岩石特性的编码激励超声参数表征及分析

编码激励技术是提高超声穿透能力和分辨率的有效手段。为分析岩石特性对编码信号脉冲压缩性能的影响,通过数值模拟以及不同岩石的超声检测实验,研究并比较了几类编码信号的检测效果。结果表明幅度加权线性调频信号(TLFM)调制的Barker码信号(BTL)受到的信噪比损失低于正弦调制Barker码信号(BS),而分辨率损失要低于TLFM信号。实验结果验证了编码激励技术的有效性,为岩石超声检测中编码参数的设置提供了依据。      

超声换能器对线性调频信号脉冲压缩性能的影响分析*

该文研究了不同编码带宽下超声换能器对编码信号脉冲压缩后信噪比与轴向分辨率的影响关系。将脉冲压缩后的时域峰值转化为频域积分的形式,得到考虑换能器影响的脉冲压缩信噪比公式。以线性调频信号为例,仿真与实验结果表明,编码激励相对于方波激励的信噪比增益随编码带宽的减小而增大,因为受换能器带宽限制,编码激励的轴向分辨率随编码带宽的增大先减小后趋于稳定。该研究为编码激励方法更有效地应用于超声检测的背景中提供了参考。     

Estimation of ultrasonic attenuation in a bone using coded excitation

This paper describes a novel approach to estimate broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) in a bone structure in human in vivo using coded excitation. BUA is an accepted indicator for assessment of osteoporosis. In the tested approach a coded acoustic signal is emitted and then the received echoes are compressed into brief, high amplitude pulses making use of matched filters and correlation receivers. In this way the acoustic peak pressure amplitude probing the tissue can be markedly decreased whereas the average transmitted intensity increases proportionally to the length of the code. This paper examines the properties of three different transmission schemes, based on Barker code, chirp and Golay code. The system designed is capable of generating 16 bits complementary Golay code (CGC), linear frequency modulated (LFM) chirp and 13-bit Barker code (BC) at 0.5 and 1 MHz center frequencies. Both in vivo data acquired from healthy heel bones and in vitro data obtained from human calcaneus were examined and the comparison between the results using coded excitation and two cycles sine burst is presented. It is shown that CGC system allows the effective range of frequencies employed in the measurement of broadband acoustic energy attenuation in the trabecular bone to be doubled in comparison to the standard 0.5 MHz pulse transmission. The algorithm used to calculate the pairs of Golay sequences of the different length, which provide the temporal side-lobe cancellation is also presented. Current efforts are focused on adapting the system developed for operation in pulse-echo mode; this would allow examination and diagnosis of bones with limited access such as hip bone.     

Comparison of sound fields generated by different coded excitations--experimental results

This work reports the results of measurements of spatial distributions of ultrasound fields obtained from five energizing schemes. Three different codes, namely, chirp signal and two sinusoidal sequences were investigated. The sequences were phase modulated with 13 bits Barker code and 16 bits Golay complementary codes. Moreover, two reference signals generated as two and sixteen cycle sine tone bursts were examined. Planar, 50% (fractional) bandwidth, 15 mm diameter source transducer operating at 2 MHz center frequency was used in all measurements. The experimental data were collected using computerized scanning system and recorded using wideband, PVDF membrane hydrophone (Sonora 804). The measured echoes were compressed, so the complete pressure field in the investigated location before and after compression could be compared. In addition to a priori anticipated increase in the signal to noise ratio (SNR) for the decoded pressure fields, the results indicated differences in the pressure amplitude levels, directivity patterns, and the axial distance at which the maximum pressure amplitude was recorded. It was found that the directivity patterns of non-compressed fields exhibited shapes similar to the patterns characteristic for sinusoidal excitation having relatively long time duration. In contrast, the patterns corresponding to compressed fields resembled those produced by brief, wideband pulses. This was particularly visible in the case of binary sequences. The location of the maximum pressure amplitude measured in the 2 MHz field shifted towards the source by 15 mm and 25 mm for Barker code and Golay code, respectively. The results of this work may be applicable in the development of new coded excitation schemes. They could also be helpful in optimizing the design of imaging transducers employed in ultrasound systems designed for coded excitation. Finally, they could shed additional light on the relationship between the spatial field distribution and achievable image quality and in this way facilitate optimization of the images obtained using coded systems.     

