Elastic Wave Propagation and Scattering in Austenitic Steel

Ultrasonic nondestructive testing of austenitic steel welds is very difficult, because fundamental wave propagation and scattering effects in such complicated anisotropic environments are only hardly understood [1, 2]. Therefore, a step-by-step evaluation of elastic wave propagation in transversely isotropic media has been initiated. Under the assumption of transverse isotropy the numerical EFIT code (Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique) [3] - [7] was extended to anisotropic homogeneous media. It allows 3D computation of quasi pressure and quasi shear as well as surface waves in transverse isotropic media. Results for finite aperture transducer radiation and crack scattering in a single crystal austenitic weld are presented; measurements of amplitude dynamics, A-Scans and C-Scans confirm the EFIT simulations [8]