Through-transmission Mode Research Articles

Noninvasive tracking of solidification using ultrasound

Noninvasive tracking of solidification is typically done by monitoring the sample’s surface temperature. This approach is error-prone and not always appropriate for complex geometries and often does not provide complete information on the sample’s transitioning phases. This feasibility study investigates using ultrasonic waves to noninvasively track solidification in wax. Ultrasonic sensors are used in through-transmission mode to monitor the response over the solidification period. The difference in speed of sound between the wax’s liquid and solid phase allows for the solid fraction of the sample to be calculated over the solidification period and the time of complete solidification to be identified. Changes in attenuation during solidification are consistent across experiments. These changes are likely to provide additional information about the cast once they are fully understood. Temperature probes are used to verify the results obtained from the ultrasonic data. The ultimate goal of the project is to use a metal sample and connect information from the ultrasonic signal to the material properties and grain structure of the cast using noninvasive ultrasound technology.

Air-Coupled Ultrasound Sealing Integrity Inspection Using Leaky Lamb Waves in a Simplified Model of a Lithium-Ion Pouch Battery: Feasibility Study.

Inspecting the sealing integrity of lead tabs is an important means of ensuring the reliability and safety of pouch-type lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries with a thin multi-layered aluminum (Al) laminated film. This paper presents a new air-coupled ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT) inspection method based on leaky Lamb wave transmission; and reception for evaluating the sealing integrity between the lead tab and the Al pouch film. The proposed method uses the critical incidence angle between the air and the layer with the fastest Lamb wave velocity to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio in the through-transmission mode. To determine the critical incidence angle, phantom experiments with two test pieces (i.e., an Al tab and an Al tab sealed with an Al pouch film) are conducted. In addition, 2D scans are performed at various incidence angles for an inhouse pouch-type Li-ion battery with a 1-mm-wide foreign material inserted as a defect. At the critical incidence angle (i.e., 22°), the proposed air-coupled ultrasonic NDT method in through-transmission mode successfully identifies the shape and location of the defect through c-scan image reconstruction. These preliminary results indicate that the proposed air-coupled ultrasonic NDT method with leaky Lamb waves can be used to inspect the sealing integrity of Li-ion pouch batteries in dry test conditions.

In-situ Laser ultrasound-based Rayleigh Wave Process Monitoring of DED-AM Metals

ABSTRACT A laser ultrasound system is integrated into a directed energy deposition additive manufacturing (DED-AM) chamber to use Rayleigh waves for process monitoring in a noncontact layer-by-layer mode. Layers of Ti-6Al-4 V are deposited and then interrogated with ultrasonic Rayleigh waves that are sensitive to flaws and material nonuniformities. The novel integrated material processing and monitoring system is described in detail. Process parameters are intentionally altered to create flaws and anomalies to demonstrate some capabilities of the monitoring system. The generation laser actuates either broadband pulses with a cylindrical lens or narrowband wave packets with a slit mask, which are received in through-transmission mode by a laser interferometer despite the inherent surface roughness. Flaws are detected through comparison to a reference state.

Measurement of Ultrasound Parameters of Bovine Cancellous Bone as a Function of Frequency for a Range of Porosities via Through-Transmission Ultrasonic Spectroscopy

The relationship between ultrasonic parameters (attenuation coefficients and velocity) and bone porosity in bovine cancellous bone is explored to understand the possibility of fracture risk diagnosis associated with osteoporosis by applying ultrasound. In vitro measurements of ultrasonic parameters on twenty-one bovine cancellous bone samples from tibia were conducted, using ultrasonic spectroscopy in the through-transmission mode. Transducers of three different center frequencies were used to cover a wide diagnostic frequency range between 1.0–7.8 MHz. The nonlinear relationship of porosity and normalized attenuation coefficient (nATTN) and normalized broadband attenuation coefficient (nBUA) were well described by a third-order polynomial fit, whereas porosity and the phase velocity (UV) were found to be negatively correlated with the linear correlation coefficients of −0.93, −0.89 and −0.83 at 2.25, 5.00 and 7.50 MHz, respectively. The results imply that the ultrasound parameters attain maximum values for the bone sample with the lowest porosity, and then decrease for samples with greater porosity for the range of porosities in our samples for all frequencies. Spatial variation in the ultrasound parameters was found to be caused by non-uniform pore size distribution, which was examined at five different locations within the same bone specimen. However, it did not affect the relationship of ultrasound parameters and porosity at these frequencies.

