Application of Laser-Ultrasonics in Metal Processing

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 9585

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Swerim AB, Kista, Sweden
Interests: laser ultrasound; elasticity in polycrystals; relationships between texture and wave propagation; control and characterization of texture and microstructure in metals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Swerim AB, 164 40 Kista, Sweden
Interests: laser ultrasonics; non-destructive testing; non-destructive evaluation; process monitoring

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Swerim AB, 164 40 Kista, Sweden
Interests: laser ultrasonics; non-destructive testing; laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the development of the laser ultrasonic (LUS) technique in the 1980s and 1990s, the field has matured significantly. The key advantage of LUS is the unique feature of being able to measure material properties in a truly contactless manner with a working distance up to meters. This attractive feature has enabled commercialization in a broad range of areas and today there are available LUS systems for several industrial applications, e.g., wall thickness gauging for the extrusion of seamless pipes, real-time grain size monitoring in thermomechanical simulators, and the detection of defects in large components for the aviation industry. This research field contains a myriad of applications where laser ultrasound is a key enabler for understanding material processing and process behavior.

This Special Issue concerns the application of laser ultrasonics in metal processing and we invite the whole laser ultrasonics community to submit contributions on this topic.

Prof. Dr. Bevis Hutchinson
Dr. Malmström Mikael
Dr. Lundin Peter
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • laser ultrasonics
  • non-destructive testing
  • metal processing
  • process monitoring
    

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 56861 KiB  
Article
Imaging Microstructure on Optically Rough Surfaces Using Spatially Resolved Acoustic Spectroscopy
by Wenqi Li, Paul Dryburgh, Don Pieris, Rikesh Patel, Matt Clark and Richard J. Smith
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(6), 3424; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063424 - 08 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1648
Abstract
The microstructure of a material defines many of its mechanical properties. Tracking the microstructure of parts during their manufacturing is needed to ensure the designed performance can be obtained, especially for additively manufactured parts. Measuring the microstructure non-destructively on real parts is challenging [...] Read more.
The microstructure of a material defines many of its mechanical properties. Tracking the microstructure of parts during their manufacturing is needed to ensure the designed performance can be obtained, especially for additively manufactured parts. Measuring the microstructure non-destructively on real parts is challenging for optical techniques such as laser ultrasound, as the optically rough surface impacts the ability to generate and detect acoustic waves. Spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy can be used to measure the microstructure, and this paper presents the capability on a range of surface finishes. We discuss how to describe ’roughness’ and how this influences the measurements. We demonstrate that measurements can be made on surfaces with Ra up to 28 μm for a selection of roughness comparators. Velocity images on a range of real surface finishes, including machined, etched, and additively manufactured finishes in an as-deposited state, are presented. We conclude that the Ra is a poor descriptor for the ability to perform measurements as the correlation length of the roughness has a large impact on the ability to detected the surface waves. Despite this issue, a wide range of real industrially relevant surface conditions can be measured. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Laser-Ultrasonics in Metal Processing)
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25 pages, 8208 KiB  
Article
Estimation of Grain Size and Composition in Steel Using Laser UltraSonics Simulations at Different Temperatures
by Arno Duijster, Arno Volker, Frenk Van den Berg and Carola Celada-Casero
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(2), 1121; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13021121 - 14 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2135
Abstract
The applicability of laser ultrasonics for the determination of grain size and phase composition in steels under different temperatures was investigated. This was done by obtaining the velocity and attenuation of propagating ultrasonic waves in a simulated steel medium. Samples of ferrite and [...] Read more.
The applicability of laser ultrasonics for the determination of grain size and phase composition in steels under different temperatures was investigated. This was done by obtaining the velocity and attenuation of propagating ultrasonic waves in a simulated steel medium. Samples of ferrite and austenite with varying microstructures were modelled and simulated with the finite difference method, as were samples with varying ratios of austenite and martensite. The temperature of the medium was taken into account as an essential parameter, since both velocity and attenuation are temperature dependent. Results of the velocity and attenuation analysis showed that the use of the wave propagation velocity is not feasible for determination of grain size or phase composition due to a high sensitivity to temperature and sample thickness. The frequency-dependent ultrasonic wave attenuation was less sensitive to the variation of temperature and sample thickness. It can be concluded that accurate knowledge of the temperature is essential for obtaining a correct grain size or phase ratio estimation: a temperature accuracy of 100 °C yields a grain size accuracy in the order of a micrometer using the attenuation. Similarly, a temperature accuracy of 70 °C leads to a phase ratio estimation accuracy of 10%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Laser-Ultrasonics in Metal Processing)
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18 pages, 5063 KiB  
Article
Laser Generated Broadband Rayleigh Waveform Evolution for Metal Additive Manufacturing Process Monitoring
by Chaitanya Bakre, Seyed Hamidreza Afzalimir, Cory Jamieson, Abdalla Nassar, Edward W. Reutzel and Cliff J. Lissenden
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(23), 12208; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122312208 - 29 Nov 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1840
Abstract
This work proposes that laser pulses can generate finite amplitude Rayleigh waves for process monitoring during additive manufacturing. The noncontact process monitoring uses a pulsed laser to generate Rayleigh waves, and an adaptive laser interferometer to receive them. Experiments and models in the [...] Read more.
This work proposes that laser pulses can generate finite amplitude Rayleigh waves for process monitoring during additive manufacturing. The noncontact process monitoring uses a pulsed laser to generate Rayleigh waves, and an adaptive laser interferometer to receive them. Experiments and models in the literature show that finite amplitude waveforms evolve with propagation distance and that shocks can even form in the in-plane particle velocity waveform. The nonlinear waveform evolution is indicative of the material nonlinearity, which is sensitive to the material microstructure, which in turn affects strength and fracture properties. The measurements are made inside a directed energy deposition additive manufacturing chamber on planar Ti-6Al-4V and IN-718 depositions. By detecting the out-of-plane particle displacement waveform, the in-plane displacement and velocity waveforms are also available. The waveform evolution can be characterized (i) for one source amplitude by reception at different points or (ii) by reception at one point by applying different source amplitudes. Sample results are provided for intentionally adjusted key process parameters: laser power, scan speed, and hatch spacing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Laser-Ultrasonics in Metal Processing)
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13 pages, 3725 KiB  
Article
Laser-Ultrasound-Based Grain Size Gauge for the Hot Strip Mill
by Mikael Malmström, Anton Jansson, Bevis Hutchinson, Johan Lönnqvist, Lars Gillgren, Linda Bäcke, Hans Sollander, Matthias Bärwald, Sascha Hochhard and Peter Lundin
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(19), 10048; https://doi.org/10.3390/app121910048 - 06 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2280
Abstract
The paper summarizes the creation of a robust online grain size gauge for a hot strip mill. A method and algorithm for calculating the grain size from the measured ultrasonic attenuation is presented. This new method is self-calibrating, does not rely on a [...] Read more.
The paper summarizes the creation of a robust online grain size gauge for a hot strip mill. A method and algorithm for calculating the grain size from the measured ultrasonic attenuation is presented. This new method is self-calibrating, does not rely on a geometrical reference sample and can cope with the effects of diffraction on the attenuation. The model is based on 52 quenched samples measured with more than 23,000 laser ultrasonics shots and has a correlation coefficient R2 of 0.8. Typical online laser ultrasonic measurements from the hot strip mill and the calculated grain size versus length are presented for a couple of steel strips. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Laser-Ultrasonics in Metal Processing)
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