The use of ultrasound in the determination of microstructure

Microstructure and defects are determining the ability of materials to be used in components and to withstand applied loads. The contribution describes the state of the art to characterize the microstructure by evaluating elastic and anelastic wave propagation properties. Besides these physically well understood interactions between wave propagation and microstructure, some empirically determined correlations especially to mechanical-technological parameters like strength and hardness are discussed.