ELECTRODYNAMIC APPROACH FOR VISUALIZATION OF SOUND PROPAGATION IN SOLIDS

The visualization of sound propagation in solids is vital for transducer adaptation and better understanding of complex test samples and their wave propagation modeling. In this work we present an electrodynamic technique detecting the grazing sound beam with a 10 mm-sized electrodynamic probe. The particle displacement along the sample's surface was then measured as a function of time and position. Adapting the electrodynamic probe and its coil alignment allows for measuring the displacement components in all three dimensions. Thus horizontal and vertical particle displacement with respect to the surface can be detected. A SNR of up to 40 dB could be achieved within ferromagnetic and high conductive chrome steel when using a shear wave generated by an angle beam probe. When dealing with nonconductive materials such as PMMA we obtained a reduced SNR of 12 dB. We report on measurements of the sound field in complex weld joints. One example shows a narrow gap weld joining a nickel alloy with a chrome steel. The weld of the 80 mm-thick test block shows a distinct anisotropic texture. The system enables us to visualize the wave propagation within the weld and indicates the reflection and scattering scenario and the energy losses due to both the anisotropic structure and material defects.