Basics of Laser Ultrasound and it’s applicability in the Manufacturing Environment
Tracks
Day of Tutorials
| Monday, June 24, 2024 |
| 9:20 AM - 10:30 AM |
| 408-409 |
Overview
Dr. Megan E. McGovern | General Motors
Details
Laser ultrasound is a powerful non-contact technique where ultrasonic inspection is performed by generating and detecting an ultrasonic signal with two lasers. The generation of the ultrasonic wave is accomplished by an incident laser pulse on the sample surface generally operating in one of two regimes: thermoelastic and ablation. The thermoelastic regime is considered completely nondestructive and relies on subsurface thermal expansion and contraction. The ablation regime relies on formation of plasma and material removal on the sample surface. The resulting laser-generated ultrasonic beam characteristics are therefore highly dependent on both the interrogated sample characteristics such as surface conditions and wavelength absorptivity and the generation laser parameters, including spot size, pulse duration, power, and laser wavelength.
This presentation will provide a broad overview of the basics of laser ultrasonic generation and detection. Detail will be provided on the different testing regimes and experimental considerations. Examples will also be provided, where specific emphasis will be placed on applicability in the manufacturing environment.
Speaker
Dr. Megan McGovern
Staff Researcher
General Motors Research and Development
Basics of Laser Ultrasound and it’s applicability in the Manufacturing Environment
Biography
Dr. Megan McGovern is a Senior Researcher in the Manufacturing Systems Research Lab at General Motors Research and Development. She joined GM in 2016 and uses her NDE skillset to provide manufacturing solutions to internal customers. She leads research projects to develop manufacturing inspection systems, crucial for first-time quality. Most of her research is focused on quality verification for battery manufacturing. Dr. McGovern received her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Systems Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. McGovern is the chair of the ASNT Detroit Section. She is active in various professional societies and is a licensed Professional Engineer. She has 6 patents and 28 peer-reviewed journal articles, one of which received the Outstanding Paper Published in Materials Evaluation. In 2022, she received the ASNT Research Innovation and the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Awards. Recently, she received the Boss Kettering Award, GM’s highest award for recognizing technical inventions and innovations.
