Pulse-echo NDT of adhesively bonded joints in automotive assemblies

A new method for the detection of void-disbonds at the interfaces of adhesively bonded joins is considered. Based on a simple plane wave model, the output waveform is presented as a sum of two responses associated with the reflection of the ultrasonic wave at the first metal–adhesive interface and the second metal–adhesive interface, respectively. The strong response produced by the wave reverberating in the first metal sheet is eliminated through comparison between the pulse-echo signal measured at the area under the test and reference waveform recorded for the bare first metal sheet outside of the joint. The developed decomposition algorithm has been applied to the study of steel and aluminum samples having various adhesive layer thicknesses in a range of 0.1–1 mm.