Tat Hean Gan

The use of broadband acoustic transducers and pulse-compression techniques for air-coupled ultrasonic imaging.

A pulse-compression technique has been applied to air-coupled testing of solid materials. Capacitance transducers were used to generate wide bandwidth swept-frequency (chirp) signals in air, which were then used to measure and image solid samples in through transmission. The results demonstrate that such signal processing techniques lead to an improvement in the signal to noise ratio and timing accuracy for air-coupled testing. Measurements of thickness and spectroscopic experiments are presented. Images of defects in a wide range of materials, including metals and carbon-fibre composites have also been obtained. This combination of capacitive transducers with pulse-compression techniques is shown to be a powerful tool for non-contact air-coupled ultrasonic measurements.

Preliminary studies of a novel air-coupled ultrasonic inspection system for food containers

Air-coupled ultrasound has been used to perform measurements on liquids and starch-based materials, within containers similar to those used in the food industry. The technique uses capacitance transducers with polymer membranes to generate ultrasonic signals in air over a reasonable bandwidth. Ultrasonic pulse-compression (UPC) is then applied to increase the sensitivity of signals transmitted through the containers. It will be demonstrated that various non-contact measurements are possible, including the detection of variations in consistency within starch-based liquids within a microwaveable food container, the detection of liquid level in polymer-based soft drink bottles, and the tomographic imaging of such containers to detect foreign objects.

Noncontact, high-resolution ultrasonic imaging of wood samples using coded chirp waveforms

A noncontact ultrasonic inspection technique has been developed to study the properties of wood samples in air. The system makes use of two broad bandwidth capacitive transducers, combined with signal processing techniques. A coded chirp signal was used in the current application to provide a waveform that could be postprocessed to provide sufficient sensitivity for transmission across samples of wood. It is shown in this paper that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be greatly improved using two signal recovery techniques, namely pulse compression and swept frequency multiplication (SFM). A simulation of both techniques is presented and compared to experimental data. As seen from the experimental results, it is possible to perform noncontact ultrasonic experiments to extract a range of useful information such as ring density and the presence of microcracks.

High-resolution, air-coupled ultrasonic imaging of thin materials

This paper describes the use of a focused air-coupled capacitance transducer combined with pulse compression techniques to form high-resolution images of thin materials in air. The focusing of the device is achieved by using an off-axis parabolic mirror. The lateral resolution of the focused transducer, operating over a bandwidth of 1.2 MHz, was found to be less than 0.5 mm. A combination of the focused transducer as a source and a planar receiver in through-transmission mode has been developed for the measurement of different features in paper products, with a lateral resolution in through-transmission imaging of /spl sim/0.4 mm. Images in air of thin samples such as bank notes, high-quality writing paper, stamps, and sealed joints were obtained without contact to the sample.

Elliptical-Tukey Chirp Signal for High-Resolution, Air-Coupled Ultrasonic Imaging

A new signal processing method, which uses a modified chirp signal for air-coupled ultrasonic imaging, is described. A combination of the elliptical and Tukey window functions has been shown to give a better performance than the Hanning windowing used in most pulse- compression algorithms for air-coupled applications. The elliptical-Tukey chirp signal provides an improvement in both the resolution of images and signal-to-noise ratios. In addition, this type of signal also reduces the level of signal voltages required to drive the source transducer while maintaining the performance of the system. This approach, thus, may have wide interest in all forms of wide bandwidth ultrasonic imaging.

The application of time-frequency analysis to the air-coupled ultrasonic testing of concrete

Air-coupled ultrasound has been used for the nondestructive evaluation of concrete, using broad bandwidth electrostatic transducers and chirp excitation. This paper investigates the benefits of using time-frequency analysis in such situations, for both waveform retrieval and imaging in the presence of low signal levels. The use of the short-term Fourier transform, the wavelet transform, and the Wigner-Ville distribution all are considered, in which accurate tracking of the ultrasonic chirp signals is demonstrated. The Hough transform then is applied as a filter. An image of a steel reinforcement bar in concrete has been produced to illustrate this approach.