Probabilistic ultrasound C-scan imaging of barely visible impact damage in CFRP laminates

Ultrasonic pulse-echo C-scan imaging is a widespread method for detecting and characterizing defects in fiber reinforced polymer composites. However, the accurate assessment of a complex distributed damage cluster, like barely visible impact damage, in multi-layer and heterogeneous composites is not straightforward. For reliably estimating the remaining load carrying capacity and/or remaining useful lifetime of a damaged composite, a proper and complete damage assessment is of utmost importance.In this paper, a statistical time-energy gating approach is proposed in view of obtaining improved ultrasonic pulse-echo imaging of impacted composites. The majority of virgin A-scan signals are first clustered by analyzing their back-wall echoes. Next, using the principle of maximum likelihood, a Rice distribution is matched to the instantaneous amplitude in order to estimate the natural variability in the local energy of the virgin response signals. The resulting time-varying reliability interval provides an effective means to identify signals coming from defects or inhomogeneities, and as such to robustly assess defect parameters. The proposed probabilistic imaging procedure is demonstrated on various carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminates with barely visible impact damage. The obtained results are benchmarked by conventional ultrasonic C-scan imaging in through-transmission mode as well as in pulse-echo mode using the classical time gating approach. In contrast to the classical time gate method, the proposed statistical time-energy gating procedure successfully extracts and quantifies the full extent of the complex impact damage cluster. Further, the good noise resistance of the proposed probabilistic imaging method is demonstrated for a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios.

Ultrasonic Evaluation of Porosity in Out-of-Autoclave Carbon Fiber–Reinforced Polymer Composite Material

Ultrasonic longitudinal wave propagation is studied in out-of-autoclave (OoA) carbon fiber–reinforced polymer composite material with varying levels of porosity contents. A combination of cure pressures and a solvent is used to produce specimens with void contents in the range of 0% to 22%. Ultrasonic measurements are made in through-transmission mode, and the data is processed to study various aspects of wave interaction with porosity in OoA specimens. The specimens with a wide range of void contents have enabled the study of broader trends of ultrasonic center frequency, wave velocity, and attenuation with respect to porosity. Results show ultrasonic center frequency and wave velocity are decreased linearly as the void content increases. The relationship of ultrasonic wave attenuation can be approximated by a logarithmic relationship when considering the full range of void content studied. Strength measurements of specimens with varying void contents are made using the flatwise tensile (FWT) test. It is observed that the strength rapidly decreases with increasing porosity. Correlations made between FWT strength, ultrasonic wave velocity, and attenuation are best described by logarithmic relationships. The data shows a potential for inferring strength knockdowns due to the presence of porosity based on ultrasonic measurements.

Development of a Novel Ultrasonic Spectroscopy Method for Estimation of Viscosity Change during Milk Clotting.

Ultrasonic testing is an emerging non-destructive testing technology with high repeatability and precision. Milk is a very complex liquid and the change of its viscosity is a highly relevant property throughout conversion into other dairy products. In the following paper, we propose a novel method for the monitoring of viscosity during enzymatic milk clotting by ultrasonic spectroscopy. An ultrasonic transducer–receiver couple with a 250 kHz nominal frequency was submerged in the samples and an enveloped sweep (“chirp”) signal was applied in a through-transmission mode. Simultaneously, the change in viscosity was measured with a rotational viscometer at a constant shearing speed. The data were analyzed with an algorithm developed by the authors for spectral ultrasonic testing. Estimations yielded a high adjusted R2 (0.963–0.998) and low cross-validated estimation error (RPD: 4.38–14.22), suggesting that the method is suitable for industrial use given the right instrumentation.

