A Novel Multi-frequency Nonlinear Ultrasonic Approach for the Characterization of Annealed Polycrystalline Microstructure

A multi-frequency nonlinear ultrasonic measurement is used to characterize grain size variations and distributions unambiguously. The ultrasonic nonlinearity parameter varies linearly with grain size in the Rayleigh scattering regime but deviates from linear behavior at the Rayleigh-to-stochastic transition zone. Frequency dependence of this parameter is found to be a reliable tool for rapid screening of materials where grain size varies widely.