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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/I019731/1
Title: NEW METHODS FOR ULTRASONIC NDE OF DIFFICULT MATERIALS
Principal Investigator: Gachagan, Professor A
Other Investigators:
O'Leary, Dr R Mulholland, Professor A
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) Rolls-Royce Plc (UK) Serco
Shell Weidlinger Associates
Department: Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Organisation: University of Strathclyde
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 August 2011 Ends: 31 July 2014 Value (£): 263,701
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Acoustics Materials testing & eng.
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Aerospace, Defence and Marine Energy
Related Grants:
EP/I021027/1
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
03 Nov 2010 Materials, Mechanical and Medical Engineering Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
In many engineering applications, materials that exhibit heterogeneous or otherwise acoustically scattering microstructure are employed, examples include austenitic steels and alloys, concrete and fibre reinforced composites. In ultrasonic non destructive evaluation (NDE) of such highly scattering media, the defect target signal is frequently obscured by clutter echoes, caused by numerous, relatively small (relative to the ultrasonic wavelengths), stationary reflectors, which form part of the internal microstructure of the material. The extent of this clutter can be significant and even defects that are larger than these randomly scattering regions can be difficult to detect. This type of time-invariant clutter noise cannot be reduced by the standard time averaging or correlation techniques that are used to reduce time varying random electrical noise. Accordingly, defect identification invariably involves a compromise between achievable resolution, which is determined partly by wavelength in the material, and the noise arising from scattering in the propagation medium. This project will investigate a range of methods for improved ultrasonic NDE of difficult materials. The approach will involve a combination of ultrasonic beam modelling, novel transducer design and array signal processing methods.
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Organisation Website: http://www.strath.ac.uk