Numerical Study on Surface Roughness Measurement Based on Nonlinear Ultrasonics in Through-Transmission and Pulse-Echo Modes.

Ultrasonic is one of the well-known methods for surface roughness measurement, but small roughness will only lead to a subtle variation of transmission or reflection. To explore sensitive techniques for surfaces with small roughness, nonlinear ultrasonic measurement in through-transmission and pulse-echo modes was proposed and studied based on an effective unit-cell finite element (FE) model. Higher harmonic generation in solids was realized by applying the Murnaghan hyperelastic material model. This FE model was verified by comparing the absolute value of the nonlinearity parameter with the analytical solution. Then, random surfaces with different roughness values ranging from 0 μm to 200 μm were repeatedly generated and studied in the two modes. The through-transmission mode is very suitable to measure the surfaces with roughness as small as 3% of the wavelength. The pulse-echo mode is sensitive and effective to measure the surface roughness ranging from 0.78% to 5.47% of the wavelength. This study offers a potential nondestructive testing and monitoring method for the interfaces or inner surfaces of the in-service structures.

Nondestructive assessment of cross-laminated timber using non-contact transverse vibration and ultrasonic testing

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a new generation of engineered wood product developed initially in Europe and has been used in North America for various applications. CLT is composed of at least three layers of lumber boards stacked crosswise in orthogonally alternating orientation to the adjacent layers. CLT has been gaining popularity and increasing application areas in the construction industry, such as building systems, mats for construction and temporary road applications as well as temporary bridges. It is especially identified as the prevailing material in modular construction for the future building industry. However, CLT as a relatively new structural material has limited studies related to their durability and long-term performance. Moreover, nondestructive evaluation methods to understand their mechanical behavior after exposure to harsh environment are lacking. This paper contributes to the development of a rapid nondestructive evaluation method to assess the mechanical properties using transverse vibration method and ultrasonic testing. The free vibration response triggered by the impulse excitation is captured using contact accelerometer and non-contact laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). The LDV measurement is proven to respond similar to conventional accelerometers but more convenient as a rapid assessment method. While the longitudinal wave speed is measured by ultrasonic testing (UT) in a through-transmission mode, the modulus of elasticity was calculated in terms of measured wave speed. By investigating the different structural states and dimensions of CLT samples, the laboratory and the manufacturing facility, the influences of aging on effective dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE) and damping are shown. The numerical and experimental results indicate the increase in moisture content decreases the fundamental frequency. Therefore, moisture content should be measured in order to examine the coupled effects of moisture content and aging on the fundamental frequency. The damping ratio extracted using half-power bandwidth method is shown as an additional information related to the moisture content. The non-contact transverse vibration method and UT are shown as an efficient nondestructive evaluation method for assessing the CLT structural state right after the manufacturing as a quality assurance method or after their service in field as a diagnostic tool.

Fabrication and Characterization of a Wideband Low-Frequency CMUT Array for Air-Coupled Imaging

The capacitive micro-machined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) has a good acoustic matching with air. In this paper, a 16-element CMUT array for airborne application is designed and fabricated by SOI wafer bonding process. All the CMUT cells have the same geometric parameters with circular and sealed membrane, which vibrate uniformly for good transmission efficiency. And the thin membrane with small mass is proposed to broaden the bandwidth of CMUT. The sensor array operates at a 215.6 kHz resonance frequency with a large −3dB fractional bandwidth of 15.7% and a good consistency. The selection of the driving parameters (i.e. the DC bias voltage and AC excitation signal) has been analyzed comprehensively, which can be used to optimize the driving strategy of the CMUT for better transmission and reception performance. The CMUT array proposed in this paper has been used to demonstrate a two-dimension non-contact air-coupled imaging by through-transmission mode and pitch-catch mode. The images of two kinds of objects have been reconstructed to exhibit the capability of the CMUT array in air-ultrasonic imaging, suggesting broad applications including 3D imaging, gesture recognition, and other human-machine interactions in air.