Quinary excitation method for pulse compression ultrasound measurements

A novel switched excitation method for linear frequency modulated excitation of ultrasonic transducers in pulse compression systems is presented that is simple to realise, yet provides reduced signal sidelobes at the output of the matched filter compared to bipolar pseudo-chirp excitation. Pulse compression signal sidelobes are reduced through the use of simple amplitude tapering at the beginning and end of the excitation duration. Amplitude tapering using switched excitation is realised through the use of intermediate voltage switching levels, half that of the main excitation voltages. In total five excitation voltages are used creating a quinary excitation system. The absence of analogue signal generation and power amplifiers renders the excitation method attractive for applications with requirements such as a high channel count or low cost per channel. A systematic study of switched linear frequency modulated excitation methods with simulated and laboratory based experimental verification is presented for 2.25 MHz non-destructive testing immersion transducers. The signal to sidelobe noise level of compressed waveforms generated using quinary and bipolar pseudo-chirp excitation are investigated for transmission through a 0.5 m water and kaolin slurry channel. Quinary linear frequency modulated excitation consistently reduces signal sidelobe power compared to bipolar excitation methods. Experimental results for transmission between two 2.25 MHz transducers separated by a 0.5 m channel of water and 5% kaolin suspension shows improvements in signal to sidelobe noise power in the order of 7–8 dB. The reported quinary switched method for linear frequency modulated excitation provides improved performance compared to pseudo-chirp excitation without the need for high performance excitation amplifiers.     

Barker码激励超声导波在长骨检测中的应用

单脉冲激励的超声导波在长骨中传播时,信号的衰减大,导致接收信号的幅度很小,且噪声严重。Barker码激励能有效增大接收信号幅度,提高信噪比(SNR)。将其应用到超声导波长骨检测中,进行仿真和长骨实验,得到的信号分别用加权匹配滤波器和有限冲激响应-最小均方误差(FIR-LS)逆滤波器进行压缩,并与单脉冲激励的结果进行了对比。结果表明,对于13位的Barker码,采用加权匹配滤波器进行解码时,压缩信号幅度是单脉冲激励接收信号的13倍;而FIR-LS逆滤波器则达到-63.59 dB的峰值旁瓣水平(PSL),更好地抑制噪声。说明可以将Barker码激励超声导波应用于长骨的检测中。      

Study of inspection on metal sheet with subsurface defects using linear frequency modulated ultrasound excitation thermal-wave imaging (LFM-UTWI)

The linear frequency modulated ultrasound excitation thermal wave imaging (LFM-UTWI) was investigated on detection of subsurface defects of metal sheet. A numerical finite element analysis is carried out to calculate thermal wave signal dependence of time by linear frequency modulated ultrasonic wave excitation. Cross-correlation operation in time domain and frequency domain are used to extract the main peak value and the corresponding delay time, respectively. Fourier transform (FT) is applied to calculate the amplitude and phase angle of harmonic component of thermal wave. Experimental results show that various deep subsurface defects are readily detected using LFM-UTWI with once excitation, and LFM-UTWI has an advantage of better defect detectability compared to ultrasound lock-in thermography (ULIT).     

长骨中振动声激发超声导波的方法

为了实现一定频段内任意低频下在长骨中激励导波信号,本文提出一种采用聚焦高频(5 MHz)超声换能器在长骨皮质骨中激发低频(150 kHz)超声导波的振动声方法.首先介绍了板状超声导波理论和双声束共聚焦法与单声束调幅法激发振动声的基本原理;进而采用三维有限元仿真方法分析振动声激发低频超声导波的基本现象,然后结合牛胫骨板离体实验,验证振动声激发低频超声导波的可行性.结果均表明,双声束共焦与单声束振动超声均可在骨板中激发低频超声导波.相关研究方法有助于提高空间域长骨中超声导波测量精度,以及在一定频段内实现任意频率激励等,对发展低频超声导波在体测量长骨皮质骨的新技术具有一定的指导意义.     

Coded excitation of ultrasonic guided waves in long bone fracture assessment

Ultrasonic guided wave (GW) assessment of long bone fracture have conventionally been based on pulse excitation. However, the high attenuation during propagation diminishes the amplitude of received GWs and results in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The Barker code (BC) excitation and the optimal binary code (OBC) excitation were utilized in this study to overcome this limitation. Both simulations and in vitro experiments were performed on the fractured cortical bone plate model, and measured signals from both the BC and OBC excitations were decoded using the finite impulse response least squares inverse filter (FIR-LSIF) and then compared with sine pulse (SP) excited signals. The results suggest the efficiency of coded excitation for amplitude and SNR improvement. Furthermore, time–frequency representation (TFR) analysis was applied to experimental signals; with increasing fracture depth, energy transformation between predominate GW modes A1 and S2 was confirmed. These results show the potential of using BC and OBC excitations to evaluate the depth of long bone fracture.     

