Fiber optic sensing for ultrasonic NDE

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1987 · J. Nondestr. Eval.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00568009· OSTI ID:6361322

Dudderar, T D; Burger, C P; Gilbert, J A; Smith, J A; Peters, B R

An innovative approach to nondestructive evaluation (NDE) using noncontacting optical sensors has demonstrated. In this effort a single mode optical fiber interferometer (OFI) was used to sense the presence and form of Rayleigh waves traveling along the surface of a steel test bar at a velocity of nearly 3mm/..mu.. s. Acousto-optic time-domain data was successfully used to detect the presence and locate the position of a test flaw (a machined slot) in the bar, and spectrum analysis was used to estimate its geometry and size. This approach has many potential applications in the ultrasonic evaluation of real flaws in structures with complex geometries. Coupled with the authors' earlier work demonstrating the feasibility of generating acoustic waves in metals using laser light pulses transmitted through the fiber optic probes, this latest achievement points to the development of a fully noncontacting, fiber optic based thermal-acousto-photonic (TAP) NDE system, with potential applications to the reliability testing of many important structures where composition, scale, geometry, or restricted access preclude the use of conventional NDE techniques.

• Research Organization: AT and T Bell Labs., Murray Hill, NJ (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6361322
• Journal Information: J. Nondestr. Eval.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Nondestr. Eval.; (United States) Vol. 6:3; ISSN JNOED
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360102 -- Metals & Alloys-- Structure & Phase Studies
42 ENGINEERING
420500* -- Engineering-- Materials Testing
ACOUSTIC TESTING
ALLOYS
BEAM OPTICS
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
DEFECTS
DETECTION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
FIBER OPTICS
FIBERS
FREQUENCY ANALYSIS
GAS LASERS
INTERFEROMETERS
INTERFEROMETRY
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
LASER RADIATION
LASERS
MATERIALS TESTING
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
OPTICAL FIBERS
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOACOUSTIC EFFECT
PHOTODETECTORS
RADIATIONS
RAYLEIGH WAVES
SEISMIC SURFACE WAVES
SEISMIC WAVES
SENSITIVITY
SOUND WAVES
STEELS
TESTING
TRANSDUCERS
ULTRASONIC TESTING
ULTRASONIC WAVES
WAVE PROPAGATION