When a pulsed laser beam is focused onto a metal plate in water, a high-pressure pulse can be generated. This paper investigates the formation and behavior of bubbles that appear after the high-pressure-pulse generation. A 200-mJ, second-harmonic Nd:YAG laser pulse (duration of 7 ns) is incident on a stainless steel (SUS 304) plate to form a 1.1-mm-diameter spot. A bubble is formed and expands over the spot, which generates a hemispherical blast wave around the spot. The bubble grows in a period of the order of 400 μs after the laser pulse to reach a radius of about 5 mm. The behavior of the bubble is strongly affected by the thickness of the plate. When the plate thickness is 10 mm, the bubble keeps its hemispherical shape during the period of the first bounce. However, with a thin plate, for example of 0.1-mm thickness, the bubble is pinched and its head separates; moreover, another bubble is generated on the other side of the plate. Since these bubbles have different bounce motions, the acoustic field between 400 and 900 μs significantly differs depending on the thickness of the plate.

Behavior of bubbles induced by the interaction of a laser pulse with a metal plate in water

Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are poised to revolutionize jet engine technology by enabling operation temperatures well beyond those possible with current superalloys, while reducing active cooling requirements and engine weight. Manufacturing of parts formed by silicon-carbide (SiC) fibers in a SiC matrix is now well advanced, with the first non-structural static components entering service in 2017 with the CFM Leap® engine that uses SiC/SiC turbine shrouds. In order to expand the scope of application of CMCs to rotating parts, such as turbine blades, much work is being conducted to understand and characterize the modes of failure of these materials at temperatures beyond ∼ 1100 ° C . In this context, the ability of nondestructively monitoring the formation and progression of damage in CMCs specimens during high-temperature mechanical testing is critical. However, the elevated temperature precludes the possibility of using sensors placed in direct contact with the specimen and therefore severely restricts the range of available NDE techniques. This paper provides the first experimental assessment of the feasibility of noncontact laser ultrasonic inspection of SiC/SiC flat coupons. An Nd: Yag laser is used to excite ultrasonic waves on one side of the specimen while a Michelson interferometer detects the signals emerging on the other side at the epicenter position. The lasers are mounted on synchronized linear stages to form C-scans as in conventional immersion ultrasonics while ablation damage to the surface of the specimen is prevented by operating the lasers at low power density. Despite the complex microstructure of the SiC/SiC material it is found that the measured waveforms are remarkably similar to those observed when conducting the same tests in aluminum specimens. Moreover, it is shown that it is possible to image interlaminar defects caused by impacts, and monitor crack opening under tensile load. Finally, very good signal stability is observed when temperature is increased from 25 to 1250 °C which confirms the feasibility of laser monitoring at high temperature and is consistent with the good thermal stability of ceramic materials.

Noncontact Laser Ultrasonic Inspection of Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs)

A phased array laser ultrasound generation system by using fiber optic delivery and a custom-designed focusing objective lens has been developed for crack inspection. The enhancement of crack tip diffraction by using phased array laser ultrasound is simulated with finite element method and validated by experiment. A non-contact and non-destructive measurement of inner-surface cracks by time-of-flight diffraction method using fiber-phased array laser ultrasound generation and electromagnetic acoustic transducer detection has been studied.

Cracks measurement using fiber-phased array laser ultrasound generation

A numerical model based on the finite element method (FEM) is developed for crack inspection using laser-induced ultrasonic waves with the shadow method. Before the simulation, the numerical code is verified by comparing the directivity patterns of ultrasonic waves with the experiment. The use of thermo-elastically generated ultrasonic waves for crack detection and evaluation with the shadow method is investigated by simulation. The simulation is validated by comparing with the experiment.

Inspection of cracks using laser-induced ultrasound with shadow method: Modeling and validation

To realize a fully noncontact ultrasonic testing method for inner cracks inspection in thick metal specimen, a phased array laser ultrasonic testing system with using a compact optic fiber array bundle and a laser interferometer is developed in this study. The focusing and steering of the shear wave and longitudinal wave generated with seven fiber-phased-array laser sources in thermoelastic regime is investigated by a numerical simulation and validated by the experiment. A non-contact measurement of the inner-surface cracks by both the angle-beam testing method and time-of-flight diffraction method with the fiber-phased-array laser ultrasonic technique have been studied.

Fully noncontact measurement of inner cracks in thick specimen with fiber-phased-array laser ultrasonic technique

We developed a new time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD) method based on laser ultrasound, which can use not only longitudinal waves but also shear waves. This method is more advantageous than the conventional TOFD method, because it enables us to obtain flaw depths accurately without knowing the longitudinal or shear wave velocity in the specimen or the distance between the transmitter and receiver, which are not easily obtained in complex-shaped objects. We applied the proposed method to estimate slit depths in aluminum alloy plates. The times of flight of the lateral wave, diffracted waves and the mode-converted shear wave at the flaw tip were measured and used to estimate the slit depth. As a result, an accurate estimation of flaw depth was achieved.

Time-of-Flight Diffraction Measurement Using Laser Ultrasound

We applied laser ultrasound for the time of flight diffraction (TOFD) measurement. To find an effective testing condition of TOFD method, laser ultrasonic transmission around the slit in glass specimens was observed using the photoelastic ultrasonic visualization system. After the observation we constructed the laser TOFD system and applied to the slit depth measurement of aluminum plate, and then, obtained highly accurate results.

H. Cho

Papers

Time-of-Flight Diffraction Measurement Using Laser Ultrasound

Laser ultrasonic TOFD method