Excitation of photon echo by pulses modulated with Barker codes

The excitation of the primary and stimulated photon echoes by pulses modulated in phase with Barker codes is modeled. The shape of the complex envelopes of the primary and stimulated echoes is found by solving the optical Bloch equations. Linear and nonlinear excitation modes are considered. In linear modes, it is possible to realize a time delay and form the correlation function of modulated pulses. The results obtained can be used in modeling and analyzing the corresponding algorithms of the photon echo excitation and in calculating the characteristics of signal processors based on the phenomena of photon and spin echoes.     

Stochastic resonance in a single-mode laser driven by frequency modulated signal and coloured noises

By adding frequency modulated signals to the intensity equation of gain--noise model of the single-mode laser driven by two coloured noises which are correlated, this paper uses the linear approximation method to calculate the power spectrum and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the laser intensity. The results show that the SNR appears typical stochastic resonance with the variation of intensity of the pump noise and quantum noise. As the amplitude of a modulated signal has effects on the SNR, it shows suppression, monotone increasing, stochastic resonance, and multiple stochastic resonance with the variation of the frequency of a carrier signal and modulated signal.     

Hyperbolic heat conduction effects caused by temporally modulated laser pulses

In non-destructive testing (NDT), the intensity of laser pulses may be temporally modulated to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of ultrasonic signals. The purpose of this work is to determine the time scale on which hyperbolic heat conduction effects are significant in ultrasonic displacements and stresses for temporally modulated laser pulses, under the assumption that the heat wave speed equals the longitudinal wave speed. A one-dimensional model with a finite train of heat flux pulses is investigated. Using the Green and Lindsay model, it is found that the critical modulation frequency in steel, above which hyperbolic heat conduction effects will become signficant, is 2.26 GHz. A dimensionless factor is given to calculate critical modulation frequencies in other isotropic materials. The signal enhancement potential of temporal intensity modulation is apparent in the numerical results.     

Optimizing chaos-based signals for complex radar targets

There has been interest in the use of chaotic signals for radar, but most researchers consider only a few chaotic systems and how these signals perform for the detection of point targets. The range of possible chaotic signals is far greater than what most of these researchers consider, so to demonstrate this, I use a chaotic map whose parameters may be adjusted by a numerical optimization routine, producing different chaotic signals that are modulated onto a carrier and optimized for different situations. It is also suggested that any advantage for these chaos-based signals may come in the detection of complex targets, not point targets, and I compare the performance of chaos-based signals to a standard radar signal, the linear frequency modulated chirp. I find that I can optimize a chaos-based signal to increase the cross-correlation with the reflection from one complex target compared to the cross-correlation with the reflection from a different target, thus allowing the identification of a complex target. I am also able to increase the cross-correlation of the reflection from a complex target compared with the cross-correlation with the reflection from spatially extended clutter. I show that a larger output signal-to-noise ratio is possible if I cross-correlate with a reference signal that is different from the transmitted signal, and I justify my results by showing how the ambiguity diagram for a chaos-based signal can be different than the ambiguity diagram for a noise signal.     

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.     

Wavelet based noise suppression technique and its application to ultrasonic flaw detection

The noise suppression techniques with wavelet transform (WT) are widely used in non-destructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E), especially in ultrasonics. Complete reconstruction theory with hard or soft thresholds, reconstruction technique based on the singularities of noise and signal, matched filter with an impulse response, and optimal frequency-to-bandwidth ratio of wavelet technique have all been used to analyze ultrasonic signals for noise suppression. But a more simple and effective technique has been pursued for decades. This paper develops a new technique using WT for the right purpose. In this work, WT is treated as a band-pass filter whose central frequency and frequency bandwidth (CF&FB) are determined by the spectra distribution of an ultrasonic signal captured from real testing situation. For the purpose of matching their CF&FB well, a technique for evaluating the optimal scale of a daughter wavelet is carried out too. By acting this daughter wavelet as a band-pass filter, we can obtain excellent de-noising results, even when the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is below -18 dB. The performance of the technique has been done by ultrasonic signals with computer generated white noises. Finally, the experimental verification is performed on a pipeline specimen with man-made small flaws with good results obtained. The results show that the technique is more suitable for processing heavy noised ultrasonic signals, and it can also be used in automatic flaw detection.     

