Gaussian-DPSM (G-DPSM) and Element Source Method (ESM) modifications to DPSM for ultrasonic field modeling

In the last few years, Distributed Point Source Method (DPSM) a mesh-free semi-analytical technique has been developed. In spite of its many advantages, one shortcoming of the conventional DPSM method is that the field obtained by conventional DPSM method needs to be scaled to match the theoretical solutions. Two modification techniques called Gaussian-DPSM (G-DPSM) and Element Source Method (ESM) are developed here to avoid the scaling need. G-DPSM technique introduces additional fictitious point sources around every parent point source. Gaussian weight functions determine the strength of these additional fictitious point sources that are denoted as child point sources. ESM replaces discrete point sources used in the conventional DPSM by continuous sources. In the ESM formulation individual point sources are denoted as nodes. Special elements are formed on the boundary by connecting these nodes. The source strength inside the element can vary linearly or non-linearly depending on the order of the interpolation function used inside the element. Results generated by both these methods are compared with the conventional DPSM solution and analytical solution. It is shown that the ultrasonic field in front of the transducer computed by G-DPSM and ESM matches very well with the theory without using any scaling factor.     

Elastic wave propagation in sinusoidally corrugated waveguides

The ultrasonic wave propagation in sinusoidally corrugated waveguides is studied in this paper. Periodically corrugated waveguides are gaining popularity in the field of vibration control and for designing structures with desired acoustic band gaps. Currently only numerical method (Boundary Element Method or Finite Element Method) based packages (e.g., PZFlex) are in principle capable of modeling ultrasonic fields in complex structures with rapid change of curvatures at the interfaces and boundaries but no analyses have been reported. However, the packages are very CPU intensive; it requires a huge amount of computation memory and time for its execution. In this paper a new semi-analytical technique called Distributed Point Source Method (DPSM) is used to model the ultrasonic field in sinusoidally corrugated waveguides immersed in water where the interface curvature changes rapidly. DPSM results are compared with analytical solutions. It is found that when a narrow ultrasonic beam hits the corrugation peaks at an angle, the wave propagates in the backward direction in waveguides with high corrugation depth. However, in waveguides with small corrugation the wave propagates in the forward direction. The forward and backward propagation phenomenon is found to be independent of the signal frequency and depends on the degree of corrugation.     

DPSM technique for ultrasonic field modelling near fluid-solid interface

Distributed point source method (DPSM) is gradually gaining popularity in the field of non-destructive evaluation (NDE). DPSM is a semi-analytical technique that can be used to calculate the ultrasonic fields produced by transducers of finite dimension placed in homogeneous or non-homogeneous media. This technique has been already used to model ultrasonic fields in homogeneous and multi-layered fluid structures. In this paper the method is extended to model the ultrasonic fields generated in both fluid and solid media near a fluid-solid interface when the transducer is placed in the fluid half-space near the interface. Most results in this paper are generated by the newly developed DPSM technique that requires matrix inversion. This technique is identified as the matrix inversion based DPSM technique. Some of these results are compared with the results produced by the Rayleigh-Sommerfield integral based DPSM technique. Theory behind both matrix inversion based and Rayleigh-Sommerfield integral based DPSM techniques is presented in this paper. The matrix inversion based DPSM technique is found to be very efficient for computing the ultrasonic field in non-homogeneous materials. One objective of this study is to model ultrasonic fields in both solids and fluids generated by the leaky Rayleigh wave when finite size transducers are inclined at Rayleigh critical angles. This phenomenon has been correctly modelled by the technique. It should be mentioned here that techniques based on paraxial assumptions fail to model the critical reflection phenomenon. Other advantages of the DPSM technique compared to the currently available techniques for transducer radiation modelling are discussed in the paper under Introduction.     

Extension of the distributed point source method for ultrasonic field modeling

The distributed point source method (DPSM) was recently proposed for ultrasonic field modeling and other applications. This method uses distributed point sources, placed slightly behind transducer surface, to model the ultrasound field. The acoustic strength of each point source is obtained through matrix inversion that requires the number of target points on the transducer surface to be equal to the number of point sources. In this work, DPSM was extended and further developed to overcome the limitations of the original method and provide a solid mathematical explanation of the physical principle behind the method. With the extension, the acoustic strength of the point sources was calculated as the solution to the least squares minimization problem instead of using direct matrix inversion. As numerical examples, the ultrasound fields of circular and rectangular transducers were calculated using the extended and original DPSMs which were then systematically compared with the results calculated using the theoretical solution and the exact spatial impulse response method. The numerical results showed the extended method can model ultrasonic fields accurately without the scaling step required by the original method. The extended method has potential applications in ultrasonic field modeling, tissue characterization, nondestructive testing, and ultrasound system optimization.     

Numerical simulation of electromagnetic acoustic transducers using distributed point source method

In spite of many advances in analytical and numerical modeling techniques for solving different engineering problems, an efficient solution technique for wave propagation modeling of an electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) system is still missing. Distributed point source method (DPSM) is a newly developed semi-analytical technique developed since 2000 by Placko and Kundu (2007) [12] that is very powerful and straightforward for solving various engineering problems, including acoustic and electromagnetic modeling problems. In this study DPSM has been employed to model the Lorentz type EMAT with a meander line and flat spiral type coil. The problem of wave propagation has been solved and eddy currents and Lorentz forces have been calculated. The displacement field has been obtained as well. While modeling the Lorentz force the effect of dynamic magnetic field has been considered that most current analyses ignore. Results from this analysis have been compared with the finite element method (FEM) based predictions. It should be noted that with the current state of knowledge this problem can be solved only by FEM.     

