sizes, densities, elastic (Young's) modulus were statistically examined in isotropic porous Ni-Fe-WC ceramic-metal composites prepared by powder metallurgy method. The results show that metal and ceramic powders taken in different proportions have various morphologies and complex internal structures, which greatly affects the homogeneity of the longitudinal wave velocity ranging between 4827-6766 m/s and the transverse wave velocity varying between 2176-4198 m/s, and they also It shows that the ultrasonic pulse velocity in the Ni-Fe-WC composite is the main reason for the dispersion effect. It was observed that porosity decreased as ultrasonic wave speed, Young's modulus, density, average grain size values increased and hardness values decreased. It has also been clearly seen that the porosity, hardness, mean grain size, density and ultrasonic wave velocity of the Ni-Fe-WC composite are strongly related to the sintering temperature. It is concluded that ultrasonic sound wave with ultrasonic pulse echo method is a promising candidate for quantitative non-destructive evaluation of porosity of additive manufacturing components.