Specific resonance mode enhancement and suppression using non-uniform polarization of piezoelectric wafers: Theory and experiments.

We present experimental demonstration of specific resonance mode enhancement and suppression in circular and rectangular piezoelectric wafers with engineered non-uniform polarization profiles. The polarization profiles are designed based on the electromechanical impedance response of non-uniformly polarized wafers as obtained from the theory. The circular wafers are fabricated with non-uniform polarization profiles that involve a central polarized region surrounded by an unpolarized region.

Multilevel Frequency-Specific Information Storage Using Engineered Electromechanical Resonances in Piezoelectric Wafer Arrays.

Multilevel information storage methods have the potential for increasing storage density and improving information security through obfuscation. Taking inspiration from the color quick response codes, we have developed a method for encoding layers of information in an array of thin piezoelectric wafers. Information storage is accomplished by altering the size of the circular polarization domain of individual wafers to engineer the response of the electromechanical resonances.

The effect of a transducer's spatial averaging on an elastodynamic guided wave's wavenumber spectrum.

Elastodynamic guided waves propagate in an elastic solid which makes it difficult, if not impractical, to place a receiving transducer in the direct path of the propagating wave (as one would for an acoustic wave in a fluid medium). To account for this, receiving transducers are often placed on the surface of the solid waveguide such that the transducer surface is parallel to the wave propagation direction. This transducer orientation introduces spatial averaging, which causes the received signal to have an altered signal amplitude and mode bias.

Noninvasive Acoustic Measurements in Cylindrical Shell Containers.

Acoustic time-of-flight (ToF) measurements enable noninvasive material characterization, acoustic imaging, and defect detection and are commonly used in industrial process control, biomedical devices, and national security. When characterizing a fluid contained in a cylinder or pipe, ToF measurements are hampered by guided waves, which propagate around the cylindrical shell walls and obscure the waves propagating through the interrogated fluid. We present a technique for overcoming this limitation based on a broadband linear chirp excitation and cross correlation detection.

Multi-Level Information Storage Using Engineered Electromechanical Resonances of Piezoelectric Wafers: A Concept Piezoelectric Quick Response (PQR) Code.

A piezoelectric-based method for information storage is presented. It involves engineering the polarization profiles of multiple piezoelectric wafers to enhance/suppress specific electromechanical resonances. These enhanced/suppressed resonances can be used to represent multiple frequency-dependent bits, thus enabling multi-level information storage.

A Physics-Based Signal Processing Approach for Noninvasive Ultrasonic Characterization of Multiphase Oil-Water-Gas Flows in a Pipe.

A signal processing technique is presented for determining the composition of multiphase oil-water-gas flow in a pipe using noninvasive ultrasonic speed of sound measurements from a transmitter-receiver pair bonded to diametrically opposite sides of a pipe. A linear chirp excitation is used to send broadband ultrasonic energy that propagates in two paths from transmitter to receiver such as: 1) a wave through the pipe wall and then the multiphase mixture and 2) ultrasonic guided waves along the pipe wall in the circumferential direction. As the ultrasonic attenuation of the multiphase mixture increases, the amplitude of the signal through the fluid mixture decreases relative to that of circumferential guided waves, making it difficult to determine the time of arrival of the fluid-path signal and, hence, the speed of sound in the mixture.

Ultrasonic Bessel beam generation from radial modes of piezoelectric discs.

We present comprehensive analytical and experimental investigations on ultrasonic Bessel beam generation from radial modes of piezoelectric disc transducers. The Bessel vibration pattern of the radial modes was experimentally measured using Laser Doppler Vibrometry and was found to be in very good agreement with those obtained from numerical simulations. Ultrasonic beam profiles from the first four radial modes of the piezoelectric disc were measured using a hydrophone in a water tank.

Guided wave mode selection for inhomogeneous elastic waveguides using frequency domain finite element approach.

This article describes the use of the frequency domain finite element (FDFE) technique for guided wave mode selection in inhomogeneous waveguides. Problems with Rayleigh-Lamb and Shear-Horizontal mode excitation in isotropic homogeneous plates are first studied to demonstrate the application of the approach. Then, two specific cases of inhomogeneous waveguides are studied using FDFE.

Nonlinear guided waves in plates: a numerical perspective.

Harmonic generation from non-cumulative fundamental symmetric (S0) and antisymmetric (A0) modes in plate is studied from a numerical standpoint. The contribution to harmonic generation from material nonlinearity is shown to be larger than that from geometric nonlinearity. Also, increasing the magnitude of the higher order elastic constants increases the amplitude of second harmonics.

Analysis of second harmonic guided waves in pipes using a large-radius asymptotic approximation for axis-symmetric longitudinal modes.

Theoretical formulation for the problem of second harmonic guided waves in pipes is presented from the principles of continuum mechanics. The formulation is carried out in the reference configuration of the pipe with an emphasis on the correct use of the "Divergence" operator in the reference configuration. Second harmonic guided wave generation from axis-symmetric longitudinal guided wave modes is studied.

Simultaneous measurement of ultrasonic longitudinal wave velocities and thicknesses of a two layered media in the absence of an interface echo.

A measurement technique has been developed to extract the phase information of successive echoes for the simultaneous estimation of thicknesses and ultrasonic velocities of individual layers in a two layered media. The proposed method works in the absence of an interface echo and requires the total thickness of the sample to be known. Experiments have been carried out on two layered samples of white cast iron and gray cast iron with layer thickness variation in the range of 2-8 mm for total thickness variation in the range of 12-13 mm.