Monte Carlo uncertainty assessment of ultrasonic beam parameters from immersion transducers used to non-destructive testing

The uncertainty of ultrasonic beam parameters from non-destructive testing immersion probes was evaluated using the Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM) uncertainty framework and Monte Carlo Method simulation. The calculated parameters such as focal distance, focal length, focal widths and beam divergence were determined according to EN 12668-2. The typical system configuration used during the mapping acquisition comprises a personal computer connected to an oscilloscope, a signal generator, axes movement controllers, and a water bath. The positioning system allows moving the transducer (or hydrophone) in the water bath. To integrate all system components, a program was developed to allow controlling all the axes, acquire waterborne signals, and calculate essential parameters to assess and calibrate US transducers. All parameters were calculated directly from the raster scans of axial and transversal beam profiles, except beam divergence. Hence, the positioning system resolution and the step size are principal source of uncertainty. Monte Carlo Method simulations were performed by another program that generates pseudo-random samples for the distributions of the involved quantities. In all cases, there were found statistical differences between Monte Carlo and GUM methods.