Waveguide technique for the simultaneous measurement of temperature dependent properties of materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10794870-B2
Application number	US-201414903002-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 14, 2014
Priority date	Jul 16, 2013
Publication date	Oct 6, 2020
Grant date	Oct 6, 2020

Abstract

A method and a system is provided for measuring mechanical properties of a solid material using standard ultrasonic wave modes propagated in the solid material, which forms a waveguide, where the waveguide is encased a fluid media. The method and system can be at high temperatures. The system includes an ultrasonic transducer placed at one end of the waveguide that generates multiple wave modes, which travel in different paths along a length of the waveguide and are reflected. The system includes a set of corresponding sensors for detecting the amplitude and time of flights, and includes a processor means to analyze the detected signals.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for measuring mechanical properties of a material, the method comprising:
providing a waveguide formed from a solid material that has an ultrasonic transducer at a first end opposite of a second end of the waveguide;
placing at least a portion of the waveguide in a fluid;
generating a plurality of guided ultrasonic wave modes using the ultrasonic transducer;
providing the plurality of guided ultrasonic wave modes to the first end of the waveguide, wherein the plurality of guided ultrasonic wave modes travel in different paths along a length of the waveguide to interact with the second end of the waveguide and/or features of the waveguide, and the plurality of guided ultrasonic wave modes get reflected as a plurality of reflected signals from the second end of the waveguide and/or the features of the waveguide, wherein the features include bends and/or notches in the waveguide;
receiving the plurality of reflected signals with the ultrasonic transducer;
detecting a plurality of ultrasonic amplitudes and a plurality of times of flight from the plurality of reflected signals with the ultrasonic transducer;
calculating, with a processor, a plurality of properties of the solid material using the detected plurality of ultrasonic amplitudes and plurality of times of flight of the plurality of reflected signals; and
defining the solid material to have the plurality of properties.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of properties include at least physical properties selected from Young's moduli, shear moduli, and/or density.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
providing a plurality of waveguides formed from the solid material, where each waveguide includes a corresponding ultrasonic transducer;
placing at least a portion of each waveguide into a fluid;
generating a plurality of guided ultrasonic wave modes using the ultrasonic transducers;
providing the plurality of guided ultrasonic wave modes to a first end of each of the plurality of waveguides, which plurality of guided ultrasonic wave modes travel in different paths along a length of each of the waveguides to interact with a second end of each of the waveguides and/or features of each of the waveguides, and the plurality of guided ultrasonic wave modes get reflected as a plurality of reflected signals from the second end and/or features of each of the waveguides, wherein the features include bends and/or notches in each of the waveguides;
receiving the plurality of reflected signals with the ultrasonic transducer;
detecting a plurality of ultrasonic amplitudes and a plurality of times of flight from the plurality of reflected signals in the plurality of waveguides with the ultrasonic transducer; and
calculating the plurality of properties of the solid material of each of the waveguides using the detected plurality of ultrasonic amplitudes and plurality of times of flight of the plurality of reflected signals; and
defining the solid material to have the plurality of properties.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining gradients of the plurality of properties of the solid material.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
once the plurality of properties of the solid material are defined and properties of the fluid are unknown, determining properties of the fluid with the waveguide, ultrasonic transducer, and processor, wherein the properties of the fluid include viscosity and density; and
providing the properties of the fluid.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining the properties of the fluid across a range of temperatures; and
providing the properties of the fluid across the range of temperatures.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide includes at least one bend between the first end and the second end.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide includes at least one notch between the first end and the second end.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide includes at least one bend and at least one notch between the first end and the second end.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
placing at least a portion of the waveguide in a furnace;
controlling a temperature of the furnace across a range of temperatures;
detecting the plurality of ultrasonic amplitudes and plurality of times of flight across the range of temperatures under the temperature control by the furnace; and
determining the plurality of properties across the range of temperatures.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
placing at least a portion of the waveguide in a furnace;
controlling a temperature of the furnace;
detecting the plurality of ultrasonic amplitudes and plurality of times of flight under the temperature control by the furnace; and
determining the plurality of properties for the controlled temperature.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
placing at least a portion of the waveguide into a second fluid, wherein the second fluid has unknown properties; and
measuring properties of the second fluid with the waveguide, ultrasonic transducer, and processor.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the measured properties of the second fluid include viscosity and density.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
placing at least a portion of the waveguide in a furnace;
controlling a temperature of the furnace across a range of temperatures;
detecting the plurality of ultrasonic amplitudes and plurality of times of flight across the range of temperatures under the temperature control by the furnace; and
determining the properties of the second fluid across the range of temperatures.

15. A system for measuring mechanical properties of a material the system comprising:
a solid material in the form of a waveguide having a first end and an opposite second end;
a known fluid having at least a portion of the waveguide;
an ultrasonic transducer positioned at the first end of the waveguide, wherein the ultrasonic transducer is configured to generate a plurality of ultrasonic wave modes and provide each of the wave modes to the first end of the waveguide so as to travel in different paths along a length of the waveguide, and the wave modes get reflected as a plurality of reflected signals from the second end of the waveguide and/or from features of the waveguide, wherein the features include bends and/or notches in the waveguide;
wherein the ultrasonic transducer is configured for detecting a plurality of ultrasonic amplitudes and a plurality of times of flight from the plurality of reflected signals; and
a processor configured for calculating and providing a plurality of properties of the solid material of the waveguide using the detected plurality of ultrasonic amplitudes and plurality of times of flight, the processor being operably coupled with the ultrasonic transducer.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of properties include at least physical properties selected from Young's moduli, shear moduli, and/or density.

17. The system of claim 15 , further comprising a plurality of the waveguides, each waveguide having an ultrasonic transducer at the first end.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of waveguides includes different types of waveguides.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the waveguide includes at least one bend between the first end and the second end.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the waveguide includes at least one notch between the first end and the seco

Assignees

• Indian Institute Of Tech Madras

Inventors

• Balasubramaniam Krishnan
• Suresh Periyannan

Classifications

• G01N29/024 Primary

  by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves · CPC title

• G01N29/032

  by measuring attenuation of acoustic waves · CPC title

• G01N2291/042

  Wave modes · CPC title

• G01N2291/022

  Liquids · CPC title

• G01N2291/011

  Velocity or travel time · CPC title