Laser ultrasonics as an innovative sensor for microstructure control

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Laser ultrasonics for metallurgy (LUMet) is an emerging Canadian sensor technology that is a noncontact and nondestructive technique for fast and precise in-situ measurements of microstructures - the "fingerprints" that give a metal or alloy its unique properties. We are fortunate to have acquired the world's first LUMet system as an attachment to our Gleeble 3500 thermo-mechanical simulator through a successful CFI application (of approximately 1.09 million dollar). This is the first time that LUMet will be used in a laboratory dedicated to metallurgical studies rather than in a laser development laboratory. Laser ultrasonics is the generation and detection of ultrasound using lasers. Currently, standard metallography - the study of the microscopic structure of metals - uses slow and labour-intensive techniques. LUMet offers the potential to transform the nature of metal and alloy processing by accelerating laboratory studies and as an intelligent sensor for microstructure control in an industrial line where currently microstructure is indirectly controlled by temperature measurements. This potential paradigm shift will drive the design of microstructures with highly desirable properties - those needed to produce the innovative materials and products that will put Canada at the forefront of the metallurgical industry worldwide. In the proposed project laser ultrasonics will be further advanced for monitoring grain growth, recrystallization, precipitation and phase transformations in steels, Al, Ti and Mg alloys. Three graduate students will be trained with dedicated laser ultrasonic studies thereby positioning them as champions of this innovative sensor technology in Canada's metallurgical industry. The long term objectives are (i) to establish an international Centre of Excellence on laser ultrasonics for metallurgy at the University of British Columbia and (ii) to promote the LUMet technology as a new standard for in-situ microstructure characterization and control in the metallurgical community.