The study of non-detection zones in conventional long-distance ultrasonic guided wave inspection on square steel bars

Abstract

In a low-frequency ultrasonic guided wave dual-probe flaw inspection of a square steel bar with a finite length boundary, the flaw reflected pulse wave cannot be identified using conventional time monitoring when the flaw is located near the reflection terminal; therefore, the conventional ultrasonic echo method is not applicable and results in a non-detection zone. Using analysis and simulations of ultrasonic guided waves for the inspection of a square steel bar, the reasons for the appearance of the non-detection zone and its characteristics were analyzed and the range of the non-detection zone was estimated. Subsequently, by extending the range of the conventional detection time domain, the envelope of the specific reflected pulse signal was extracted by a combination of simulations and related envelope calculations to solve the problem of the non-detection zone in conventional inspection methods. A comparison between the simulation and the experimental results demonstrate that the solution is feasible. This study has certain practical significance for ultrasonic guided wave structural monitoring.