Resonant-ultrasound spectroscopy for studying annealing effect on elastic constant of thin film

In this paper, we study the elastic property of thin films using resonant-ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS). RUS determines the elastic constants of a solid from its resonance frequencies of free vibration. There were two problems to be solved for applying RUS to thin films: accurate measurement of the resonance frequencies and mode identification of each resonance frequency. We solve these problems using the tripod needle transducers and the laser-Doppler interferometry (LDI). In this paper, we describe the RUS/LDI measurement setup we developed, and show the relationship between the elastic constant and annealing temperature for Cu thin films. Then, we discuss the effects of recrystallization and recovery on the elastic constant referring the X-ray diffraction measurement.     

Ultrasonic material characterization using large-aperture PVDF receivers

This work describes the use of a large-aperture PVDF receiver in the measurement of liquid density and composite material elastic constants. The density measurement of several liquids is obtained with accuracy of 0.2% using a conventional NDE emitter transducer and a 70-mm-diameter, 52-μm P(VDF-TrFE) membrane with gold electrodes. The determination of the elastic constants is based on the phase velocity measurement. Diffraction can lead to errors around 1% in velocity measurement when using alternatively the conventional pair of ultrasonic transducers (1-MHz frequency and 19-mm-diameter) operating in through-transmission mode, separated by a distance of 100 mm. This effect is negligible when using a pair of 10-MHz, 19-mm-diameter transducers. Nevertheless, the dispersion at 10 MHz can result in errors of about 0.5%, when measuring the velocity in composite materials. The use of an 80-mm diameter, 52-μm-thick PVDF membrane receiver practically eliminates the diffraction effects in phase velocity measurement. The elastic constants of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer were determined and compared with the values obtained by a tensile test.     

Energetic balance in an ultrasonic reactor using focused or flat high frequency transducers

In order to undertake irradiation of polymer blocks or films by ultrasound, this paper deals with the measurements of ultrasonic power and its distribution within the cell by several methods. The electric power measured at the transducer input is compared to the ultrasonic power input to the cell evaluated by calorimetry and radiation force measurement for different generator settings. Results obtained in the specific case of new transducer types (composites and focused composites i.e., HIFU: high intensity focused ultrasound) provide an opportunity to conduct a discussion about measurement methods. It has thus been confirmed that these measurement techniques can be applied to HIFU transducers. For all cases, results underlined the fact that measurement of radiation pressure for power evaluation is more adapted to low powers (<15 W) and that measurement by calorimetry is a valid technique for global energy measurements. Composites and monocomponent transducers were compared and it appears that the presence of an adaptation glass plate reduces the efficiency of the monocomponent transducers. The distribution of ultrasonic intensity is qualitatively depicted by sono-chemiluminescence of luminol. Finally, the quantity of energy absorbed by samples placed in the sound field is determined and the temperature distribution monitored as a function of wall distance. This energetic balance allows us to understand the global behaviour of all experimental set-ups made up of a generator–transducer–liquid and sample.     

Complete ultrasonic transducer characterization and its use for models and measurements

Transmitting and receiving properties of ultrasonic piezoelectric crystal transducers that directly affect the measured output voltage in an ultrasonic measurement system are described. These transducer properties are the transducer's electrical impedance and sensitivity, the transducer's radiation impedance, and the transducer's effective parameters (effective radius and focal length). It is shown that all these properties can be obtained with a series of calibration measurements, most of them purely electrical in nature. This series of measurements is described, including a newly developed method that makes the determination of the transducer sensitivity simpler than with previous methods. It is demonstrated that by combining these transducer properties with knowledge of the electrical properties of the pulser/receiver and cabling and the acoustic/elastic processes present in an ultrasonic measurement system, it is possible to accurately simulate the output voltage of the system.     

Ultrasonic characterization of Cu-Al-Ni single crystals lattice stability in the vicinity of the phase transition

Measurements of elastic constants of the austenite phase when approaching the phase transformation either upon cooling or stressing is of the crucial interest for the shape memory alloy field. Acoustic properties (wave velocity and also attenuation changes) of the Cu-Al-Ni single crystal were investigated in situ during stress-induced martensitic transformation at constant (room) temperature. The parent austenite cubic lattice of the Cu-Al-Ni exhibits very high elastic anisotropy (anisotropy factor A approximately 12). The measurements were made using nine combinations of (i) applied uniaxial compression in a given crystal direction, (ii) the wave propagation and (iii) polarization vectors. The chosen configurations are sufficient for evaluation of all independent third order elastic constants (TOEC). The longitudinal modes were also measured by the immersion technique, using the transducer pair in a water tank installed on the testing machine. The device works as "a ultrasonic extensometer" measuring a transverse strain of the specimen. The dependencies of both natural and initial wave velocities on the applied stress may be evaluated. Three elastic constants of the stress-induced martensite were determined. The elastic properties were found to vary with the increasing stress above the Ms transformation temperature, which is interpreted as a precursor for the martensitic transformation. The onset of the transformation was additionally identified from the acoustic emission measurement.     

