Ultrasonic Transmission Technique Research Articles

Liquid Composition Identification and Characteristic Measurement Using Ultrasonic Transmission Technique via Neural Network

This project is to determine the composition of liquids solvent by using the ultrasonic frequency signal from echoscope scan machine. The transmission technique of ultrasonic signal is focused. On the research experiment, studies on mixing of distilled water with control sodium chloride (Kitchen Salt), kitchen sugar and monosodium glutamate (MSG). The Parameters such as Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) which is the parameters are using to identify the ratio of composition of liquid solvent. The feature extraction of median, average and root mean square (RMS) from FFT is represented with different result analysis such as sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, Area under curve, kappa, F-measure and precision. The results performed more than 90% with Neural Network.

Characterization of the mechanical properties of high-moisture meat analogues using low-intensity ultrasound: Linking mechanical properties to textural and nutritional quality attributes

Plant-based meat analogues offer possible alternatives to meat consumption. However, many challenges remain to produce a palatable meat analogue as well as to understand the roles of different processing steps and ingredients on both the texture and nutritional properties of the final product. The goal of this paper is to help with addressing these challenges by using a low-intensity ultrasonic transmission technique, both online and 24 h after production, to investigate high-moisture meat analogues made from a blend of soy and wheat proteins. To understand the ultrasonic data in the context of traditional characterization methods, physical properties (meat analogue thickness, density, peak cutting force) and protein nutritional quality attributes of the meat analogues were also characterized separately. The ultrasonic velocity was found to decrease with the feed moisture content and to be strongly correlated (r = 0.97) with peak cutting force. This strong correlation extends over a wide range of moisture contents from 58% to 70%, with the velocity decreasing from about 1730 m/s to 1660 m/s over this range. The protein quality was high for all moistures, with the highest amino acid score and in vitro protein digestibility being observed for the highest moisture content treatment. The accuracy of the ultrasonic measurements was enhanced by the development of an innovative non-contact method, suitable for materials exhibiting low ultrasonic attenuation, to measure the meat analogue thickness ultrasonically and in a sanitary fashion – an advance that is potentially useful for online monitoring of production problems (e.g., extruder barrel-fill and cooling-die temperature issues). This study demonstrates, for the first time, the feasibility of using ultrasonic transmission techniques to measure both velocity and sample thickness simultaneously and provide information in real time during production that is well correlated with some textural and nutritional attributes of meat analogues.

Axial transmission technique for screening bucked shin in a horse leg

For the safe and simple screening of equine leg bones, we applied an ultrasonic axial transmission (AT) technique to an equine bone sample with a weak bucked shin. Both experimental and simulation studies have been conducted. To simulate by the finite-difference time-domain method, a digital model of the equine leg bone was fabricated. The experimental and simulation results showed a similar tendency. The obtained apparent wave velocities in the axial direction were almost constant in the healthy part but strongly fluctuated in the bucked shin part because of the small surface irregularities. The standard deviation values of the wave velocities in the bucked shin parts were large. These results indicate that a weak bucked shin in the equine leg bone may be screened clinically by a simple evaluation of velocity fluctuation using the AT technique.

Human Bone Loss Assessed by High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography and Ultrasonic Transmission Techniques

Human Bone Loss Assessed by High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography and Ultrasonic Transmission Techniques

Ultrasonic Through-Transmission Measurements of Human Musculoskeletal and Fat Properties.

The study described here was aimed at investigating the feasibility of using the ultrasonic through-transmission technique to estimate human musculoskeletal and fat properties. Five hundred eighty-two volunteers were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and ultrasonic transmission techniques. Bone mineral density (BMD), muscle and fat mass were measured for both legs and the whole body. Hip BMD and spine BMD were also measured. Ultrasonic transmission measurements were performed on the heel, and the measured parameters were broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), speed of sound (SOS), ultrasonic stiffness index (SI), T-score and Z-score, which were significantly correlated with all measured BMDs. The optimal correlation was observed between SI and left-leg BMD (p < 0.001) before and after adjustment for age, sex and body mass index (BMI). The linear and partial correlation analyses revealed that BUA and SOS were closely associated with muscle and fat mass, respectively. Multiple regressions revealed that muscle and fat mass significantly contributed to the prediction of transmission parameters, explaining up to 17.83% (p < 0.001) variance independently of BMD. The results suggest that the ultrasonic through-transmission technique could help in the clinical diagnosis of skeletal and muscular system diseases.

