Looking for Multiple Scattering Effects in Backscattered Ultrasonic Grain Noise from Jet-Engine Nickel Alloys

For pulse/echo inspections of metals, models which predict backscattered noise characteristics often make a 'single-scattering' assumption, i.e., multiple-scattering events in which sound is scattered from one grain to another before returning to the transducer are ignored. Models based on the single-scattering assumption have proven to be very useful in simulating inspections of engine-alloy billets and forgings. However, this assumption may not be accurate if grain scattering is too 'strong' (e.g., if the mean grain diameter and/or the inspection frequency is too large). In this work, backscattered grain noise measurements and analyses were undertaken to search for evidence of significant multiple scattering in pulse/echo inspections of jet-engine Nickel alloys. At or above about 7 MHz frequency and 50 micron grain diameter, problems were seen with single-scattering noise models that are likely due to the neglect of multiple scattering by the models. The modeling errors were less severe for focused-probe measurements in the focal zone than for planar probe inspections. Single-scattering noise models are likely adequate for simulating current billet inspections which are carried out using 5-MHz focused transducers. However, multiple scattering effects should be taken into account in some fashion when simulating higher-frequency inspections of Nickel-alloy billets having large mean grain diameters (> 40 microns)