非消声水池中低频换能器测量的空间域处理方法

提出了一种在非消声水池中低频换能器测量的空间域处理方法。该方法是在发射和接收换能器保持相对位置不变的情况下,通过多次无规则变换其在有限水域中的位置,让同频反射声的干扰贡献随机和无规则化,最终将上述所有位置接收的信号同步叠加而将同频反射声干扰消除,从而提取出了所需的直达波波形信号,克服了传统的脉冲测量技术受同频反射声干扰无法提取直达信号的问题。在5 m×7 m×6 m非消声水池,测量换能器样品,测量频率范围是400~2500 Hz,测量得到的结果与湖上测试结果相比,两者基本一致。该方法的实现,大大的提高了非消声水池的低频换能器测试能力,有效测量频率下限比一般脉冲测试方法降低一个数量级。      

Magnetically tunable ultrasonic transducers for shear waves

Single crystal platelets of FeBO₃ are used as magnetoelastically excited shear wave transducers in the 10–100MHz region. Due to a strong dependence of the elastic stiffness on an applied magnetic dc field the resonance frequency is magnetically tunable in a region of about 25 percent around the centre frequency. A pulse-echo experiment was used to compare the conversion efficiencies of the FeBO₃ transducer and a conventional quartz transducer. The insertion losses were found to be approximately equal for both transducers and in accordance with the calculated values.     

Diffraction phenomena in the field of a circular piezoelectric transducer viewed in the time domain

Transient diffraction phenomena in the field of a piston transducer have been explained theoretically in terms of the direct and edge wave contributions to the piston response. Previous experimental studies by other workers have verified this concept for single cycles of 4 MHz radiation. Faster transients are difficult to study using thin piezoelectric transducers due to transducer resonance. Thick piezoelectric transducers of very low resonant frequency can be used to generate and receive step function acoustic transients with rise times of 20 ns or less and the problems of transducer resonance can be avoided. Experimental results are presented which show that when such a step function is propagated between two thick transducers the time course of the received wave can be explained in terms of the direct wave/edge wave model in conjunction with the theory of transient reverberations in piezoelectric elements.     

Study on the multifrequency Langevin ultrasonic transducer

Langevin ultrasonic transducers are widely used in high-power ultrasonics and underwater sound. In ultrasonic cleaning, a matching metal horn rather than a metal cylinder is used as the radiator in order to enhance the radiating surface and improve the acoustic matching between the transducer and the processed medium. To raise the effect of ultrasonic cleaning, the standing wave in the cleaning tank should be eliminated. One method to eliminate the standing wave in the tank is to use the multifrequency ultrasonic transducer. In this paper, the Langevin ultrasonic horn transducer, with two resonance frequencies, is studied. The transducer consists of two groups of piezoelectric ceramic elements: the back metal cylinder, the middle metal cylinder and the front matching metal horn. The vibrational modes of the transducer are analysed, and resonance frequency equations of the transducer in the half-wave and the all-wave vibrational modes are derived. According to the resonance frequency equations, transducers with two resonance frequencies are designed and made. The resonance frequencies, the effective electromechanical coupling coefficients and the equivalent electric impedances of the transducers are measured. It is shown that the measured resonance frequencies are in good agreement with the computed results, and the transducer can be excited to vibrate at two resonance frequencies, which correspond to the half-wave and the all-wave vibrational modes of the transducer.     

