Ultrasonic testing (
UT) is a family of
non-destructive testing techniques based on the propagation of
ultrasonic waves in the object or material tested. In most common UT applications, very short ultrasonic pulse-waves with center frequencies ranging from 0.1-15 MHz, and occasionally up to 50 MHz, are transmitted into materials to detect internal flaws or to characterize materials. A common example is
ultrasonic thickness measurement, which tests the thickness of the test object, for example, to monitor pipework
corrosion.