Feasibility study of nonlinear ultrasonic imaging using a contact pulse-echo method for fatigue damage evaluation

A contact pulse-echo nonlinear imaging method is proposed for the detection and localisation of fatigue damage in solid materials. A dual element transducer is designed based on nonlinear wave simulations and manufactured to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of harmonic waves. The transducer is clamped on a fixture device for scanning. The proposed method is introduced for scanning and imaging stainless steel specimens with different fatigue damage states. Experimental results for the specimen in the initial state show that both the fundamental and second harmonic waves are well measured and the imaging of nonlinear parameters is very stable over the scanning area. The imaging results for the specimen with an initial fatigue crack show that the fundamental waves remain the same but the second harmonic waves vary significantly in the potential growth area of the fatigue crack. Furthermore, the imaging results for the seriously fatigued specimen show that the amplitudes of fundamental waves decrease near the fatigue crack, while the amplitudes of second harmonic waves increase. These results indicate that the proposed pulse-echo method is effective for nonlinear ultrasonic imaging and early damage evaluation. The factors affecting the nonlinear waves in the lab experiments and possible problems with practical applications are also discussed for the proposed method.