一种拓宽凸球面压电换能器指向性的方法

利用有限元和边界元耦合的方法对涂环氧树脂后的压电陶瓷凸球面换能器进行了指向性仿真计算,发现这种形式的换能器具有较宽的指向性开角。实验测量结果证明了上述结论。     

液氮温区下应变式位移传感系统测量性能的研究

文中研究了一种应变式位移传感系统在室温和液氮温度下的静态传输特性。实验结果表明,该系统在液氮温区下具有良好的输出特性,系统非线性度低于1%,滞环率低于5%,其灵敏系数与温度相关,293K和77K温度下的灵敏系数分别为-0.3654mV/V/mm和-0.3886mV/V/mm。实验结果为该位移传感系统在低温环境中的应用提供了一定基础。     

Arbitrary shaped, liquid filled reverberators with non-resonant transducers for broadband focusing of ultrasound using Time Reversed Acoustics

The ability to generate short focused ultrasonic pulses with duration on the order of one period of carrier frequency depends on the bandwidth of the transmitter as the pulse duration is inversely proportional to the bandwidth. Conventional focusing arrays used for focusing ultrasound have limited bandwidth due to the resonant nature of the piezoelements generating ultrasound. Theoretically it is possible to build a broadband phased array composed of “non-resonant” elements: wedge-shaped or flat-concave piezotransducers, though there are numerous technical difficulties in designing arrays with hundreds of elements of complex shape. This task is much easier to realize in an alternative technique of ultrasound focusing based on the principles of Time Reversed Acoustics (TRA) because in TRA systems, effective focusing can be achieved with just a few, or even one, transducers. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the possibility of broadband focusing of ultrasonic waves using a TRA system with non-resonant transducers and to explore the factors affecting the performance of such a system. A new type of TRA reverberators, such as water-filled thin-wall plastic vessels, which can be used with the submersible piezotransducers fixed internally in the reverberator, are proposed and tested. The experiments are conducted in a water tank with the walls and bottom covered by a sound absorbing lining. A needle hydrophone mounted on a 3D positioning system is used as a beacon for the TRA focusing and then for measuring the spatial distribution of the focused ultrasound field. The bandwidth and spatial distribution of the signal focused by the TRA system using a single channel with the resonant versus non-resonant transducers have been analyzed. Two types of non-resonant transducers were tested: a flat-concave transducer with a diameter of 30 mm, and a thickness varying from 2 mm in the center to 11 mm at the edge, and a specially designed submersible transducer having an uneven shape with a diameter of about 25 mm and a thickness varying from 2 to 6 mm. It was shown that TRA focusing system using non-resonant transducer had a bandwidth at 10 dB of 500 kHz while the resonant transducer provided about 100 kHz bandwidth. Correspondingly, the extended bandwidth of the TRA focusing system, especially toward higher frequencies, provides a 50% sharper spatial distribution. Furthermore, the relative level of the background ultrasound was reduced by a factor up to 3 as more frequencies were added coherently in focus and incoherently out of focus. Advantages of water-filled reverberators made of thin-wall plastic vessels include easy manufacturing, low costs, extreme simplicity, and good acoustical matching with soft tissues, important for biomedical applications.     

Lead-free KNLNT piezoelectric ceramics for high-frequency ultrasonic transducer application

This paper presents the latest development of a lead-free piezoelectric ceramic and its application to transducers suitable for high-frequency ultrasonic imaging. A lead-free piezoelectric ceramic with formula of (K_0.5Na_0.5)_0.97Li_0.03(Nb_0.9 Ta_0.1)O₃ (abbreviated as KNLNT-0.03/0.10) was fabricated and characterized. The material was found to have a clamped dielectric constant ε₃₃^S/ε₀ = 890, piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ = 245 pC/N, electromechanical coupling factor k_t = 0.42 and Curie temperature T_c > 300 °C. High-frequency (40 MHz) ultrasound transducers were successfully fabricated with the lead-free material. A representative lead-free transducer had a bandwidth of 45%, two-way insertion loss of -18 dB. This performance is comparable to reported performances of popular lead-based transducers. The comparison results suggest that the lead-free piezoelectric material may serve as an alternative to lead-based piezoelectric materials for high-frequency ultrasonic transducer applications.     

基于多元线性阵列探测器的快速光声层析成像

报道了一种基于相控聚焦的多元线性阵列探测器进行快速光声层析成像的方法和装置,并实现了模拟组织的光声层析成像。实验中采用波长为532nm脉宽为7ns的倍频Q-YAG激光器作为激发光源。多元线性阵列探测器由320个振元组成,采用相控聚焦的方法成像,每次由11个振群的探测器接受信号并合并1路,一幅图像由64路这样的信号组成。实验结果能够正确反映样品中的光学吸收分布。与现有的方法比较,本系统具有快速方便的特点,它有望成为一种组织功能在体成像的新方法,发展成为一种低成本的实用的临床诊断装置。     

水下超疏油聚(3,4-乙烯基二氧)噻吩薄膜的制备

以离子液体溴化(1-己基-3-甲基咪唑盐)作为电解质和掺杂剂采用电化学一步法制备了微纳米复合结构的聚(3,4-乙烯基二氧噻吩)薄膜, 薄膜由槽内排布着纳米珠链的棒状结构组成. 研究表明, 通过控制电流密度的大小, 可以调节棒状结构和珠状结构的平均直径. 离子液体中的咪唑阳离子和对阴离子均掺杂到聚合物中, 该薄膜具有可逆的电化学活性及水下超疏油特性.     