Proposal for ultrasonic technique for evaluation elastic constants in UO2 pellets

Uranium dioxide pellets (UO2) used as fuel in nuclear power reactors are subjected to high thermal gradients and may undergo swelling during reactor operation. The swelling of UO2 pellets, resulting from the fission products, causes cracking of the material and it is thus critical to study their behaviour. This study evaluated the application of the ultrasonic method in obtaining the elastic constants of UO2 pellets. Due to the difficulties in handling nuclear material, we used tablets of alumina (Al2O3) for a comparative study. For this, two sets of 10 Al2O3pellets with densities of 92% and 96% were fabricated. Ultrasonic transmission technique was used for obtaining measurements of the travel time of longitudinal and transverse ultrasonic waves. Equations relating material density and velocity of the ultrasonic wave to the elasticity, shear and Poisson’s modules allowed the determination of these elastic constants, whose values showed excellent agreement with those available in the literature for Al2O3.

Coupled effects of pressure and frequency on velocities of tight sandstones saturated with fluids: measurements and rock physics modelling

SUMMARY Elastic moduli and velocities of tight sandstones are strongly influenced by rock-frame heterogeneity, pore microstructure and fluid in addition to pressure and probing-wave frequency. The effects of pressure and frequency on the elastic moduli and velocities are different from those of conventional sandstones with high porosity and high permeability due to complexity of pore microstructure. To investigate these effects, we measured two tight sandstone samples for their velocities in the dry and fluid saturation conditions using the ultrasonic transmission technique and the low-frequency stress–strain method. The variations in the ultrasonic velocities with pressure see a transition from non-linear to linear increase for the dry samples, in contrast to a gradual increase for the fluid-saturated samples. The low frequency velocities of the saturated sample T1 and T2 directly show significant dispersion in a wide range of frequencies (1–100 Hz), and the magnitudes of the dispersion are suppressed by the pressure. The low-frequency velocities also increase with pressure, showing increasing trends bounded by the ultrasonic velocity–pressure curves for the dry and fluid saturation conditions. An elaborate rock physics model, considering a discrete aspect ratio spectrum and the simple squirt flow model, was constructed to account for the pressure and frequency dependence of the velocities. The predictions from the modified squirt flow model can fit well the measured velocities at varying pressures, both in the low-frequency range and the ultrasonic frequency range. The real measurements and the modelling results suggest that the pressure- and frequency-dependence cannot be modelled without considering such aspect ratio spectra. The effects of pressure and frequency are coupled in that they are interconnected by the microstructure of the pores. Changes in the pressure and fluid saturation (and thus wave frequency) both contribute to stiffening of the rock frame, and they both strongly depend on the presence of microcracks in the rock. Therefore, this rock physics model could be applied in extraction of pore microstructure and fluid properties provided elastic moduli or velocities can be estimated accurately.

Geomechanical and Ultrasonic Characteristics of Black Shale During Triaxial Deformation Revealed Using Real-Time Ultrasonic Detection Dependence Upon Bedding Orientation and Confining Pressure

The anisotropic characteristics of the P- and S-wave velocity and their velocity–pressure dependency during triaxial deformation are critical in shale gas exploration and development. However, the geomechanical and ultrasonic properties of shale under continuous triaxial deformation are still not well understood. The aim of this work is to experimentally investigate the velocity characteristics of a black shale plugged normal to bedding, parallel to bedding and at 30° and 60° to bedding, under a confining pressure of 5, 20, and 60 MPa, respectively. The in-situ ultrasonic transmission technique during sample deformation was used to reveal the velocity–pressure characteristics of the anisotropic black shale. The experimental results indicate that strength, P- and S-wave velocities, and final failure morphology present obvious anisotropy, and are influenced by the pronounced bedding plane. Before peak strength, the P-wave velocity almost increases with the sample deformation; however, the S-wave velocity first increases and then decreases, which is related to the fracture evolution. The velocity–pressure dependency analysis reveals a different propagation mechanism of ultrasonic wave through shale. Two different kinds of equations were used to fit their relationships and elevated stress. The results suggest that the static geomechanical and ultrasonic properties of black shale are affected by the rock structure and in-field stress level.

