超声虚源成像中自适应双向空间逐点聚焦方法

针对传统超声成像中图像分辨率和对比度随深度下降的问题,提出了一种基于虚源的自适应双向空间逐点聚焦超声成像方法。首先,使用超声换能器线列阵分子孔径分别定焦点发射和接收超声波,采集扫描线数据;然后将焦点视为虚拟点声源,计算虚源到空间成像点的延时,利用合成孔径原理再次进行空间逐点聚焦;在合成过程中采用相干系数进行自适应加权。采用空间脉冲响应法对不同深度的点目标和囊目标仿真成像,从而量化分辨率和对比度。在F数为1.5、焦距为10 mm时(对应子孔径阵元数为17)可以获得与64通道定焦点发射、动态聚焦接收相当的图像质量且在所有深度上保持一致。实际硬件平台的体模成像实验进一步验证了方法的有效性。该方法可在整个成像深度范围内保持和常规成像一致的分辨率和对比度,从而获得更优的整体成像效果。      

基于粒子群算法的稀疏阵列超声相控阵全聚焦成像

为降低相控阵超声检测全聚焦算法的成像数据量及阵列稀疏优化的计算时间,研究了一种用于稀疏阵列全聚焦成像的阵列优化算法,并通过实验对其成像效果进行了验证。针对目前超声相控阵检测的全矩阵采集数据量大、全聚焦算法成像时间长的难点,该文通过构建稀疏阵列,在保证成像质量的同时显著降低成像数据量,提高了全聚焦算法的成像效率。通过以主瓣宽度、旁瓣峰值以及主瓣峰值作为约束条件构建适应度函数,采用粒子群算法得到稀疏阵元位置分布并进行阵元权重修正,并将其用于稀疏全聚焦成像。相比全阵元成像,使用粒子群算法所得的稀疏阵列的阵元个数降低了56.25%、65.62%,数据使用量降低了80.86%、88.18%。在阵列优化方面,相比遗传算法减少了84.86%的计算时间。     

Characterization of the system functions of ultrasonic linear phased array inspection systems

This work characterizes the electrical and electromechanical aspects of an ultrasonic linear phased array inspection system, using a matrix of system functions that are obtained from the measured response of individual array elements in a simple reference experiment. It is shown that for the arrays tested all these system functions are essentially identical, allowing one to use a single system function to characterize the entire array, as done for an ordinary single element transducer. The variation of this single system function with the number of elements firing in the array or with changes of the delay law used is examined. It is also demonstrated that once such a single system function is obtained for an array, it can be used in a complete ultrasonic measurement model to accurately predict the array response measured from a reference reflector in an immersion setup.     

扩散场重建格林函数检测钢轨近表面缺陷*

利用超声相控阵全矩阵捕获功能获取后期时间的扩散场信息,实现钢轨近表面缺陷成像。对扩散场信号进行互相关,重建阵元之间的格林函数,获取阵元之间未延时的响应,恢复被噪声湮没的早期缺陷信息,将波数成像方法用于近表面缺陷的快速成像。采用两种超声相控阵探头在钢轨表面采集实验数据,说明格林函数恢复效果与相控阵阵元的个数和激励频率有关。实验结果清晰地显示了距钢轨表面5～10 mm处的缺陷,证实了互相关方法重建格林函数对近表面缺陷检测的有效性。     

楔块中脉冲声场及相控阵成像自检研究

相控阵横波检测必须在换能器前方加上楔块,对于楔块中的声场进行研究具有重要意义。本文通过数值计算和物理实验研究了超声相控阵楔块中的脉冲声场,分析并解释了超声相控阵系统自检成像过程中各种波形的产生机理和转换过程。首先从固体中超声传播理论出发,采用时域有限差分方法对相控阵楔块中各阵元独立发射条件下的脉冲声场进行仿真计算,给出了超声脉冲在楔块中的传播过程;然后开展了对应边界条件下相控阵楔块的B模式成像实验。数值模拟和物理实验的结果基本一致。本文的研究初步展示了楔块中的脉冲声场,其结果可为超声相控阵系统自检和楔块设计提供参考。     

相控阵井壁成像仪高压电源纹波噪声抑制研究

针对超声相控阵井壁成像仪工作环境恶劣以及超声脉冲发射所需高压电源纹波噪声对超声回波信号干扰大的问题,提出一种高温环境下高压电源纹波噪声抑制方法并进行设计分析。本方法综合开关电源与线性稳压电源各自的技术优势且注重纹波噪声抑制和耐高温设计。利用开关电源完成不同电压幅值的高效转换并在电源输出端增设专门的EMI滤波电路,再利用屏蔽罩对电源进行屏蔽,最后输出电压再经过一级线性稳压电路进一步进行稳压滤波。实测结果表明,利用该方法,电源的纹波与辐射噪声得到了抑制,有效减少电源对回波信号的干扰,且输出电压稳定,提高了超声相控阵井壁成像仪井下工作的稳定性。     

