1. Which of the following may result in a long narrow rod if the beam divergence results in a reflection from a side of the test piece before the sound wave reaches the back surface?
(a) Multiple indications before the first back reflection
(b) Indications from multiple surface reflections
(c) Conversion from the longitudinal mode to shear mode
(d) Loss of front surface indications
2. Acoustic energy propagates in different modes. Which of the following represent a mode?
(a) Longitudinal wave
(b) Shear wave
(c) Surface wave
(d) All of the above
3. Which of the following would be considered application(s) of ultrasonic testing?
(a) Determination of a material’s elastic modulus
(b) Study of a material’s metallurgical structure
(c) Measurement of a material’s thickness
(d) All of the above
4. Waves whose particle displacement is parallel to the direction of propagation are
called:
(a) Longitudinal waves
(b) Shear waves
(c) Lamb waves
(d) Rayleigh waves
5. Sound waves with particle displacement transverse to the direction of wave travel are
known as:
(a) Longitudinal waves
(b) Shear waves
(c) Rayleigh waves
(d) Plate waves
6. The only sound waves which travel in liquids are:
(a) Longitudinal waves
(b) Shear waves
(c) Rayleigh waves
(d) Plate waves
7. In steel, the velocity of sound is greatest in which of the following modes of
vibration?
(a) Longitudinal
(b) Shear
(c) Surface wave
(d) Sound velocity is identical in all modes, in a given material
8. The scattering of the rays of an ultrasonic beam due to reflection from a highly
irregular surface is called:
(a) Angulation
(b) Dispersion
(c) Refraction
(d) Diffraction
9. Acoustic impedance is a material's:
(a) (Density)/(velocity)
(b) (Density) × (velocity)
(c) Refractive index
(d) (Density)/(refractive index)
10. When a sound beam is incident on an acoustic interface at some angle other than
normal incidence, which of the following occurs?
(a) Reflection
(b) Refraction
(c) Mode conversion
(d) All of the above
11. The angle formed by an ultrasonic wave as it enters a medium of different velocity
than the one from which it came and a line drawn perpendicular to the interface
between the two media is called:
(a) The angle of incidence
(b) The angle of refraction
(c) The angle of diffraction
(d) The angle of reflection
12. Which of the following frequencies would probably result in the greatest ultrasonic
attenuation losses?
(a) 1 MHz
(b) 2.25 MHz
(c) 10 MHz
(d) 25 MHz
13. Attenuation is made up of:
(a) Diffusion and absorption
(b) Scatter and reflection
(c) Absorption and scatter
(d) Reflection at grain boundaries
14. The most important factor required for the proper interpretation of ultrasonic test
results is:
(a) The ultrasonic signal amplitude
(b) A knowledge of the test specimen material and its construction
(c) A knowledge of the ultrasonic instruments operating characteristics
(d) The ultrasonic signal location
15. A significant limitation of a lower frequency, single element transducer is:
(a) Scatter of sound beam due to microstructure of test object
(b) Increased grain noise or ‘hash’
(c) Less beam spread
(d) Impaired ability to display discontinuities just below the entry surface
16. Which of the following is the least efficient generator of ultrasonic waves:
(a) Quartz
(b) Lithium sulphate
(c) Lead metaniobate
(d) Barium titanate
17. Which of the following is the least efficient receiver of ultrasonic Energy?
(a) Quartz
(b) Lithium sulphate
(c) Lead metaniobate
(d) Barium titanate
18. The length of the zone adjacent to a transducer in which fluctuations in sound
pressure occur is mostly affected by:
(a) The frequency of the transducer
(b) The diameter of the transducer
(c) The length of transducer cable
(d) Both (a) and (b)
19. An advantage of using a transducer with a large beam spread is:
(a) Higher sensitivity to small discontinuities
(b) Less likelihood of spurious echoes
(c) Greater likelihood of spurious echoes
(d) Greater likelihood of detecting randomly oriented discontinuities
20. Resolution is inversely proportional to:
(a) Wavelength
(b) Crystal thickness
(c) Bandwidth
(d) Mechanical losses
21. Of the piezoelectric materials listed below, the most efficient sound transmitter is:
(a) Lithium sulphate
(b) Quartz
(c) Barium titanate
(d) Silver oxide
22. Other factors being equal, which of the following transducers would have the greatest
beam spread?