Investigation on the effect of confining pressure on the geomechanical and ultrasonic properties of black shale using ultrasonic transmission and post-test CT visualization

Knowledge of the influence of confining pressure on the geomechanical and ultrasonic characteristics is essential to exploration and development of gas shale reservoirs. In contrast to the extensive studies on the physical and mechanical properties of shale, the velocities of P-wave and S-wave during continuous deformation are not thoroughly understood. In this study, a suite of triaxial compression tests were done on the shale samples collected from the Sichuan Basin and were cored with horizontal bedding structure under various confining pressure. In-situ ultrasonic transmission technique combined with post-test CT imaging analysis was used to reveal the velocity-pressure characteristics and crack patterns. The experimental results indicate that strength, elastic parameter, P- and S-wave velocities, and failure pattern are influenced by the applied confining pressure. At the pre-peak stage on the stress-strain curve, the P-wave velocity increases with elevated stress; however, the S-wave velocity first increases and then decreases, which is related to the crack damage evolution. The meso-structural changes during deformation are considered to be the main factor controlling the pressure sensitivity of the velocities. Under compression, the relatively soft pores, micro-cracks and minerals were compacted gradually, and it is the primary reason leading to the increment of velocities. Based on the CT scanning technique, the crack pattern was obtained after triaxial testing, the crack pattern analysis suggests that the fractal dimension of fracture distribution almost increases with confining pressure. What is more, the stimulated fracture density increases with increasing confining pressure. It suggests that, for the Longmaxi black shale, a high confining pressure condition is beneficial to form a complex fracture network.

Velocity and attenuation analysis methods for characterizing the properties of wheat flour noodle dough

AbstractBackground and objectivesNoodles are a traditional staple of the Asian diet, and ensuring quality during production is important for both producers and consumers. Ultrasound is sensitive to the mechanical properties of dough that relate to product texture and is therefore a promising quality assessment tool. For optimal results, it is important to assess the merits of different ultrasonic analysis methods.FindingsMechanical properties of raw Asian noodle dough made from two red spring wheat varieties were measured by a low‐frequency ultrasonic transmission technique. Entire transmitted ultrasonic pulses, having passed through disks of the noodle dough, were analyzed using fast Fourier transform (FFT) techniques, enabling the transmitted phase and amplitude as a function of frequency to be compared for samples of different thickness. This approach allows noodles made from different wheat varieties to be discriminated through ultrasonic velocity and attenuation measurements.ConclusionsThe frequency dependence of both velocity and attenuation coefficient, which was revealed the FFT method, points to the presence of gas bubbles, which even in small amounts can influence texture and hence noodle quality.Significance and noveltyIn addition to providing insights on properties that influence noodle quality, the frequency dependence of velocity and attenuation found by the FFT analysis can explain differences reported by different analysis techniques.

Structural Integrity Assessment of Filament Wound Composite Pressure Vessel Using Through Transmission Technique

Filament wound composite pressure vessels are widely used as rocket motor case for space applications due to its high performance factor. High performance factor is attributed due to the fact that composite materials are having higher specific strength, high specific modulus and strength tailorability characteristics which results in reduction of weight of the structure. However composite structures are more prone to damage accumulation such as matrix cracking, delamination, de-bonding, porosity, fibre buckling, fiber breakage etc. which are encountered in entire manufacturing cycle. Timely and accurate detection of above damage throughout its service life is necessary to have a reliable structure. Here, a through transmission ultrasonic testing methodology has been established for detection of defect in large sized composite pressure vessel. In the last decade, many open literatures have been available on design, development and qualification of composite pressure vessels, however no comprehensive work is available on structural integrity assessment using above said technique. This paper discusses on insight of various defect arised due to process parameter variation during manufacturing and its detection using through transmission ultrasonic technique. Further challenges multifold due to lack of full proof methodology and reference standards in open source. Hence customized reference blocks have been made simulating defect such as delamination & simulating varying thickness and their ultrasonic responses have been characterized. Ultrasonic response on full scale composite pressure vessel was studied and finally an overview of structural integrity assessment of composite pressure vessel has been presented.