Non-integral dimensions ultrasonic phased arrays in a borehole

The non-integral dimensions ultrasonic phased arrays and their scanning and testing methods in a borehole are studied. First, the focusing acoustic fields excited by the 1.25D, 1.5D, and 1.75D phased arrays are analyzed, and then the imaging resolution in the elevation direction and the influence of the dynamic elements are investigated. Second, the focusing and deflexion characteristics of the acoustic fields excited by the annular and segmented annular phased arrays are studied, and they are compared with those excited by the 2D surface array. The application method of the 1.25D, 1.5D, and 1.75D, annular and segmented annular phased arrays in acoustic logging are analyzed and discussed. It provides a theoretical foundation for the application of the ultrasonic phased arrays in acoustic logging.     

Numerical study on scanning radiation acoustic field in formations generated from a borehole

The directivity of acoustic transducers used in conventional acoustic logging tools is uncontrollable[1,2], which inevitably affects investigation depth and resolution. At present, deep and wide range of investigation in petroleum exploration is urgently re- quired. It is important to improve the exploration capability to find more complex and fine reservoirs[3], for which the direction of the radiated acoustic energy is a direct factor. Acoustic field in the formations generated by the source…     

Correlation-based imaging technique using ultrasonic transmit–receive array for Non-Destructive Evaluation

This paper describes a novel array post-processing method for Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) using phased-array ultrasonic probes. The approach uses the capture and processing of the full matrix of all transmit–receive time-domain signals from a transducer array as in the case of the Total Focusing Method (TFM), referred as the standard of imaging algorithms. The proposed technique is based on correlation of measured signals with theoretical propagated signals computed over a given grid of points. In that case, real-time imaging can be simply implemented using discrete signal product. The advantage of the present technique is to take into account transducer directivity, dynamics and complex propagation patterns, such that the number of required array elements for a given imaging performance can be greatly reduced. Numerical and experimental application to contact inspection of isotropic structure is presented and real-time implementation issues are discussed.     

纵向带状裂隙形貌的逆时偏移超声成像

传统的工业超声成像方法通常只能确定缺陷的位置与横向尺寸,无法获得缺陷的形貌信息.一些特殊的缺陷,如纵向裂纹,是典型的例子.基于多阵元技术,开展了固体介质缺陷逆时偏移超声成像方法的数值与实验研究.针对铝块平底纵裂纹及内部纵裂纹两种传统方法无法有效成像的缺陷,首先开展了单分量逆时偏移成像方法研究,给出了基于数值仿真的逆时偏移成像结果以及基于多阵元超声成像实验系统实验测试的逆时偏移成像结果.进一步开展了基于多分量位移检测与转换横波分离的逆时偏移成像方法研究,并提出了基于新型多分量激光干涉仪进行检测的思路.数值仿真结果证实了多分量逆时偏移图像重建结果可以克服单分量方式的缺点,得到明显优于单分量检测时的图像.     

基于幅度调制的非线性超声相控阵成像方法*

超声相控阵是超声检测领域常用的材料缺陷定位和成像技术,可便捷快速地对裂纹、孔洞等缺陷进行成像。但是,传统超声相控阵方法对较小缺陷如闭合裂纹不太敏感。非线性超声信号因对材料性能退化以及微小缺陷敏感而广受关注。本文针对疲劳闭合裂纹检测,提出一种基于幅度调制的非线性超声相控阵成像方法,通过测量物理聚焦和虚拟聚焦两种聚焦模式下超声扩散场中的声能差,并将其作为非线性参量,实现疲劳裂纹闭合部分的定位成像和定量表征。将该法应用于7075铝合金试样疲劳裂纹的实验测量,并研究了扩散场信号延迟时间对非线性超声相控阵成像结果的影响。结果表明：相较于传统超声相控阵全聚焦法,基于幅度调制的非线性超声相控阵成像方法能够更准确地定位和成像疲劳裂纹闭合部分;延迟时间的选择对疲劳裂纹长度的表征精度影响较大,本文研究了该延迟时间的选择方法并实现了检测结果的优化。     

