Modeling the radiation of ultrasonic phased-array transducers with Gaussian beams.

A new transducer beam model, called a multi-Gaussian array beam model, is developed to simulate the wave fields radiated by ultrasonic phased-array transducers. This new model overcomes the restrictions on using ordinary multi-Gaussian beam models developed for large single-element transducers in phased-array applications. It is demonstrated that this new beam model can effectively model the steered and focused beams of a linear phased-array transducer.

Characterization of the system functions of ultrasonic linear phased array inspection systems.

This work characterizes the electrical and electromechanical aspects of an ultrasonic linear phased array inspection system, using a matrix of system functions that are obtained from the measured response of individual array elements in a simple reference experiment. It is shown that for the arrays tested all these system functions are essentially identical, allowing one to use a single system function to characterize the entire array, as done for an ordinary single element transducer. The variation of this single system function with the number of elements firing in the array or with changes of the delay law used is examined.