Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers with diffraction-based integrated optical displacement detection

Capacitive detection limits the performance of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) by providing poor sensitivity below megahertz frequencies and limiting acoustic power output by imposing constraints on the membrane-substrate gap height. In this paper, an integrated optical interferometric detection method for CMUTs, which provides high displacement sensitivity independent of operation frequency and device capacitance, is reported. The method also enables optoelectronics integration in a small volume and provides optoelectronic isolation between transmit and receive electronics. Implementation of the method involves fabricating CMUTs on transparent substrates and shaping the electrode under each individual CMUT membrane in the form of an optical diffraction grating. Each CMUT membrane thus forms a phase-sensitive optical diffraction grating structure that is used to measure membrane displacements down to 2/spl times/10/sup -4/ /spl Aring///spl radic/Hz level in the dc to 2-MHz range. Test devices are fabricated on quartz substrates, and ultrasonic array imaging in air is performed using a single 4-mm square CMUT consisting of 19/spl times/19 array of membranes operating at 750 kHz.     

Warped basis pursuit for damage detection using lamb waves

This paper presents a novel time-frequency procedure based on the warped frequency transform (WFT) to process multi-mode and dispersive Lamb waves for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. The proposed signal processing technique is applied to time waveforms recorded at an array of scan points after waveguide excitation. The WFT is combined with a basis pursuit algorithm to extract the distance traveled by the ultrasonic waves even in the case of multi-modal dispersive propagation associated with broadband excitation of the waveguide. This is obtained through a decomposition of the acquired signals using dictionaries composed by optimized atomic functions which are designed to match the spectro-temporal structure of the various propagating modes. The warped basis pursuit (W-BP) analysis of several acquired waveforms results in distance signals that can be combined through classical beamforming techniques for acoustical source imaging purposes. A masking procedure is also proposed to suppress imaging noise. This approach is tested on experimental data obtained by broadband guided wave excitation in a 1-mm-thick aluminum plate with an artificially introduced through crack and tiny holes, followed by multiple waveguide displacement recording through a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer. Dispersion compensation, high-resolution source, and defect imaging are demonstrated even in domain regions that are not directly accessible for measurement.     

Realization of an optical communication tunable filter using a diffraction-based optical system

Optical bandpass tunable filters are key elements for dense WDM optical communication systems. Recently, a realization of optical linear transformation using a spatial diffraction optical system was presented and theoretically analyzed [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A21, 732 (2004)]. We present an optical bandpass tunable filter based on this optical system and a spatial light modulator. The mathematical analysis and additional computer simulations for testing the filter's basic parameters using the Fresnel diffraction theory are presented. Some newly obtained laboratory experimental results of the device in the optical visible spectrum will be shown.     

Adaptive optical array receivers for detection of surface acoustic waves

Adaptive interferometric detection systems based on two-wave mixing in photorefractive crystals have been configured as distributed optical receivers. The spatial distribution of the detection laser power on the sample surface is controlled by use of phase gratings and amplitude masks. The responses of point, line, array, and chirped optical receivers to propagating surface acoustic waves (SAW's) are discussed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally. It is shown that by use of different object beam footprints it is possible to configure adaptive holographic SAW receivers that are either broadband or narrow band and that are preferentially sensitive to SAW's propagating in given directions. The receivers also allow for the distribution of laser power over the sample, eliminating the excessive heating or surface damage that can occur in some materials when high power, point-focused, detection lasers are used.     

The excitation and detection of lamb waves with planar coil electromagnetic acoustic transducers

Planar coil electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) are investigated for the excitation and detection of Lamb waves in nonferromagnetic metallic wave-guides. Such EMATs are attractive for certain applications due to their omni-directional sensitivity to wave modes with predominantly in-plane surface displacement, such as the So Lamb wave mode. A model is developed that enables the modal content of the radiated Lamb wave field from a transmitting EMAT to be calculated, and the output voltage from a receiving EMAT to be predicted when a Lamb wave mode is incident on it. The predictions from this model are compared with experimental data obtained from 12 different EMATs tested on a 5-mm thick aluminum plate, and good agreement is obtained. The model then is used to analyze the different effects that contribute to the overall Lamb wave modal sensitivity of an EMAT. The relationship between coil geometry and wavelength is examined.     