A swept frequency multiplication technique for air-coupled ultrasonic NDE

A new technique has been investigated for improving the signals that can be obtained in air-coupled nondestruction evaluation (NDE). This relies on the wide bandwidth available from polymer-filmed capacitive transducers. The technique relies on a swept-frequency chirp signal, which is transmitted from a transducer in air. The new technique differs from existing time-domain correlation techniques, such as pulse compression, in that a single multiplication process is performed in the time domain to give a difference frequency signal. This then can be isolated easily in the frequency domain. It will be demonstrated that this new swept frequency multiplication (SFM) approach gives the potential for rapid air-coupled imaging.

Non-contact evaluation of milk-based products using air-coupled ultrasound

An air-coupled ultrasonic technique has been developed and used to detect physicochemical changes of liquid beverages within a glass container. This made use of two wide-bandwidth capacitive transducers, combined with pulse-compression techniques. The use of a glass container to house samples enabled visual inspection, helping to verify the results of some of the ultrasonic measurements. The non-contact pulse-compression system was used to evaluate agglomeration processes in milk-based products. It is shown that the amplitude of the signal varied with time after the samples had been treated with lactic acid, thus promoting sample destabilization. Non-contact imaging was also performed to follow destabilization of samples by scanning in various directions across the container. The obtained ultrasonic images were also compared to those from a digital camera. Coagulation with glucono-delta-lactone of skim milk poured into this container could be monitored within a precision of a pH of 0.15. This rapid, non-contact and non-destructive technique has shown itself to be a feasible method for investigating the quality of milk-based beverages, and possibly other food products.

A near-infrared (NIR) Technique for imaging food materials.

The results of imaging experiments in food materials are presented, using near-infrared wavelengths. The technique uses a modulated source and a lock-in amplifier detection circuit to give a high sensitivity to changes in through-transmission signal levels. This is shown to lead to a set of images, whereby the internal content of various foods can be imaged. Examples are presented of the detection of foreign bodies, both metallic and nonmetallic, to illustrate the imaging performance.

Application of pulse compression signal processing techniques to electromagnetic acoustic transducers for noncontact thickness measurements and imaging

A pair of noncontact Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMATs) has been used for thickness measurements and imaging of metallic plates. This was performed using wide bandwidth EMATs and pulse-compression signal processing techniques, using chirp excitation. This gives a greatly improved signal-to-noise ratio for air-coupled experiments, increasing the speed of data acquisition. A numerical simulation of the technique has confirmed the performance. Experimental results indicate that it is possible to perform noncontact ultrasonic imaging and thickness gauging in a wide range of metal plates. An accuracy of up to 99% has been obtained for aluminum, brass, and copper samples. The resolution of the image obtained using the pulse compression approach was also improved compared to a transient pulse signal from conventional pulser/receiver. It is thus suggested that the combination of EMATs and pulse compression can lead to a wide range of online applications where fast time acquisition is required.A pair of noncontact Electromagnetic Acoustic Transducers (EMATs) has been used for thickness measurements and imaging of metallic plates. This was performed using wide bandwidth EMATs and pulse-compression signal processing techniques, using chirp excitation. This gives a greatly improved signal-to-noise ratio for air-coupled experiments, increasing the speed of data acquisition. A numerical simulation of the technique has confirmed the performance. Experimental results indicate that it is possible to perform noncontact ultrasonic imaging and thickness gauging in a wide range of metal plates. An accuracy of up to 99% has been obtained for aluminum, brass, and copper samples. The resolution of the image obtained using the pulse compression approach was also improved compared to a transient pulse signal from conventional pulser/receiver. It is thus suggested that the combination of EMATs and pulse compression can lead to a wide range of online applications where fast time acquisition is required.