衰减匹配的超声Barker码激励方法

为增加超声穿透高声衰减介质的能力,提出了一种衰减匹配的超声Barker码激励方法。基于换能器高斯响应与材料非频散线性衰减的假设,得到了Barker码激励的信号模型,求解旁瓣抑制滤波后脉冲压缩的信噪比表达式可知,该方法仅需要根据材料衰减特性与轴向分辨率的要求,分别调整Barker码的中心频率与时长,便可以获得更高的信噪比。取衰减系数为1.4 Np/(MHz·cm)、厚度为5 cm的橡胶为试样进行验证。当与方波激励方法的轴向分辨率相近时,衰减匹配的Barker码激励方法比传统Barker码激励方法的信噪比增益提高接近5 dB;当牺牲一定轴向分辨率时,信噪比增益提高接近11 dB。结果表明,衰减匹配的Barker码激励方法可以降低依频率衰减对脉冲压缩的影响,有效提高衰减回波的信噪比。      

闭合裂纹非共线混频超声检测试验研究

针对结构中微裂纹检测难题,发展了一种闭合裂纹非共线混频超声检测方法。在对非共线混频超声检测机理分析基础上,进行了结构中疲劳裂纹混频非线性超声检测实验。对有无裂纹试件中检测信号进行了滤波和时频分析,结果表明,可根据信号滤波后时域波形中是否存在明显的混频波包或时频分析中是否存在明显的和频分量,实现有无闭合裂纹的判识;通过移动激励探头的位置,控制两列入射声波在试件中的交汇位置,实现试件中不同深度位置的混频非线性检测。并根据测得的混频非线性系数沿试件深度方向上分布,实现了闭合裂纹沿深度方向上长度的测量。研究工作为结构中微裂纹定量评价做了有益探索。      

虫蛀玉米种子的空气耦合超声波检测

提出了一种基于空气耦合超声波技术的玉米种子虫蛀孔洞颗粒和完好颗粒分类识别方法·首先根据玉米颗粒的弹性模量、泊松比和密度等物理量计算出了玉米颗粒的声速,并根据检测精度需求设定了激励信号频率。然后采用MATLAB对采集的两类种子超声波信号数据进行分析处理,并分析了种子厚度和摆放方位对超声波响应特征的影响。最后建立了K近邻(KNN)、簇类独立软模式法(SIMCA)、Fisher线性判别(LDA)和决策树(DT)识别模型,并对模型性能进行了测试.结果表明;种子孔洞深度、胚部厚度和正反面方位不同,即超声波在种子表面的反射程度不同、在种子中传播声程不同,则起声波信号衰减程度不同,导致接收到信号的幅值不同,且样本点在主成分分析(PCA)特征空间的分布也不同。4种识别模型均可以实现对两类玉米的分类识别,其中KNN模型性能最佳,其对虫蛀孔洞颗粒和完好颗粒的正确识别率分别为98%100%,误差带为2%,0。此结果说明采用空气耦合超声波技术可以实现对玉米种子虫蛀孔洞颗粒的检测。      

Transmission of noise coded versus additive signals through a neuronal ensemble

Neuronal populations receive signals through temporally inhomogeneous spike trains which can be approximated by an input consisting of a time dependent mean value (additive signal) and noise with a time dependent intensity (noise coded signal). We compare the linear response of an ensemble of model neurons to these signals. Our analytical solution for the mean activity demonstrates the high efficiency of the transmission of a noise coded signal in a broad frequency band. For both kinds of signal we show that the transmission by the ensemble reveals stochastic resonance as well as a nonmonotonous dependence on the driving frequency.     

信号在时变等离子体中的传播特性

高速飞行器等离子鞘套由于飞行姿态调整、湍流、非均匀烧蚀等因素的影响,使其等离子体参数存在时变特性,针对这种传输介质的快速时变特性引起的电波幅度、相位上的寄生调制效应,本文利用大面积辉光放电等离子体产生装置,搭建了等离子体中信号传输实验系统,进行了S频段的单频信号与调制信号传输实验,观测验证了调制效应的存在,且其调制频率与等离子体变化频率具有一致性,进一步分析了等离子参数与寄生调制效应的关系,理论和实验结果表明:即使当载波频率大于等离子频率时,时变等离子引起的寄生调制效应也会使传输信号的星座图发生旋转,造成其判决容差裕度变小,通信可靠性下降,并且载波频率越接近等离子频率时,其寄生调制效应越强烈。