Multiple scattering filter: Application to plane defect detection in a nickel alloy

The ultrasonic inspection of polycrystalline media remains a challenge. The high noise levels due to interaction between the wave and the microstructure limit the efficiency of classical ultrasonic techniques to detect a defect in a coarse grain structure. The aim of this work is to reduce the influence of multiple scattering in order to increase the information obtained from the defect. The technique introduced here is based on array probes for the acquisition of the medium’s response matrix by full matrix capture, after which a filter based on random matrix theory is applied. Here an improvement of this technique is applied on nickel-based alloy mock-ups that present an unfavourable grain structure and well known bulk and plane defects. The results in normal incidence and with an angle array probe of 128 elements and 5 MHz of central frequency are compared to classical phased array probe techniques.