Nonlinear characterization with burst excitation of 1-3 piezocomposite transducers

Ultrasonic transducers made with 1-3 connectivity piezocomposites are frequently used in Medical applications and nondestructive testing. When the transducer is used for special applications as, for instance air-coupled transmission, it is necessary to compensate for the high difference of acoustic impedance between transducer and medium using high amplitude pulses to generate high acoustic signal. Thus, the nonlinear behavior of the transducer must be taken into account in similar application conditions. The newly developed method, which performs the nonlinear characterization with burst signal excitation near the thickness resonance frequency, is based on the measure of the current as well as the vibration velocity of the piezocomposite transducer. The current of the stationary response is measured before the end of the burst signal excitation. Burst excitation enables us to measure the nonlinear characterization without producing overheating in the transducers. The amplitude level dependence of mechanical losses tandelta(m) and the stiffness increases |Deltac/c(0)| have been studied, as well as the velocity dependence of a point of the transducer, measured with a laser vibrometer. In this method, the power level applied to the transducers can be higher than other nonlinear measurement methods, providing measurements of high accuracy.     

Measurement of elastic nonlinearity using remote laser ultrasonics and CHeap Optical Transducers and dual frequency surface acoustic waves

A nonlinear ultrasonic technique for evaluating material elastic nonlinearity has been developed. It measures the phase modulation of a high frequency (82MHz) surface acoustic wave interacting with a low frequency (1MHz) high amplitude stress inducing surface acoustic wave. A new breed of optical transducers has been developed and used for the generation and detection of the high frequency wave. The CHeap Optical Transducer (CHOT) is an ultrasonic transducer system, optically activated and read by a laser. We show that CHOTs offer advantages over alternative transducers. CHOTs and nonlinear ultrasonics have great potential for aerospace applications. Results measuring changes in ultrasonic velocity corresponding to different stress states of the sample are presented on fused silica and aluminium.     

Complete mode identification for resonance ultrasound spectroscopy

This study is devoted to deducing exact elastic constants of an anisotropic solid material without using any advance information on the elastic constants by incorporating a displacement-distribution measurement into resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS). The usual RUS method measures free-vibration resonance frequencies of a solid and compares them with calculations to find the most suitable set of elastic constants by an inverse calculation. This comparison requires mode identification for the measured resonance frequencies, which has been difficult and never been free from ambiguity. This study then adopts a laser-Doppler interferometer to measure the displacement-distribution patterns on a surface of the vibrating specimen mounted on pinducers; comparison of the measured displacement distributions with those computed permits us to correctly identify the measured resonance frequencies, leading to unmistakable determination of elastic constants. Because the displacement patterns are hardly affected by the elastic constants, an exact answer is surely obtained even when unreasonable elastic constants are used as initial guesses at the beginning of the inverse calculation. The usefulness of the present technique is demonstrated with an aluminum alloy and a langasite crystal.     

Study on the compound multifrequency ultrasonic transducer in flexural vibration

A new type of compound multifrequency ultrasonic transducer is analyzed in this paper. The compound multifrequency ultrasonic transducer consists of two sandwiched ultrasonic transducers and a rectangular radiator. In virtue of the coupling between longitudinal vibration of the sandwiched ultrasonic transducers and flexural vibration of the rectangular radiator, the compound multifrequency ultrasonic transducer can produce several resonance frequencies. Some compound multifrequency ultrasonic transducers are designed and simulated by finite element method (ANSYS), and modal shapes and harmonic response are analyzed. The compound multifrequency ultrasonic transducers are designed and manufactured. The resonance frequencies are measured and compared with the numerical results. The effect of the geometrical dimensions of the compound multifrequency ultrasonic transducer and the location of two sandwiched ultrasonic transducers on the compound multifrequency ultrasonic transducer is discussed. It is shown experimentally and numerically that the compound multifrequency ultrasonic transducer has several resonance frequencies.     

High precision, short range ultrasonic sensing by means of resonance mode-locking

This report describes a novel method of continuous-wave operation of ultrasonic transducers, which enables short-range measurement with a resolution much finer than the sound wavelength. The transducer is locked into a particular resonant mode of the transducer-gap-reflector system by a resonance-locking phase-locked loop. The resonant frequency depends on the relative coherence of the transmitted and reflected waves, so that a change in the position of the reflecting surface will require a corresponding change in the resonance frequency if the resonant mode is to be retained. A simple system of this type has been implemented using a cheap, commercially available transducer with far-from-optimum characteristics. The system has been found to operate successfully in a range well below the typical ring-down range of a corresponding pulse-echo system, and has displayed a resolution much finer than the sound wavelength for the transducer.     

