The results obtained by Ukrainian researchers on the justification, development, and application of ultrasonic nondestructive methods (UNDMs) for evaluating stresses in structural members and near-surface layers of materials are briefly discussed. A distinguishing feature of Ukrainian methods is that they are capable of determining triaxial (including biaxial and uniaxial as partial cases) stresses, unlike non-Ukrainian methods applicable only to uniaxial stresses. The UNDMs are based on the laws of wave propagation in solids with initial (residual) stresses, including the laws of Rayleigh wave propagation. The results discussed were obtained in the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (S. P.
Timoshenko Institute of Mechanics and E. O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding)Keywords: ultrasonic nondestructive methods, triaxial and biaxial stresses, structural members, near-surface layers, wave propagation in solids with initial (residual) stresses, Timoshenko Institute of Mechanics, Paton Institute of Electric Welding 1. Introduction. Ultrasonic nondestructive testing (UNDT) is a widely developed and generally recognized field of fundamental and applied importance. Its numerous results are actively used in various areas of natural sciences and engineering.Various scientific and science-and-technology conferences on UNDT are held annually. Results on UNDT are published in various scientific and technology journals, conference proceedings, and transactions of research centers. One of the most important and actively developed parts or general aspects of UNDT is ultrasonic nondestructive methods (UNDM) for stress analysis of solids (structural members and materials, including their near-surface layers).The physics behind the UNDM is the laws of propagation of elastic waves in materials with initial (residual) stresses, which are studied by the three-dimensional linearized theory of propagation of elastic waves in bodies with initial stresses (TLTPEW in BIS). Currently, the laws of propagation of longitudinal and transverse waves in unbounded bodies and Rayleigh waves in near-surface layers of materials are used to develop UNDMs, these laws being related to the TLTPEW in BIS.The UNDMs being discussed are intended to measure various stresses (effective, residual, process-induced, initial, operating, assembly, etc.). These stresses should be considered as initial or residual when using the TLTPEW in BIS [1, 3]. The perturbations (stresses and displacements in the TLTPEW in BIS [1, 3]) result from ultrasonic oscillations excited in materials and structural members. This approach seems to be conventional in the world's scientific and technical literature. It is used to develop various UNDMs in a number of research centers all over the world, including the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU).Nowadays, numerous monographs and journal papers on UNDM and TLTPEW in BIS are published in various countries. The list of references includes only major publications by Ukrainian researchers, as the title states. However, w...