Corrosion detection using a pulsed laser scanning system can be performed via ultrasonic wave propagation imaging. This method outputs illustrations of the wave field within the host structure; thus, it can depict wave-corrosion area interactions. Additionally, post-processing can be performed to enhance the visualization of corroded areas. The wavefield energy computed using RMS (Root Mean Square) is a validated post-processing tool capable of displaying the location and area of corrosion-damaged regions. Nonetheless, to characterize corrosion, it is necessary to determine its depth. The measurement of depth in conjunction with that of the corroded area via the RMS distribution enables the determination of all dimensions of corrosion damage. Thereafter, the flaw severity can be evaluated. This study employed a wavefield within a plate on which corrosion was developed artificially to generate frequency-wavenumber dispersion curves. The curves were compared with their counterparts from a corrosion-free plate. Alternatively, they could be compared with dispersion curves drawn using the depth and material properties of a pristine plate via a computer program. Frequency-wavenumber pairs were extracted from the dispersion curves produced using the portion of the wavefield within the corroded area. These were inserted into the Rayleigh-Lamb equation, from which depths were calculated and averaged.
Keywords: Fourier transform; Rayleigh–Lamb equation; corrosion damage; dispersion curves; root mean square; ultrasonic wave propagation imaging.