阻抗管法测量水下吸声系数的系统误差分析*

利用阻抗管法测量吸声系数是水下吸声材料研制过程中的重要环节,实验测量结果相比理论计算结果更具说服力。然而在待测样品的制备和安装过程中容易引入的系统误差往往被忽略,从而影响实测结果可信度。为了降低系统误差,本文提出缝隙宽、垂直度和光洁度三种可能引入系统误差的因素,搭建传递函数法水下吸声系数测量的有限元模拟实验环境并验证仿真计算算法的正确性,研究相关参量对橡胶吸声系数的影响规律,并给出一定误差下对相关参量的限制要求。所得结论对降低测量误差、提升实测结果可信度具有一定参考价值。     

Modeling nonlinear Rayleigh wave fields generated by angle beam wedge transducers—A theoretical study

Nonlinear Rayleigh wave fields generated by an angle beam wedge transducer are modeled in this study. The calculated area sound sources underneath the wedge are used to model the fundamental Rayleigh sound fields on the specimen surface, which are more accurate than the previously used line sources with uniform or Gaussian amplitude distributions. A general two-dimensional nonlinear Rayleigh wave equation without parabolic approximation is introduced and the solutions are obtained using the quasilinear theory. The second harmonic Rayleigh wave due to material nonlinearity is given in an integral expression with these fundamental Rayleigh waves radiated by the wedge transmitter acting as a forcing function. Multi-Gaussian beam (MGB) models are employed to simplify these integral solutions and to extract the diffraction and attenuation correction terms explicitly. The effect of nonlinearity of generating sources on the second harmonic Rayleigh wave fields is taken into consideration; simulation results show that it will affect the magnitude and diffraction correction of the second harmonic waves in the region close to the Rayleigh wave sound sources. This research provides a theoretical improvement to alleviate the experimental restriction on analyzing the effects of diffraction, attenuation and source nonlinearity when using angle beam wedge transducers as transmitters.     

Bipolar-power-transistor-based limiter for high frequency ultrasound imaging systems

High performance limiters are described in this paper for applications in high frequency ultrasound imaging systems. Limiters protect the ultrasound receiver from the high voltage (HV) spikes produced by the transmitter. We present a new bipolar power transistor (BPT) configuration and compare its design and performance to a diode limiter used in traditional ultrasound research and one commercially available limiter. Limiter performance depends greatly on the insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD) and response time (RT), each of which will be evaluated in all the limiters. The results indicated that, compared with commercial limiter, BPT-based limiter had less IL (−7.7 dB), THD (−74.6 dB) and lower RT (43 ns) at 100 MHz. To evaluate the capability of these limiters, they were connected to a 100 MHz single element transducer and a two-way pulse-echo test was performed. It was found that the −6 dB bandwidth and sensitivity of the transducer using BPT-based limiter were better than those of the commercial limiter by 22% and 140%, respectively. Compared to the commercial limiter, BPT-based limiter is shown to be capable of minimizing signal attenuation, RT and THD at high frequencies and is thus suited for high frequency ultrasound applications.     

Waveguide tapering for beam-width control in a waveguide transducer

In a waveguide transducer that transmits an ultrasonic wave through a waveguide unit to a test structure, it is most preferred to send a non-dispersive ultrasonic wave of a narrow beam width. However, there is an unresolved conflict between the generation of the non- or less-dispersive wave and the transmission of a narrow-beam wave into a test structure. Among others, the thickness of the waveguide unit in a waveguide transducer is the key variable determining these two conflicting criteria, but the use of a uniformly-thick waveguide of any thickness cannot fulfill the two conflicting criteria simultaneously. In this study, we propose a specially-engineered tapered waveguide unit for the simultaneous satisfaction. An excitation unit is installed at the end of the thin region of the tapered waveguide and generates only the lowest non-dispersive shear-horizontal wave. Then the generated wave propagates through the tapered region of the waveguide unit and reaches the thick region of the waveguide with insignificant mode conversion to higher modes. If the tapered waveguide is used, the surviving lowest mode in the thick region of the waveguide is shown to carry most of the transmitted power and is finally propagated into a test structure. Because the beam size of the propagated wave and the thickness of the contacting waveguide region are inversely related, the thick contacting region of the tapered waveguide ensures narrow beam width. Numerical and experimental investigations were performed to check the effectiveness of the proposed waveguide-tapering approach.