Finite element modelling of lamb waves propagation in 2D plates and thin sheets for damage detection

Structural health monitoring is an evolving technology applied to identify, locate and quantify severity of damages in structures before failure. Lamb waves have become a keen interest for inspection since they can be used to monitor a large area from one single location. The objective of this research is to simulate lamb wave response using finite element method and its application to crack detection and identification in thin metallic engineering structures. Two types of specimen i. e. two‐dimensional aluminium plate and thin aluminium sheets are simulated using commercially available finite element package ABAQUS. Initially phase velocity and group velocity dispersion curve are plotted for aluminium material. Thereafter simulation of individual specimens with cracks and without cracks is performed. Simulation results were compared and validated with actual results and were found to be in reasonably good agreement. This is certainly done by employing group velocity and time of flight for the distance travelled between the monitoring point and crack position. Assessment of lamb waves sensitivity to various sizes and shapes of cracks like rectangular and circular are also investigated and its effect on the structure is discussed in detail.     

绳系单体系统面内运动的定位控制

建立了绳系单体系统的非线性动力学模型,分析了弱非线性条件下受控系统的稳定性.设计了一实验系统并对绳系单体系统的面内运动进行了定位控制研究.实验结果表明,计人摩擦补偿的线性力反馈控制可以有效抑制原非线性系统的面内运动.     

A perturbation method for the radiation of surface waves

Summary In this paper we derive a straight forward asymptotic method to find the wave solution for the case that a circular cylinder is heaving in a free surface. The wave period is supposed to be small. The methods used are similar to methods used in the theory of geometrical optics and the theory of boundary layer expansions. It turns out that not only the lowest order approximation can be easily calculated, higher order approximations follow as well.     

Adaptive beamforming for array imaging of plate structures using lamb waves

Lamb waves are considered a promising tool for the monitoring of plate structures. Large areas of plate structures can be monitored using active arrays employing beamforming techniques. Dispersion and multiple propagating modes are issues that need to be addressed when working with Lamb waves. Previous work has mainly focused on standard delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming while reducing the effects of multiple modes through frequency selectivity and transducer design. This paper presents a minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) approach for Lamb waves using a uniform rectangular array (URA) and a single transmitter. Theoretically calculated dispersion curves are used to compensate for dispersion. The combination of the MVDR approach and the two-dimensional array improves the suppression of interfering Lamb modes. The proposed approach is evaluated on simulated and experimental data and compared with the standard DAS beamformer. It is shown that the MVDR algorithm performs better in terms of higher resolution and better side lobe and mode suppression capabilities. Known issues of the MVDR approach, such as signal cancellation in highly correlated environments and poor robustness, are addressed using methods that have proven effective for the purpose in other fields of active imaging.     

An optical method for the detection of oxidative stress using protein-RNA interaction

The cytosolic 4Fe-4S protein aconitase can be converted under the influence of reactive oxygen species into an iron-regulatory protein (IRP1). Therefore, the IRP1 level is considered as an indirect marker of oxidative stress. An experimental approach is presented here to detect the concentration of this marker protein by surface plasmon resonance. The optical method exploits the natural binding affinity of IRP1 to an iron-responsive element (IRE) which was in vitro transcribed with a linker sequence and subsequently immobilized on a BIACORE sensor chip. The detection was found to be reproducible and sensitive in the range 20-200 nM IRP. Conditions of the binding process, such as pH and thiol concentration, were characterized. Feasibility of the method to detect and quantify IRP1 in physiological media was demonstrated.     

Demodulation of intensity and shot noise in the optical heterodyne detection of laser interferometers for gravitational waves

Demodulation of intensity noise in the optical heterodyne detector is analyzed for application in interferometric gravitational-wave detectors. The correlation function and the power spectral density of the demodulated intensity noise are derived, taking into account the effect of bandpass filtering at the photodiode and an arbitrary demodulation waveform. The analysis includes demodulation of the rf-modulated shot noise as a special case of the intensity noise. For shot-noise-limited detection, the signal-to-noise ratio is found as a function of the modulation parameters, and the optimization of the signal-to-noise ratio with respect to the demodulation phase is described.     

Guided lamb waves and L-SAFT processing technique for enhanced detection and imaging of corrosion defects in plates with small depth-to-wavelength ratio

The Lamb synthetic aperture focusing technique (L-SAFT) imaging algorithm in the Fourier domain is used to produce Lamb wave imaging in plates while considering the wave dispersive properties. This artificial focusing technique produces easy-to-interpret, modified B-scan type images of Lamb wave inspection results. The high level of sensitivity of Lamb waves combined with the L-SAFT algorithm allows one to detect and to produce images of corrosion defects with small depth-to-wavelength ratio. This paper briefly presents the formulated L-SAFT algorithm used for Lamb waves and, in more details, some experimental results obtained on simulated and real corrosion pits, demonstrating the benefit of combining L-SAFT with pulse-echo Lamb wave inspection. The obtained images of the real corrosion defects showed detection of pits with a depth-to-wavelength ratio of approximately 2/11.     