The use of synchrotron X-rays and ultrasonics for investigating the bubble size distribution and its evolution in bread dough

The feasibility of using ultrasound as a tool for quantitatively measuring dough's bubbly microstructure was explored. The bubble size distribution (BSD) and its evolution due to disproportionation in non-yeasted doughs were characterized at the micron scale using synchrotron X-rays. Concurrently, measurements of the phase velocity and attenuation coefficient were performed using an ultrasonic transmission technique. An ultrasonic model based on propagation of sound waves in media with polydisperse scatterers was used to predict the wave vector from bubble microstructure definitions obtained microtomographically and compare it with the wave vector from measurement of velocity and attenuation. Correspondence was good across most of the frequency range, but a discrepancy between measured ultrasonic parameters and predictions from the model was observed in the low frequency region. A consideration of how resonating bubbles are sensitive to local rheological properties of the dough matrix was proposed as an important constituent for the ultrasonic model. Excellent predictions of the measured ultrasonic parameters were then attained across all frequencies. These results therefore show the potential of ultrasonic techniques for determination of BSDs in dough and their evolution, opening up the possibility of comprehensive in situ investigations of the mechanisms governing changes in dough's aerated structure during breadmaking.

Assessment of corrosion of reinforcing steel bars in concrete using embedded piezoelectric transducers based on ultrasonic wave

The corrosion behavior of steel in concrete is an engineering issue that needs to be monitored to ensure structural safety. Novel cement/polymer-based piezoelectric composites were used to fabricate embedded ultrasonic transducers. This study investigated the corrosion development of reinforcement bar in concrete by employing ultrasonic transmission technique. The transmitted ultrasonic wave and acoustic parameters were extracted to reveal the corrosion process of steel. Results show that ultrasonic time- and frequency-domain spectra have weak amplitude attenuation when the corrosion rate of steel is less than 1%. Corrosion then weakens further when the corrosion rate is higher than 5%. A similar variation is observed on the frequency-domain spectrum. Variations in the corrosion rates of steel bars in concrete can be categorized into three periods based on the acoustic parameters, namely, the initial corrosion period when the corrosion rate is less than 1%, rapid corrosion period at a corrosion rate of 1%–6%, and corrosion development period when the corrosion rate is higher than 6%.

Ultrasonic investigation of the effects of composition on the volume fraction of bubbles and changes in their relative sizes in non-yeasted gluten-starch blend doughs

Interactions between water, gluten and starch during dough mixing alter the aeration properties of dough. Effects of composition on dough gas volume fraction and relative changes in bubble sizes of non-yeasted gluten-starch (G-S) blend doughs were investigated using density measurements and an ultrasonic transmission technique, respectively. At fixed water content, greater gluten content increased the air volume fraction, while frequency-dependent ultrasonic attenuation coefficient and phase velocity measurements indicated that the bubble sizes in the G-S doughs were larger. The latter outcome may be due to mixing to optimal conditions such that shorter mixing times for doughs of high gluten content lessened the number of bubble subdivision events during mixing. The effect of increased water content on the attenuation coefficient implied a decrease in mean bubble radius as elucidated using an ultrasonic model. Time evolutions of attenuation coefficient and phase velocity for G-S blend doughs had a similar trend to those of non-yeasted wheat flour doughs. However, the shifts in the frequency of the peaks observed in the ultrasonic parameters were noticeably slower for G-S blend doughs, implying that G-S blend doughs were more stable against disproportionation.

Современные технологии и средства теневого ультразвукового контроля полимерных композиционных материалов

Современные технологии и средства теневого ультразвукового контроля полимерных композиционных материалов

Medium Access Control and Rate Adaptation for Ultrasonic Intrabody Sensor Networks

The use of wirelessly internetworked miniaturized biomedical devices is promising a significant leap forward in medical treatment of many pervasive diseases. Recognizing the limitations of traditional radio-frequency wireless communications in interconnecting devices within the human body, in this paper, we propose for the first time to develop network protocols for implantable devices based on ultrasonic transmissions. We start off by assessing the theoretical feasibility of using ultrasonic waves in human tissues and by deriving an accurate channel model for ultrasonic intrabody communications. Then, we propose a new ultrasonic transmission and multiple access technique, which we refer to as Ultrasonic WideBand (UsWB). UsWB is based on the idea of transmitting information bits spread over very short pulses following a time-hopping pattern. The short impulse duration results in limited reflection and scattering effects, and the low duty cycle reduces the impact of thermal and mechanical effects, which may be detrimental for human health. We then develop a multiple access technique with distributed control to enable efficient simultaneous access by mutually interfering devices based on minimal and localized information exchange and on measurements at the receiver only. Finally, we demonstrate the performance of UsWB through a multiscale simulator that models the proposed communication system at the acoustic wave level, at the physical (bit) level, and at the network (packet) level. We also validate the simulation results by comparing them to experimental results obtained with a software-defined testbed.