Improved Signal Detection Sensitivity for High Resolution Imaging in Scanning Acoustic Tomography

Abstract Scanning acoustic tomography (SAT) is widely used to detect defects such as voids and delamination in electronic devices. In this article, the authors explain how they improved the spatial resolution and detection sensitivity of SAT by switching from a conventional piezoelectric probe to a capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer (CMUT) and by using pulse compression signal processing. They also present examples showing how the improvement makes it possible to detect very small defects in multilayer stacks and BGA packages whether in through-transmission or reflection imaging mode.

Ultrasound Measurement of Skeletal Muscle Contractile Parameters Using Flexible and Wearable Single-Element Ultrasonic Sensor.

Skeletal muscle is considered as a near-constant volume system, and the contractions of the muscle are related to the changes in tissue thickness. Assessment of the skeletal muscle contractile parameters such as maximum contraction thickness (), contraction time (), contraction velocity (), sustain time (), and half-relaxation () provides valuable information for various medical applications. This paper presents a single-element wearable ultrasonic sensor (WUS) and a method to measure the skeletal muscle contractile parameters in A-mode ultrasonic data acquisition. The developed WUS was made of double-layer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric polymer films with a simple and low-cost fabrication process. A flexible, lightweight, thin, and small size WUS would provide a secure attachment to the skin surface without affecting the muscle contraction dynamics of interest. The developed WUS was employed to monitor the contractions of gastrocnemius (GC) muscle of a human subject. The GC muscle contractions were evoked by the electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) at varying EMS frequencies from 2 Hz up to 30 Hz. The tissue thickness changes due to the muscle contractions were measured by utilizing a time-of-flight method in the ultrasonic through-transmission mode. The developed WUS demonstrated the capability to monitor the tissue thickness changes during the unfused and fused tetanic contractions. The tetanic progression level was quantitatively assessed using the parameter of the fusion index (FI) obtained. In addition, the contractile parameters (, , , , and ) were successfully extracted from the measured tissue thickness changes. In addition, the unfused and fused tetanus frequencies were estimated from the obtained FI-EMS frequency curve. The WUS and ultrasonic method proposed in this study could be a valuable tool for inexpensive, non-invasive, and continuous monitoring of the skeletal muscle contractile properties.

Filament-wound composite pressure vessel inspection based on rotational through-transmission laser ultrasonic propagation imaging

In this paper, we introduce a rotational through-transmission ultrasonic propagation imaging system to inspect the full thickness of the entire cylindrical section of filament-wound composite overwrapped pressure vessels. This system can achieve high signal-to-noise ratio throughout the cylindrical section of pressure vessels by using a rotational scanning method. Based on the advantages of the laser ultrasonic system that can generate and detect ultrasound waves by using a small-diameter laser beam and making an inspection path in a narrow environment, this system directs the laser beam inside the pressure vessel via a mirror to enable the through-transmission mode for vessel inspection. A type-3 pressure vessel was inspected using the system developed, which successfully detected two impact damage spots and showed the filament winding direction clearly. The test results show that the system developed is highly reliable and can replace the current hydrostatic sample test for pressure vessel safety certification.

Speed of Sound and Attenuation Temperature Dependence of Bovine Brain: Ex Vivo Study.

