C13-a2 - Ultrasonic Characterization of Microstructural Inhomogeneity in Additively Manufactured Metals
- Event
- 2025 ICU PADERBORN - 9th International Congress on Ultrasonics
2025-09-21 - 2025-09-25
Paderborn - Band
- Lectures
- Chapter
- C13-a - Ultrasonic Material Characterization
- Author(s)
- J. Tai, Z. Fan - Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Singapore)
- Pages
- 227 - 230
- DOI
- 10.5162/Ultrasonic2025/C13-a2
- ISBN
- 978-3-910600-08-9
- Price
- free
Abstract
Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of additively manufactured (AM) metals is particularly challenging due to their textured and irregular microstructures, which are intimately linked to their mechanical properties. Ultrasound, with its high sensitivity to microstructural features, offers a powerful non-destructive method for characterizing these materials. While conventional metals typically exhibit a direct, monotonic relationship between ultrasonic scattering and grain size, this correlation becomes ambiguous in AM metals where multiple microstructural features coexist. In this study, we introduce a parameterization approach to quantify microstructural inhomogeneity and examine its correlation with ultrasonic scattering-induced attenuation. Finite element simulations of elastic wave propagation are employed to provide a detailed microscale description of the elastic energy distribution and the degree of microstructural inhomogeneity. Our findings indicate that the proposed parameter effectively captures grain-scale variations, including textures and grain sizes, and demonstrates a monotonic relationship with ultrasonic scattering. Specifically, an increase in microstructural inhomogeneity enhances elastic wave scattering. Moreover, the cumulative effect of scattering leads to ultrasonic attenuation, shows a positive correlation with characteristic length–weighted microstructural inhomogeneity. Importantly, this parameter exhibits a consistent monotonic correlation with ultrasonic attenuation across materials with diverse crystal systems. These results elucidate the fundamental mechanisms linking ultrasonic responses to grain-scale microstructural inhomogeneity and underscore the potential of ultrasound-based NDE for the advanced characterization of AM materials.