A stable numerical solution method for in-plane loading of nonlinear viscoelastic laminated orthotropic materials

In response to the tremendous growth in the development of advanced materials, such as fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) composite materials, a new numerical method is developed to analyze and predict the time-dependent properties of these materials. Basic concepts in viscoelasticity, laminated composites, and previous viscoelastic numerical methods are presented. A stable numerical method, called the nonlinear differential equation method (NDEM), is developed to calculate the in-plane stresses and strains over any time period for a general laminate constructed from nonlinear viscoelastic orthotropic plies. The method is implemented in an in-plane stress analysis computer program, called VCAP, to demonstrate its usefulness and to verify its accuracy. A number of actual experimental test results performed on Kevlar/epoxy composite laminates are compared to predictions calculated from the numerical method.     

A perturbation method for non-linear dispersive waves with an application to water waves

Summary A multiple scale perturbation method is developed to obtain asymptotic evolution equations for slowly varying wave train solutions to non-linear dispersive wave problems. The method appears to give results which are a generalization of Whitham's theory on one hand and a generalization of the ray theory on the other hand. First an application is given to a non-linear Klein-Gordon equation, then the method is applied to two-dimensional water waves on water of finite depth (Stokes waves).     

A new method for checking optical quadrants

Summary The above equipment is simple and provides, with great productivity, accurate checking of quadrants by means of a simple procedure.     

Photonic crystal surface waves for optical biosensors

We present a new optical biosensor technique based on registration of dual optical s-polarized modes on a photonic crystal surface. The simultaneous registration of two optical surface waves with different evanescent depths from the same surface spot permits the segregation of the volume and the surface contributions from an analyte, while the absence of metal damping permits an increase in the propagation length of the optical surface waves and the sensitivity of the biosensor. Our technique was tested with the binding of biotin molecules to a streptavidin monolayer that has been detected with signal/noise ratio of approximately 15 at 1-s signal accumulation time. The detection limit is approximately 20 fg of the analyte on the probed spot of the surface.     

A novel wheelchair video detection method based on a combined appearance and motion pattern

提出了一种通过综合利用表观和运动模式从视频中检测轮椅(包括坐轮椅的人)的方法.该方法首先使用两种特征描述轮椅的表观特性,并结合利用基于统计学习得到的分类器快速地排除非目标区域.针对由于直立行人和坐在轮椅人之间的表观相似性,轮椅检测易受直立行人干扰的情况,进一步使用运动信息来区分轮椅和正常行人,降低了虚警.在收集的数据上测试了所提方法的性能,实验结果表明提出的方法能够以接近实时的速度进行检测,并且能够有效地降低正常行人的干扰.     

Complex amplitude correlation for compensation of large in-plane motion in digital speckle pattern interferometry

The use of complex amplitude correlation to compensate for large in-plane motion in digital speckle pattern interferometry is investigated. The result is compared with experiments where digital speckle photography (DSP) is used for compensation. An advantage of using complex amplitude correlation instead of intensity correlation (as in DSP) is that the phase change describing the deformation is retrieved directly from the correlation peak, and there is no need to compensate for the large movement and then use the interferometric algorithms. A discovered drawback of this method is that the correlation values drop quickly if a phase gradient larger than pi is present in the subimages used for cross correlation. This means that, for the complex amplitude correlation to be used, the size of the subimages must be well chosen or a third par?meter in the cross-correlation algorithm that compensates for the phase variation is needed. Correlation values and wrapped phase maps from the two techniques (intensity and complex amplitude correlation) are presented.     

A hybrid integral-equation method for steady two-dimensional ship waves

This paper presents a novel integral-equation technique for solving the steady-state wave-resistance problem. The free-surface condition is linearized, but the body condition is satisfied exactly. An integral relation describing the flow inside an arbitrarily truncated internal region is first obtained by applying Green's Theorem, using only the simple source function for an infinite fluid. The internal flow is next matched with eigen expansions in the upstream and downstream outer regions. The radiation condition can be satisfied exactly simply by a proper choice of the solution form in these outer regions. The method is applied to investigate flows about both lifting and non-lifting two-dimensional bodies. Agreement with existing results is excellent. The present formulation provides a simple yet rational basis for tackling the practical three-dimensional ship-wave problem, in which past workers have encountered considerable difficulties using a complicated free-surface Green function.