焊缝散射对板中超声水平剪切导波直线合成孔径阵列成像的影响

为探讨焊缝散射与板中超声导波阵列成像之间的关系,提出了将散射渡越时间矩阵作为分析工具用来开展焊缝散射对板中超声水平剪切(Shear horizontal,SH)导波直线合成孔径阵列成像影响的研究。运用散射因子和散射渡越时间矩阵描述焊缝散射,结合分析超声SH导波直线阵列信号所特有的圆锥曲线特征和合成孔径成像算法,从导波阵列信号和阵列成像机理出发,重点研究了焊缝散射因子和散射渡越时间矩阵在阵列成像中的作用。结果显示,焊缝散射易造成同一成像散射体反射声波的阵列信号形成"多峰",焊缝散射因子随之同步变大,散射渡越时间矩阵的秩随之成倍数关系增大,导致导波图像相应出现对应倍数的"条带"伪像,图像椭圆簇轨迹特征复杂化,特别是图像背景噪声增幅可达50%,图像信噪比减小幅度可达10%。成像实验验证了理论分析的有效性,表明散射渡越时间矩阵是研究焊缝散射对超声导波阵列成像影响规律的有力工具,该影响规律的揭示可为深入开展焊接板结构超声导波阵列图像处理和图像识别提供基础。      

Optimization of sparse synthetic transmit aperture imaging with coded excitation and frequency division

An effective aperture approach is used for optimization of a sparse synthetic transmit aperture (STA) imaging system with coded excitation and frequency division. A new two-stage algorithm is proposed for optimization of both the positions of the transmit elements and the weights of the receive elements. In order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio in a synthetic aperture system, temporal encoding of the excitation signals is employed. When comparing the excitation by linear frequency modulation (LFM) signals and phase shift key modulation (PSKM) signals, the analysis shows that chirps are better for excitation, since at the output of a compression filter the sidelobes generated are much smaller than those produced by the binary PSKM signals. Here, an implementation of a fast STA imaging is studied by spatial encoding with frequency division of the LFM signals. The proposed system employs a 64-element array with only four active elements used during transmit. The two-dimensional point spread function (PSF) produced by such a sparse STA system is compared to the PSF produced by an equivalent phased array system, using the Field II simulation program. The analysis demonstrates the superiority of the new sparse STA imaging system while using coded excitation and frequency division. Compared to a conventional phased array imaging system, this system acquires images of equivalent quality 60 times faster, when the transmit elements are fired in pairs consecutively and the power level used during transmit is very low. The fastest acquisition time is achieved when all transmit elements are fired simultaneously, which improves detectability, but at the cost of a slight degradation of the axial resolution. In real-time implementation, however, it must be borne in mind that the frame rate of a STA imaging system depends not only on the acquisition time of the data but also on the processing time needed for image reconstruction. Comparing to phased array imaging, a significant increase in the frame rate of a STA imaging system is possible if and only if an equivalent time efficient algorithm is used for image reconstruction.     

Statistically motivated design of input signals for modern ultrasonic array systems

Modern array systems allow for excitation of separate elements using arbitrary wave forms. This is utilized in pulse compression and coded excitation techniques to improve the imaging performance. Such techniques are however somewhat inflexible since they use predefined excitation schemes. This paper presents a more flexible method for optimizing the input signals to an ultrasonic array in such a way that the scattering strengths at arbitrarily chosen control points in the insonified object can be estimated with as small an error as possible, measured with a mean squared error criteria. The statistically motivated method is based on a linear model of the array imaging system and the method takes into account both prior information regarding the scattering strengths and measurement errors. The input signals are found by using genetic optimization and are constrained to have finite duration and bounds on the maximum amplitudes. Different constellations of control points, and different signal-to-noise ratios, yield different excitation schemes. The design approach finds multiple selective focal laws when choosing relatively well separated control points and when the control points are closely spaced, the resulting excitations result in more diffuse fields. Because of the flexibility in choosing the control points, the design method will be useful when developing transmission schemes aiming at fast imaging of large image areas using few transmissions.     

64 elements two-dimensional piezoelectric array for 3D imaging

Ultrasound has a large potential on non-invasive inspection with main applications in medical imaging and non-destructive testing (NDT). The increasing interest in 3D imaging applications leads to investigate new solutions for two-dimensional (2D) ultrasonic arrays with an affordable number of electronic channels without resolution degradation. 2D segmented annular arrays (SAAs) are a good compromise between resolution--image quality--and number of electronically active channels. A 1-3 piezoelectric composites are used as basis material to manufacture the array transducers due to their low planar coupling and high electromechanical coupling coefficients. A 1.5 MHz SAA of 64 elements and 20 mm of diameter was designed, manufactured and tested. The design key point is the use of a flexible circuit with electrodes and tracks that define the array geometry. The piezocomposite was used as a monolithic support. Soft backing and one matching layer were used. The array elements have been tested electrically and acoustically showing good agreement with a KLM-based simulation model. Acoustical field measurements in water at different steering angles were made and compared with simulations performed with a model that uses an exact solution of the impulse response approach. Side lobes are important because the array geometry used was designed to work in metals for NDT purposes. Smaller array elements should be made for medical applications.     