Brain treatments using focused ultrasound (FUS) offer a new range of noninvasive transcranial therapies. The acoustic energy deposition during these procedures may induce a temperature elevation in the tissue; therefore, noninvasive thermal monitoring is essential. Magnetic resonance imaging is the current adopted monitoring modality, but its high operational costs and limited availability may hinder the accessibility to FUS treatments. Aiming at the development of a thermometric ultrasound (US) method for the brain, the specific objective of this investigation was to study the acoustic thermal response of the speed of sound (SOS) and attenuation coefficient (AC) of different brain tissues: namely white matter (WM) and cortical matter. Sixteen ex vivo bovine brain samples were investigated. These included 7 WM and 9 cortical matter samples. The samples were gradually heated to about 45°C and then repeatedly scanned while cooling using a computerized US system in the through-transmission mode. The temperature was simultaneously registered with thermocouples. From the scans, the normalized SOS and AC for both tissues were calculated. The results demonstrated a characteristic cooldown temporal behavior for the normalized AC and SOS curves, which were related to the temperature. The SOS curves enabled clear differentiation between the tissue types but depicted more scattered trajectories for the WM tissue. As for the AC curves, the WM depicted a linear behavior in relation to the temperature. However, both tissue types had rather similar temperature patterns. These findings may contribute to the development of a US temperature-monitoring method during FUS procedures.

Comparison of Linear and Nonlinear Ultrasonic Parameters in Characterizing Grain Size and Mechanical Properties of 304L Stainless Steel

Ultrasonic nondestructive techniques can be used to characterize grain size and to evaluate mechanical properties of metals more practically than conventional destructive optical metallography and tensile tests. Typical ultrasonic parameters that can be correlated with material properties include ultrasonic velocity, ultrasonic attenuation coefficient, and nonlinear ultrasonic parameters. In this work, the abilities of these ultrasonic parameters to characterize the grain size and the mechanical properties of 304L stainless steel were evaluated and compared. Heat-treated specimens with different grain sizes were prepared and tested, where grain size ranged from approximately 40 to 300 μm. The measurements of ultrasonic velocity and ultrasonic attenuation coefficient were based on a pulse-echo mode, and the nonlinear ultrasonic parameter was measured based on a through-transmission mode. Grain size, elastic modulus, yield strength, and hardness were measured using conventional destructive methods, and their results were correlated with the results of ultrasonic measurements. The experimental results showed that all the measured ultrasonic parameters correlated well with the average grain size and the mechanical properties of the specimens. The nonlinear ultrasonic parameter provided better sensitivity than the ultrasonic velocity and the ultrasonic attenuation coefficient, which suggests that the nonlinear ultrasonic measurement would be more effective in characterizing grain size and mechanical properties than linear ultrasonic measurements.

Improvement in lateral resolution of through-transmission scanning acoustic tomography using capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer

We present the first through-transmission images in scanning acoustic tomography (SAT) using a capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer (CMUT) as a receiving probe. To improve the lateral resolution, we developed broadband and highly sensitive CMUT cells. An ultra-narrow gap structure was implemented in the cells, and it consisted of an evacuated gap of 30 nm and insulating layers of 100 nm between the electrodes. The equivalent distance in vacuum between the electrodes was 55 nm, which is much smaller than that of the typical CMUT cell between 100 and 300 nm. Approximately 10,000 CMUT cells were placed in a circle with a diameter of 2 mm to create the unfocused receiving probe. The center frequency was found to be 30 MHz, and the −3-dB bandwidth was from 14 to 47 MHz broad (fractional bandwidth: 109%). The CMUT receiving probe was installed into a SAT system in through-transmission mode. The signal-to-noise ratio of the SAT system with the CMUT probe was 70% higher than that with a 25-MHz piezoelectric one. In a 2.3-mm thick ball grid array (BGA) package, the through-transmission images taken with the CMUT probe were clearer than those with a piezoelectric one. In comparing the received pulses, we found the CMUT probe was more sensitive than the piezoelectric one by 10 dB in the frequency range of 20 to 30 MHz. The high sensitivity at high frequencies caused the CMUT probe to have higher lateral resolution than the piezoelectric one.