Achilles tendon loading patterns during barefoot walking and slow running on a treadmill: An ultrasonic propagation study.

Measurement of tendon loading patterns during gait is important for understanding the pathogenesis of tendon "overuse" injury. Given that the speed of propagation of ultrasound in tendon is proportional to the applied load, this study used a noninvasive ultrasonic transmission technique to measure axial ultrasonic velocity in the right Achilles tendon of 27 healthy adults (11 females and 16 males; age, 26 ± 9 years; height, 1.73 ± 0.07 m; weight, 70.6 ± 21.2 kg), walking at self-selected speed (1.1 ± 0.1 m/s), and running at fixed slow speed (2 m/s) on a treadmill. Synchronous measures of ankle kinematics, spatiotemporal gait parameters, and vertical ground reaction forces were simultaneously measured. Slow running was associated with significantly higher cadence, shorter step length, but greater range of ankle movement, higher magnitude and rate of vertical ground reaction force, and higher ultrasonic velocity in the tendon than walking (P < 0.05). Ultrasonic velocity in the Achilles tendon was highly reproducible during walking and slow running (mean within-subject coefficient of variation < 2%). Ultrasonic maxima (P1, P2) and minima (M1, M2) were significantly higher and occurred earlier in the gait cycle (P1, M1, and M2) during running than walking (P < 0.05). Slow running was associated with higher and earlier peaks in loading of the Achilles tendon than walking.

Ultrasonic wave velocities in radial direction of bovine cortical bone

The ultrasonic axial transmission (AT) techniques have been proposed to evaluate the cortical bone of arms and legs. For the mode analysis of propagating waves, the information of anisotropy and heterogeneity of the cortical bone is important. Yamato has pointed that longitudinal wave velocity in the axial direction of bovine cortical bone changes due to the measurement positions and microstructures. In this study, we have investigated longitudinal wave velocities in radial direction of cortical bone. The cuboid samples were obtained from the cortical bone of bovine femur. During ultrasonic pulse immersion experiments, a sinusoidal ultrasonic wave in the range from 3 to 10 MHz was transmitted from a PVDF transducer, which passed through the sample in the radial direction. By reducing the sample thickness gradually, wave velocities were measured. The average velocities in radial direction of samples were around 3450 m/s and depended on the positions of the samples in the femur. They variation of the velocities due to the thickness was about 7 %. These data give us the information of heterogeneity of cortical bone in radial direction which should be considered in the AT techniques. [1] Y. Yamato, et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 47, 4096–4100 (2008).

FDTD simulations of ultrasonic wave propagation in the cortical bone with heterogeneity

The ultrasonic axial transmission (AT) technique is known to assess the cortical bone of femur and tibia. After the first application of the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method [1], the wave propagation in bone has been discussed by both simulation and experimental studies. The wave propagation depends on the wave velocity, bone geometry (curvature, cortical thickness), anisotropy, heterogeneity, etc. In this study, we have investigated the ultrasonic wave propagation in the cortical bone with heterogeneity (stiffness distribution) by FDTD method. Using the stiffness distribution of bovine cortical bone, experimentally measured by Yamato and Nakatsuji [2], [3], wave propagation of one cycle of sinusoidal wave at 0.5~1 MHz was investigated, assuming cuboid samples. The wave velocities inside the bone were higher than those of the bone surfaces. The complex propagating waves were slightly concentrated at the bone surface. The results indicate that the stiffness distribution is also an important factor to understand the wave propagation. [1] E. Bossy et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 115 , 2314 (2004). [2] Y. Yamato et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 47, 4096 (2008). [3] T. Nakatsuji et al., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 50, 07HF18 (2011).

Evaluation of Multiple Reflections in the Characterization of Anisotropic Materials by Through Transmission Ultrasonic Technique

Ultrasonic through-transmission techniques have been widely used along decades for determining the elastic constants of anisotropic composite materials. This work presents a new methodology that takes into account not only the transmitted waves but also the multiple reflections inside the sample. The superposition of different reflected waves are theoretically and experimentally identified and excluded, which avoids the distortion caused by pulse superposition. Additionally, the results of the Christoffel tensor optimization are evaluated in the reflected waves, improving the results validation. Experimental results using unidirectional carbon-matrix composite samples used in the aeronautical industry are presented.