(a) A larger diameter transducer
(b) A smaller diameter transducer
(c) A higher frequency transducer
(d) None of the above has any effect
23. The fundamental frequency of a piezoelectric crystal is primarily a function of:
(a) The length of the applied voltage pulse
(b) The amplifying characteristics of the pulse amplifier in the instrument
(c) The thickness of the crystal
(d) None of the above
24. In which zone does the amplitude of an indication from a given discontinuity
diminish exponentially as the distance increases?
(a) Far field zone
(b) Near field zone
(c) Dead zone
(d) Fresnel zone
25. A typical application for a through transmission technique is:
(a) Flaw depth sizing
(b) Flaw depth location
(c) Thickness measuring
(d) Bond/lack of bond testing
26. An advantage of a dual crystal search unit is that:
(a) There is no ‘dead zone’
(b) There is no near surface resolution
(c) There is no near field
(d) All of the above are true
27. Most contact testing is performed by which of the following techniques?
(a) Through transmission
(b) Pitch-catch
(c) Pulse-echo
(d) Continuous wave
28. When contouring an angle beam wedge for a convex surface, an undesirable result of
a wedge which is contoured too well might be:
(a) Production of unwanted surface waves
(b) Greater beam divergence due to larger contact area
(c) Lower beam divergence due to larger contact area
(d) Overly efficient coupling of sound beam into test part
29. It is possible for a discontinuity smaller than the transducer to produce indications of
fluctuating amplitude as the search unit is moved laterally if testing is being
performed in the:
(a) Fraunhofer zone
(b) Near field
(c) Snell field
(d) Shadow zone
30. A smooth flat discontinuity whose major plane is not perpendicular to the direction of
sound propagation may be indicated by:
(a) An echo amplitude comparable in magnitude to the back surface reflection
(b) A complete loss of back surface reflection
(c) An echo amplitude larger in magnitude than the back surface reflection
(d) All of the above
31. An effective method of testing for air bubbles in a pipe is to:
(a) Measure pipe back wall echo amplitude
(b) Analyze the frequency spectrum of pipe back wall echo
(c) Transmit sound across pipe diameter and look for echo loss
(d) Transmit sound across pipe diameter and look for echoes from air bubbles
32. The ultrasonic test method in which finger damping is most effective in locating a
discontinuity is:
(a) Shear wave
(b) Longitudinal wave
(c) Surface wave
(d) Compression wave
33. Inspection of castings is often impractical because of:
(a) Extremely small grain structure
(b) Coarse grain structure
(c) Uniform flow lines
(d) Uniform velocity of sound
34. One of the most common applications of ultrasonic tests employing shear waves is
the:
(a) Detection of discontinuities in welds, tube and pipe
(b) Determination of elastic properties of metallic products
(c) Detection of laminar discontinuities in heavy plate
(d) Measurement of thickness of thin plate
35. The 2 mm wide notch in the IIW block is used to:
(a) Determine beam index point
(b) Check resolution
(c) Calibrate angle beam distance
(d) Check beam angle
36. A primary purpose of a reference standard is:
(a) To provide a guide for adjusting instrument controls to reveal discontinuities
that are considered harmful to the end use of the product
(b) To give the technician a tool for determining exact discontinuity size
(c) To provide assurance that all discontinuities smaller than a certain specified
reference reflector are capable of being detected by the test
(d) To provide a standard reflector which exactly simulates natural discontinuities
of a critical size
37. Laminations would most likely be encountered in which of the following product
forms?
(a) Forgings
(b) Hot rolled plate
(c) Castings
(d) Welds
38. A 50 percent decrease in echo amplitude is equal to a loss of how many decibels?
(a) 2
(b) 6
(c) 10
(d) 14
39. Typical frequencies which might be used to perform ultrasonic testing of concrete
are:
(a) 25 to 100 kHz
(b) 200 kHz to 5 MHz
(c) 1 MHz to 5 MHz
(d) 2.25 MHz to 10 MHz
40. Compared to the echo returned from a smooth reflector, the echo returned from a
natural flaw of the same area and orientation is:
(a) The same
(b) Greater
(c) Smaller
(d) Not related to
41. Which of the following is least likely to be a source of false indications?
(a) Discontinuities oriented at an angle to the entry surface
(b) Contoured surfaces
(c) Edge effects
(d) Surface condition
42. Abnormally large grain size in the test material may be indicated by:
(a) High levels of baseline noise, or hash
(b) High amplitude reflections between front and back surface echoes
(c) High amplitude, spurious echoes which are not repeatable
(d) Abnormally high back surface echo
43. The coated inside surface of the large end of a cathode ray tube which becomes
luminous when struck by an electron beam is called:
(a) An electron gun
(b) An electron amplifier
(c) A CRT screen
(d) An electron counter