Internal defect detection using laser-generated longitudinal waves in ablation regime

Laser ultrasonics could be an attractive solution for the nondestructive testing of structures in harsh environments. Longitudinal waves generated in the ablation regime are especially well suited to internal defect detection because they provide a higher signal-to-noise ratio in comparison to ultrasonic waves generated under a thermo-elastic regime, while their propagation direction normal to the surface enables the simplified interpretation processing of received signals when the defect echoes are analyzed. The internal defect detection using laser-generated longitudinal waves in the ablation regime was investigated numerically and experimentally, and a numerical model to simulate the generation and propagation of ultrasonic waves in the ablation regime was developed. This model was based on the simulation of ultrasonic generation and propagation caused by the net reaction force that was directly converted from the laser intensity absorbed onto the surface. This model was also extended as a model for internal defect detection. A steel specimen containing artificial internal defects was fabricated and inspected by using the through-transmission (T-scan) and pulse-echo (B-scan) modes. Clear amplitude reduction was observed in the transmitted waves at the defect positions in T-scan images, while B-scan images clearly showed the defect echoes arriving at different times depending on the depth location of internal defects. These results demonstrate that longitudinal waves excited in the ablation regime can be effectively used for internal defect detection.

Predicting the bending properties of air dried and modified Populus tremula L. wood using combined air-coupled ultrasound and electrical impedance spectroscopy

Air-coupled ultrasound and electrical impedance spectroscopy are non-destructive measurement methods, which can be used, for example for quality assessment of sawn timber. Both methods may be used in through-transmission and one-sided reflection mode to measure internal properties and detect defects in wood materials. The ultrasound method is based on mechanical waves and is mainly affected by the mechanical properties of wood. Density affects both methods, and the electrical impedance method is especially affected by moisture content and the chemical properties of wood. In this study, the relations between the methods and the bending properties of air dried and modified aspen (Populus tremula L.) specimens were examined. The modification method was a combination of compression and thermal modification. According to the study, electrical impedance spectroscopy combined with air-coupled ultrasound measured across the grain is a potential non-destructive technique for the strength estimation of aspen wood.

Evaluating lymph node status with high-frequency ultrasound during breast conservation surgery

High-frequency (20–80 MHz) ultrasound was used to evaluate 78 lymph nodes from 39 patients to identify metastatic breast cancer during breast conservation surgery. Point measurements were collected from resected lymph nodes in both through-transmission and pulse-echo modes using 50-MHz, 6.35-mm diameter, single-element transducers. Attenuation and peak density (the number of peaks and valleys in a specified frequency band) were calculated from the ultrasonic waveforms and power spectra, respectively. The two parameters were additionally combined to perform a multivariate analysis. Fisher’s exact test was used to determine the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of each parameter and the multivariate analysis for detecting malignant lymph nodes. The multivariate analysis showed the greatest statistical measures, with an 83.3% accuracy, 87.5% sensitivity, 82.9% specificity, and a p-value of 0.000078 (high statistical significance). The results demonstrate that high-frequency ultrasound provides very good...

Ultrasonic interrogation of tissues and tissue-mimicking materials with the aid of wideband hydrophone-based transducer characterization

Ultrasonic measurements can provide useful information to characterize biologic tissues and tissue-mimicking materials. Quantitative accuracy may be improved by first characterizing spatial and frequency dependence of ultrasound transducer beams, which may be measured with hydrophones in a water tank. Accuracy of estimates of acoustic output detected by hydrophones may be enhanced by deconvolving hydrophone sensitivity from hydrophone voltage output. Full deconvolution requires knowledge of magnitude and phase of hydrophone sensitivity, which may be measured over frequency bands of 1–40 MHz using time delay spectrometry. Time-delay spectrometry may also be used to provide wideband through-transmission measurements of attenuation and sound speed in tissues and tissue-mimicking materials. Much information regarding tissue composition and structure may be obtained from (1) through-transmission mode measurements of attenuation, sound speed, and dispersion, (2) pulse-echo mode measurements of backscatter, and ...