Reflection and transmission of ultrasound by a region of damaged material

Reflection and transmission of ultrasonic waves by a layer-like region of distributed microcracks in a bulk material has been investigated. It has been assumed that for sufficiently low frequencies and far away from the damaged layer, the reflected and transmitted waves are plane waves. By applying the Betti reciprocal theorem to a cell containingN cracks, and by choosing one elastodynamic state as the actual wave state and the other as a suitably chosen auxiliary wave state, the reflection and transmission coefficients have been expressed in terms of integrals over theN cracks. Simple expressions have been obtained for the case that all cracks are identical and parallel to each other. For the case that the cracks do not interact with each other, numerical results for the reflection and transmission coefficients are presented for a distribution of penny-shaped cracks. The variation of these coefficients with frequency, relative layer thickness and angle of incidence has been displayed in graphs.     

Surface wave dispersion in cement-based media: Inclusion size effect

This paper presents the experimental study of surface wave propagation in cementitious material with different shape and size but same volume content of thin inclusions that simulate distributed damage. The Rayleigh wave velocity changes almost up to 20% depending on the inclusion shape, while the longitudinal velocity, the experimental variance, as well as the coherence of the signals is also affected. It is demonstrated that the material is strongly dispersive and caution should be taken for the interpretation of the wave measurements since the velocity is sensitive not only to the damage content but also to the “crack” size.     

无损检测技术在陶瓷材料检测中的应用

本文首先简述陶瓷制品的制作要求及材料制作过程中容易产生的缺陷。介绍超声检测、红外热成像检测技术在陶瓷材料检测中的应用。超声检测术适用于检测陶瓷制品生产过程中的各类缺陷;红外成像检测技术更适合工业生产自动化、大批量检测。为今后陶瓷制品的检测及质量把控奠定了基础。     

Disinfection of Dental Instruments Contaminated with Streptococcus mutans Using Ozonated Water Alone or Combined with Ultrasound

Ozone gas diluted in water has been shown to produce significant results in terms of the elimination of microorganisms. Streptococcus mutans is the etiologic agent of dental caries. Methods using water containing ozone and an ultrasonic cleaner were employed for the disinfection of a curette. Streptococcus mutans was grown in a selective medium. The curette was submitted to disinfection by water containing ozone, by ultrasound, and then both techniques were combined. The results show that either method produced a significant microbial reduction, but the efficacy of both methods combined was greater. This method of disinfection proved to be both viable and cheap.     

Ultrasonic-Assisted Osmotic Dehydration of Carrot Followed by Convective Drying with Continuous and Intermittent Heating

The aim of the studies was to analyze the effect of ultrasound action on osmotic pretreatment and then on drying kinetics in continuous and intermittent drying conditions, and on the final product quality. This article presents the results of intermittent-convective drying of carrot preceded by ultrasonic assisted osmotic dehydration in fructose aqueous solutions. The theoretical drying kinetics developed from the numerical solution of mathematical model is validated using the experimental data. It has been shown that combination of ultrasonic assisted osmosis with intermittent-convective drying accelerates the drying process and improves the quality of dried biomaterial. A good adherence of the numerically determined kinetic curves confirms the usefulness of the presented model and its possible application to construction of controlled and optimized drying processes.     

Ultrasonic measurement of contact stiffness and pressure distribution on spindle–holder taper interfaces

The measurement of contact characteristics of the spindle–holder taper interface is critical for the evaluation of the performance of a machine tool spindle system. In this study, an ultrasonic method was proposed to measure the contact stiffness and pressure distribution on the taper interface. The taper interface was scanned by an ultrasound transducer, and the nominal contact area was directly estimated from the resulting ultrasonic reflection coefficient. The normal stiffness distribution was determined by the spring-damper model from the reflection coefficient. On this basis, the distributed and global radial stiffness of the taper interface was calculated by the presented theoretical formulas. Meanwhile, a calibration curve was established to convert the ultrasonic reflection to contact pressure. Based on the proposed ultrasonic method, the effects of angle fitting error and clamping force were studied. The results show that the contact area, contact pressure and contact stiffness increase with the clamping force. As the angle fitting error increases, the contact area decreases, while the pressure and stiffness at the big end of the taper interface become much larger than these at the small end. In the meantime, the global radial stiffness increases first and then decreases. This result suggests that a larger angle fit error within the permissible range is better for the global radial stiffness. Moreover, the measured results confirm that a taper joint with an angle fit error larger than +36" is not suitable for practical application, because the contact pressure at the small end is too small. To compare with the ultrasonic method, the geometrical shape profiles of the contact surfaces were constructed, and FE models were also established for contact pressure predictions. The comparison shows that the ultrasound results are consistent with the surface shape profiles and the numerical predictions. Besides, one of the taper interfaces was measured three times with the same clamping force, and the results indicate that the repeatability of the proposed method is good.     