Spectral-energy characteristics of sound fields scattered by fine-structured inhomogeneities of sound velocity into the geometrical shadow zone

In analyzing experimental results obtained with explosive sources in the tropical zone of the Indian Ocean, a good agreement was obtained for spectral-energy characteristics of signals observed in the first geometrical shadow zone with computer calculations of the sound field scattered by fine structure inhomogeneities of the fractal type. From the comparison of the results of calculating the frequency characteristics of sound fields in the shadow zone by the wave code and by the method combining ray acoustics with the wave theory of sound scattering, it was found that both methods are appropriate for describing the real processes of scattering and propagation of sound in the ocean with fine-structured stratification and that these methods can be used for solving inverse problems.     

Wave envelopes method for description of nonlinear acoustic wave propagation

A novel, free from paraxial approximation and computationally efficient numerical algorithm capable of predicting 4D acoustic fields in lossy and nonlinear media from arbitrary shaped sources (relevant to probes used in medical ultrasonic imaging and therapeutic systems) is described. The new WE (wave envelopes) approach to nonlinear propagation modeling is based on the solution of the second order nonlinear differential wave equation reported in [J. Wójcik, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104 (1998) 2654-2663; V.P. Kuznetsov, Akust. Zh. 16 (1970) 548-553]. An incremental stepping scheme allows for forward wave propagation. The operator-splitting method accounts independently for the effects of full diffraction, absorption and nonlinear interactions of harmonics. The WE method represents the propagating pulsed acoustic wave as a superposition of wavelet-like sinusoidal pulses with carrier frequencies being the harmonics of the boundary tone burst disturbance. The model is valid for lossy media, arbitrarily shaped plane and focused sources, accounts for the effects of diffraction and can be applied to continuous as well as to pulsed waves. Depending on the source geometry, level of nonlinearity and frequency bandwidth, in comparison with the conventional approach the Time-Averaged Wave Envelopes (TAWE) method shortens computational time of the full 4D nonlinear field calculation by at least an order of magnitude; thus, predictions of nonlinear beam propagation from complex sources (such as phased arrays) can be available within 30-60 min using only a standard PC. The approximate ratio between the computational time costs obtained by using the TAWE method and the conventional approach in calculations of the nonlinear interactions is proportional to 1/N2, and in memory consumption to 1/N where N is the average bandwidth of the individual wavelets. Numerical computations comparing the spatial field distributions obtained by using both the TAWE method and the conventional approach (based on a Fourier series representation of the propagating wave) are given for circular source geometry, which represents the most challenging case from the computational time point of view. For two cases, short (2 cycle) and long (8 cycle) 2 MHz bursts, the computational times were 10 min and 15 min versus 2 h and 8 h for the TAWE method versus the conventional method, respectively.     

Behavior of block boundaries during ultrasonic vibration in alkali halide crystals at temperatures 20–300°C

The behavior of block boundaries was investigated in alkali halide crystals of various orientations deformed by ultrasound at frequencies 40–73 kHz in the temperature interval 20–300°C. The specimen orientation was defined by the angle between the fourfold axis and the propagation direction of the ultrasonic wave. The initial stage of plastic deformation at room temperature is due to the generation of sources at the block boundaries in KCl and KBr, and by the heterogeneous nucleation of dislocation in NaCl and LiF. In the temperature interval 200–300°C, in NaCl and LiF dislocation multiplication begins already with the generation of sources at the block boundaries. In 30° orientation specimens the beginning of multiplication is preceded by the motion initiated by the ultrasound of sections of the block boundaries in the {1 0 0} <110> secondary glide system.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshika Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 49–53, January, 1986.     

深海中利用单水听器的影区声源无源测距测深方法

在典型深海情况下当声源与接收水听器位于海水表层时,在影区内由声源海底接收器、声源海面海底接收器、声源海底海面接收器和声源海面海底海面接收器4条声线形成声场干涉结构,声强随着频率具有两种干涉周期,随着收发距离的增加而增大,分别随着声源深度、接收水听器深度的增加而减小。因此由单水听器记录的声场干涉结构即可实现宽带声源目标的无源测距测深,仿真分析验证了其有效性。在南海深海声学实验中观测到海面宽带噪声源在声场影区所形成的声场干涉结构,数据分析结果验证了深海声场干涉结构用于声源无源定位的有效性。与传统无源定位方法相比,该方法不需要宽带引导声源、精确的海底声学参数和大规模的拷贝场计算。      

Lamb waves propagation in elastic plane layers with a joint strip

The Lamb waves are used for the ultrasonic characterization of welds because of their relative long-range propagation. In this paper, a simplified model of a weld-strip between two identical semi-infinite elastic layers is investigated. The reflected and transmitted ultrasonic fields are expressed by modal series whose coefficients are obtained by application of orthogonality relation. Comparisons with solutions obtained by finite elements wave propagation simulations are made. The energy balance between the incident and the scattered waves is also used to verify the accuracy of the obtained modal amplitudes.