Resonance tracking and vibration stablilization for high power ultrasonic transducers

Resonant frequency shift and electrical impedance variation are common phenomena in the application of high power ultrasonic transducers, e.g. in focused ultrasound surgery and in cutting. They result in low power efficiency and unstable vibration amplitude. To solve this problem, a driving and measurement system has been developed to track the resonance of high power transducers and to stabilise their vibration velocity. This has the ability to monitor the operating and performance parameters of the ultrasonic transducers in real time. The configuration of the system, with its control algorithm implemented in LabVIEW (National Instruments, Newbury, UK), ensures flexibility to suit different transducers and load conditions. In addition, with different programs, it can be utilised as a high power impedance analyser or an instantaneous electrical power measurement system for frequencies in the MHz range. The effectiveness of this system has been demonstrated in detailed studies. With it, high transducer performance at high power can be achieved and monitored in real time.     

The effect of reverberation on the damping of bubbles

The measurement of an acoustic emission, or scatter, from a bubble is not difficult. However, an accurate interpretation of that signal in terms of the bubble dynamics may require careful consideration. The study presented here is at first sight relatively simple: comparison of the predicted and measured quality factors of injected bubbles. While the measurement is normally done by monitoring the decay of passive emissions from a bubble, this technique becomes difficult with smaller bubbles. Therefore an active technique is introduced, which removes all the frequency-dependent effects on the measurement (such as transducer response) bar one. That, critically, is the effect of the change in the bubble resonance (frequency and damping) which results from the loading on the bubble due to the reverberant field. The vast majority of theoretical treatments of bubble acoustics assume free field conditions, yet the environmental conditions rarely if ever match these. Therefore measurements of bubble damping are compared both with the established free field theory, and with a new theory relevant to the prevailing reverberant conditions (whether caused by tank surfaces, monochromatic neighboring bubbles, or both).     

径向复合圆柱压电超声换能器

提出一种三元径向复合圆柱压电超声换能器,并对其径向振动特性进行了研究。基于弹性力学理论及机电类比原理,导出了柱坐标系中分割处理径向极化压电陶瓷管准厚度模振动及薄壁短圆管径向振动的机电等效电路;利用径向力和振速连续的边界条件,得出了径向复合圆柱压电换能器系统的径向振动机电等效电路及其共振频率方程。探讨了换能器径向共振频率及有效机电耦合系数随其几何尺寸的变化关系。研究表明,换能器的径向共振频率及有效机电耦合系数随其内芯半径和预应力管壁厚度增大而降低。研制了一些径向复合圆柱压电换能器,并对其径向共振频率进行了测试。结果表明,理论与实验结果基本一致。      

渔业声学回波散射测量系统的宽频带换能器

针对目前渔业声学宽频带回波散射测量系统采用多个不同频带的换能器合成、结构复杂且不方便携带的缺点,本文提出一种使用低机械品质因数、高谐振频率的积层压电致动器作为核心压电元件的"朗之万"型宽带水声换能器。测试结果表明,该换能器适用的频率范围为20 kHz~150 kHz,在三个渔业声学常用频率38 kHz、70 kHz、120 kHz下的-3 dB波束宽度分别为20.0°、11.5°、5.0°,可以满足对常见渔业资源种类的宽带声学回波散射特征的测量要求。     

Miniature piezoelectric conical transducer: fabrication, evaluation and application

This paper reports a new type miniature-conical transducer for acoustic emission measurements. The transducer follows the basic idea and structure of a conventional NBS conical transducer, but is much compact in size and easier to use. The improvements are made possible by introducing an excimer laser micromachining method for fabricating smaller PZT conical elements, which play a key role in the transducer. Conical PZT elements with contact size less then 300 microm are laser-machined and the miniature-conical transducers are constructed. Standard quantitative acoustic emission testing is performed on a plate using the fabricated transducers and good results are observed. The transducers can be very useful in many applications involving quantitative measurements of transient elastic waves.     

Study on the Langevin piezoelectric ceramic ultrasonic transducer of longitudinal-flexural composite vibrational mode

In this paper, the Langevin longitudinal-flexural composite mode piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer is studied. This type of transducers consists of slender metal rods and longitudinally polarized piezoelectric ceramic rings. The resonance frequency equations for the longitudinal and flexural vibrations in the transducer are derived. By correcting the length of the metal slender rods, the simultaneous resonance of the longitudinal and flexural vibrations in the transducer is acquired. The experimental results show that the measured resonance frequencies of the transducers are in good agreement with the computed ones, and the measured resonance frequencies of the longitudinal and the flexural vibrations in the composite transducers are also in good agreement with each other.