The use of ultrasound for non-medical purposes is more common that I ?thought. ?It is used for many applications not limited to aerospace, ?automotive, construction, manufacturing, en

The use of ultrasound for non-medical purposes is more common that I  thought.  It is used for many applications not limited to aerospace,  automotive, construction, manufacturing, environmental protection,  purification of water, decontamination of the atmosphere and soil, and  several other remediation applications. There is a study of the effects  of ultrasound on materials. This is known as sonochemistry.

To find more applications it is easier to research Nondestructive  Testing (ultrasonic) and you will find companies that specialize in the  use of ultrasonic testing for finding the thickness and faults including  corrosion in pipe. It is a non-destructive method using several methods  but primarily pulse-echo through transmission from something that emits  the sound wave and something to receive it (probe). This can very  accurately find faults in the material in a noninvasive way. Say you  have a large steam line in a factory and are unsure of the damage of  oxidization that has occurred in the lines, it would be easier and maybe  more cost effective to hire a company to evaluate before disassembling  and planning on re-piping if unneeded. I only think of this application  because I currently work in an older manufacturing plant, and we have  some steam piping in use that we really have no way of knowing its  density and integrity without shutting down the system and taking it  apart and reassembling. We often must plan for the worse and have parts  on hand and it can be unnecessary. Once again, I am finding these fields  of study fascinating. I hope you all are enjoying your research!

References:

What is Ultrasonic testing and how does it work? (2022). TWI. https://www.twi-global.com/technical-knowledge/faqs/ultrasonic-testingLinks to an external site.

Timothy J Mason. (2006, August 4). Developments in ultrasound-non-medical. NIH. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16928393/Links to an external site.