Fast in situ copolymerization of PET/PEN blends by ultrasonically-aided extrusion

An ultrasonically-aided extrusion process was developed for fast in situ compatibilization of immiscible polymer blends. PET, PEN, and their 50/50 blend were ultrasonically extruded at various amplitudes. PET underwent homopolymerization and degradation, respectively, at ultrasonic amplitudes of 7.5 and 10 μm, while PEN underwent degradation at amplitudes of 5, 7.5, and 10 μm. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry revealed greater amounts of hydroxyl and carboxyl terminated oligomers in ultrasonically treated PET and PEN, indicating their greater reactivity. Ultrasonic treatment at short residence time led to the enhancement of transesterification reaction in the PEN/PET blend, as shown by ¹H NMR and MALDI-TOF, indicating greater randomization with ultrasonic treatment. The latter was also observed through a shift in T_g that closely follows Gibbs-DiMarzio relation and an increase in viscosity of blend with treatment at an amplitude of 10 μm. No crystallinity was observed in the blend due to the already high level of transesterification introduced by extrusion without treatment. Accordingly, crystallinity, mechanical properties, oxygen permeability, and optical clarity of the blend were not influenced by ultrasonic treatment.     

Surfactant-free emulsion polymerisation of methyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate using intensified processing methods

The feasibility of enhancing the latex yield and colloid characteristics in the surfactant-free emulsion polymerisation (SFEP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and methyl acrylate (MA) through the use of intensified processing technologies is reported in this paper. The effects of high power ultrasonic energy as a well-established technique for mixing and mass transfer enhancements were compared with thermal initiation in a conventional mechanically agitated reactor. Although increases in ultrasonic power input resulted in higher rates of reaction and larger particles in the MMA polymerisation, reaction yields were nevertheless found to be low compared with the thermally initiated stirred tank reactor experiments. This was attributed to the low frequency ultrasound used (24 kHz) that was observed to provide excellent emulsification but was ineffective in terms of radical generation. The results for a thermally initiated SFEP of MA in a narrow channel reactor as an example of a continuous flow reactor technology showed that reaction rates were comparable with those achieved in the stirred tank reactor but at only a fraction of the specific power input whilst smaller particles with a tighter distribution are generated. These effects highlight the process intensification characteristics of the narrow channel reactor for the SFEP of MA.     

经直肠前列腺超声造影参数成像预测前列腺癌的临床研究

目的评价经直肠前列腺超声造影参数成像对临床怀疑前列腺癌但超声没有发现明确病灶患者前列腺癌预测的临床应用价值。方法对30名血清PSA升高而灰阶超声没有发现明确病灶的患者在同天先后行经直肠前列腺超声造影及经直肠超声引导下前列腺穿刺活检的操作。造影图像切面选择在前列腺底部、中部及尖部与穿刺部位保持在同一切面,超声造影及穿刺活检由同一名医师承担。采用SonoProstate软件进行参数成像并分析造影参数图像。统计分析参数图像结果与病理结果。结果19例病理证实为前列腺癌的病例中参数成像方法诊断15例,11例病理证实为前列腺增生的病例中参数成像方法诊断9例。前列腺超声造影参数成像与超声引导下前列腺穿刺活检术对前列腺癌的预测无统计学差异(P=0.687)。结论对血清PSA升高但灰阶超声未发现明确前列腺病灶的患者,经直肠前列腺超声造影参数成像有助于提示前列腺癌可疑部位并指导前列腺穿刺活检。