A circular transducer behaves like a large number of point sources. Close to the face their contributions interfere, producing a chaotic pattern of maxima and minima along the axis — the near field or Fresnel zone. Its length is N = D²/4λ = D²f/4c. Beyond N the pressure falls smoothly and predictably with distance; this is the far field, where all the amplitude-based sizing methods (DAC, DGS, AVG) are valid.

The last on-axis maximum sits at N, and the beam is at its narrowest there — roughly half the element diameter. That is the natural focus of an unfocused probe and the point of highest sensitivity. Inside the near field an amplitude reading tells you almost nothing about reflector size: a small reflector sitting on a pressure maximum can out-shout a larger one sitting in a null.

Practical consequences: evaluate flaws beyond N wherever possible; for thin sections use a low-frequency or small-diameter probe so the near field is short; when the near field is unavoidably long, use a twin-crystal (TR) probe whose crossed roof angle puts the sensitive zone close to the surface, or a focused probe. When you switch from compression to shear the wavelength almost halves and the near field almost doubles for the same probe — a point that catches people out on angle-beam work.

Some references use an effective diameter of 0.97·D for a circular element, which shortens N by about 6 %. This calculator uses the nominal diameter; if your procedure specifies the effective-diameter form, enter 0.97·D as the element diameter.

Compression or shear

Worked example

Wave mode	compression
Material velocity (override)	0 m/s
Probe frequency	5 MHz
Element diameter	10 mm
Velocity used	5900 m/s
Wavelength λ	1.18 mm
Near field length N	21.19 mm
Start of reliable far field (3N)	63.56 mm
Approximate beam diameter at N	5 mm

10 mm, 5 MHz compression probe on steel. λ = 5900/5000 = 1.18 mm; N = 10²/(4 × 1.18) = 100/4.72 = 21.19 mm. The same probe used in shear (3240 m/s, λ = 0.648 mm) would have N = 100/2.592 = 38.6 mm — nearly twice as long.