Incidence of element distribution on the ultrasonic field of segmented annular arrays

Segmented annular arrays are sometimes used for 3D ultrasonic imaging. However, owing to their geometrical complexity, the acoustic field generated by this type of aperture has not been adequately described. In this work, a method based on the array factor approach is used to describe the field radiated by sector annular arrays. This approach allows one to analyse the influence on the field of several aperture parameters, such as the number of elements per annulus, size and spatial distribution of elements, etc. In addition, strategies to reduce grating lobes are presented.     

硅油介质中矩形电容式微机械超声换能器发射与接收声场特性研究

与传统压电式超声换能器相比,基于微机电系统微加工技术制备的电容式微机械超声换能器(CMUT)具有频带宽、灵敏度高、一致性好、易于集成等优势,在医学超声成像中具有广阔的应用前景。该文针对研制的矩形CMUT器件,开展硅油介质中CMUT发射、接收声场特性的理论分析及实验验证研究。首先,针对CMUT阵元结构特征和工作原理,根据指向性函数理论和Bridge乘积原理,建立了矩形CMUT阵元指向性函数分析模型。此基础上,分析微元数目以及谐振频率对CMUT指向性的影响规律。最后,针对7 mm×7 mm二维矩形CMUT在硅油介质中的发射和接收特性进行了实验验证,测试表明发射指向性曲线与仿真理论曲线基本吻合;此外,CMUT接收与发射指向性的测试表明,收发指向性具有一致性,从而验证了声场的互易性。该文的研究对CMUT器件的封装设计以及基于CMUT阵列的乳腺超声CT成像系统的研制具有重要参考价值。     

A method of improving overall resolution in ultrasonic array imaging using spatio-temporal deconvolution

In this paper a beamforming method for ultrasonic array imaging is presented that performs both spatial and temporal deconvolution based on a minimum mean square error (MMSE) criteria. The presented MMSE receive mode beamformer performs a regularized inversion of the propagation operator for the ultrasonic array system at hand. The MMSE beamformer accounts for the transmit and receive processes, defined in terms of finite array element sizes, transmit focusing laws and electrical transducer characteristics. The MMSE beamformer is compared to the traditional delay-and-sum (DAS) beamformer with respect to both resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. The two algorithms are compared using both simulated and measured data. The simulated data was obtained using ultrasonic field simulations and the measured data was acquired using a linear phased array imaging wire targets in water. The results show that the MMSE beamformer has superior temporal and lateral resolution compared to DAS. It is also shown that the MMSE beamformer can be expressed as a filter bank, which enables parallel processing at high frame rates.     

各向异性焊缝缺陷超声阵列全聚焦成像方法

针对奥氏体不锈钢焊接构件安全评价需要,对各向异性结构中超声波传播特性进行了研究,利用射线追踪法确定了各向异性介质中声波传播路径。在传统全聚焦成像基础上,发展了一种用于各向异性焊缝中缺陷检测的超声阵列全聚焦成像方法。通过数值仿真和实验,研究了介质材质对超声阵列成像的影响,结果表明,发展的全聚焦成像方法可以很好实现各向异性焊缝中缺陷检测,缺陷定位更准确。项目研究工作为奥氏体不锈钢焊缝检测提供了可行的技术方案.     

Efficient array beam forming by spatial filtering for ultrasound B-mode imaging

This paper proposes an efficient array beam-forming method using spatial matched filtering (SMF) for ultrasonic imaging. In the proposed method, ultrasonic waves are transmitted from an array subaperture with fixed transmit focus as in conventional array imaging. At receive, radio frequency echo signals from each receive channel are passed through a spatial matched filter that is constructed based on the system transmit-receive spatial impulse response. The filtered echo signals are then summed without time delays. The filter concentrates and spatially registers the echo energy from each element so that the pulse-echo impulse response of the summed output is focused with acceptably low side lobes. Analytical beam pattern analysis and simulation results using a linear array show that this spatial filtering method can improve lateral resolution and contrast-to-noise ratio as compared with conventional dynamic receive focusing (DRF) methods. Experimental results with a linear array are consistent but point out the need to address additional practical issues. Spatial filtering is equivalent to synthetic aperture methods that dynamically focus on both transmit and receive throughout the field of view. In one common example of phase aberrations, the SMF method was degraded to a degree comparable to conventional DRF methods.