Application of random signal correlation techniques to ultrasonic flaw detection

A system is described and analysed which applies random signal correlation techniques to ultrasonic flaw detection. The use of correlation and time integration techniques gives it a signal-to-noise ratio correlation gain of the order of 10⁴, and the use of a random transmitted signal whose range resolution is independent of its duration permits a peak-to-average transmitted power ratio of the order of unity. It is shown that random signal correlation systems should therefore be capable of much greater range and/or resolution than is possible with current pulse-echo systems.     

If C-H bonds could talk: selective C-H bond oxidation

C-H oxidation has a long history and an ongoing presence in research at the forefront of chemistry and interrelated fields. As such, numerous highly useful articles and reviews have been written on this subject. Logically, these are generally written from the perspective of the scope and limitations of the reagents employed. This Minireview instead attempts to emphasize chemoselectivity imposed by the nature of the substrate. Consequently, many landmark discoveries in the field of C-H oxidation are not discussed, but hopefully the perspective taken herein will allow C-H oxidation reactions to be more readily incorporated into synthetic planning.     

A global volume lemma and applications

Letf ^t be aC ² Axiom A dynamical system on a compact manifold satisfying the transversality condition. We prove that ifB _x (ε,t)=[y: dist (f ^s x,f ^s y)≤ε for all 0≤s≤t], then volB _x (ε,t) has the order exp(∫ ₀ ^t φ (f ^s x)ds) in the continuous time case and exp (Σ _s ^t−1 φ (f ^s x)) in the discrete time case, whereφ is a Holder continuous extension from basic hyperbolic sets of the negative of the differential expansion coefficient in the unstable direction. An application to the theory of large deviations is given. Partially supported by US-Israel BSF. Partially supported by a Darpa grant.     

Doppler ultrasound technique for measuring capillary-speed flow velocities with strong stationary echoes.

Ultrasound Doppler is widely used for low measurement in both medicine and industry, having the advantages of being non-invasive and comparatively simple and therefore inexpensive. The technique has not however been used for capillary blood flow measurement, because of the relatively low velocities encountered and because of the presence of strong interfering signals from the encompassing tissue. An ultrasound Doppler system capable of measuring flow velocities of one millimetre per second in the presence of one thousand times stronger interfering signals is described, as well as test results using both thread and flow phantoms.     

Pulsed laser deposition of BiCuOSe thin films

Undoped and 10% Ca-doped BiCuOSe thin films are prepared by pulsed laser deposition without ex-situ processing. The influence of the preparation conditions on structure and properties of Bi_0.9Ca_0.1CuOSe thin films on amorphous silica substrates is studied. The highest achieved concentration and mobility of free holes (3.9×10²⁰ cm⁻³ and 3.5 cm²/Vs) was close to that measured in strongly c-axis oriented samples on SrTiO₃ substrates (4.0×10²⁰ cm⁻³ and 7.5 cm²/Vs). The Bi_0.9Ca_0.1CuOSe films on SrTiO₃ show almost temperature-independent Seebeck coefficient and their resistivity increases with increasing temperature. The Seebeck coefficient of undoped BiCuOSe films on SrTiO₃ increases below 150°K, and the resistivity shows a flat plateau centered at this temperature. Optical measurements suggest that BiCuOSe has an indirect bandgap of 0.8 eV and a strong absorption edge at 1.45 eV. Ab-initio calculations of the electronic band structure, effective masses and optical properties of BiCuOSe are also presented.     

Single and multiple random walks on random lattices: Excitation trapping and annihilation simulations

Random walk simulations of exciton trapping and annihilation on binary and ternary lattices are presented. Single walker visitation efficiencies for ordered and random binary lattices are compared. Interacting multiple random walkers on binary and ternary random lattices are presented in terms of trapping and annihilation efficiencies that are related to experimental observables. A master equation approach, based on Monte Carlo cluster distributions, results in a nonclassical power relationship between the exciton annihilation rate and the exciton density.     

Velocity magnitude estimation with linear arrays using Doppler bandwidth

The dependence of pulsed wave Doppler bandwidth on parameters typical of linear transducer arrays used in commercial Duplex and color flow mapping systems is investigated experimentally. For a single flow line it is observed that this bandwidth generally depends not only on the scatterer velocity and the beam-to-flow angle, but also on the flow line range and orientation. This is due to the fact that in Duplex and color flow systems the transducer is differently focused in the scan and elevation planes and its aperture and focal lengths are often made to vary, depending on the distance of the flow line from the transducer. It is however experimentally demonstrated that, at points where the ultrasound beamwidths in the scan and elevation planes are both comparable to the sample volume length, the Doppler bandwidth is independent of the beam-to-flow angle. It is also shown that this invariance can be extended to other ranges by appropriately modifying the array aperture. Finally, as an application of this independence, the flow-line velocity magnitude in these beam regions is estimated with better than 5% uncertainty through a simple bandwidth measurement.     

Invariance of the Doppler bandwidth with flow displacement in the illuminating field.

It is known that if single frequency continuously transmitted ultrasound or electromagnetic energy is reflected from "straight line flow," defined here as one or more scatters moving with constant velocity along an infinite straight line, the Doppler effect will shift the echo spectrum center frequency from the transmitted value, and broaden its bandwidth. It is proved that if such straight line flow is shifted laterally or in range anywhere in the field, i.e., without change of orientation, its Doppler bandwidth remains unchanged. (The "Doppler bandwidth" is here defined as the frequency difference between the extrema of the echo power spectrum.) The theorem holds true even though the time domain echo changes dramatically with motion of the flow path, and is believed to be valid for electromagnetic as well as ultrasound waves. Its implications with respect to flow measurement, as well as preliminary experimental and computational confirmation, will be discussed.     

Fractal chemical kinetics: Reacting random walkers

Computer simulations on binary reactions of random walkers (A + A A) on fractal spaces bear out a recent conjecture: ( ^–1 – ₀ ^–1) t ^f , where is the instantaneous walker density and ₀ the initial one, andf=d _s /2, whered _s is the spectral dimension. For the Sierpinski gaskets:d=2, 2f=1.38 (d _s =1.365);d=3, 2f=1.56 (d _s =1.547); biased initial random distributions are compared to unbiased ones. For site percolation:d= 2,p=0.60, 2f= 1.35 (d _s =1.35); d=3,p=0.32, 2f=1.37 (d _s =1.4); fractal-to-Euclidean crossovers are also observed. For energetically disordered lattices, the effective 2f (from reacting walkers) andd _s (from single walkers) are in good agreement, in both two and three dimensions.Supported by NSF Grant No. DMR 8303919.