Modeling Ultrasonic Inspection with Abaqus

Non-destructive testing is a 9 billion dollar global industry that plays an important part in evaluating engineering structures to ensure that they are fit for purpose and safe to use. Ultrasonic testing is one of the most widely used non-destructive inspection techniques, and can be simulated using finite element analysis to help develop procedures to guarantee the safety and quality of complex components, and to validate and improve existing procedures.

The Abaqus Explicit solver is well suited to this, with calculation times cut by orders of magnitude compared with the implicit solvers used by some packages. Modelling allows the interaction and scattering of the sound waves from flaws to be visualized and understood in an intuitive manner which is impossible to achieve in the lab. It can be used to study the effects of component geometry, materials, temperature and test frequency on flaw detection capability.

Here, we go through the process of setting up a wave propagation model in Abaqus. Some example applications are presented, and important issues in making sure the model accurately represents reality are discussed.

Viewing time: 19mins

Recording from Simulation Innovation Forum 2021.