Measurement of elastic properties of AISI 52100 alloy steel by ultrasonic nondestructive methods

Abstract

In certain applications, it is important to measure the mechanical properties of steel with high accuracy. These measurements are usually performed by destructive processes, in which the test sample is destroyed. Destructive techniques cannot detect the minuscule changes made in the mechanical properties of steel during heat treatment processes. Ultrasonic nondestructive testing is an alternative method that can be used for measuring the mechanical properties of steel more precisely. In this paper, the ultrasonic method is used for measuring the elastic properties of AISI 52100 steel samples which are heat treated at different levels. Each sample has its specific microstructure and hardness due to the heat treatment process it has gone through. The elastic properties of each sample are obtained by measuring the velocities of longitudinal and shear waves in each sample. Comparison of the results obtained from ultrasonic measurements with those available in reference tables shows that the ultrasonic technique can measure the elastic properties of AISI 52100 samples with high accuracy. The ultrasonic technique also shows that it can identify the tempered martensite embrittlement zone in AISI 52100 samples.