Wave generation and measurement

 

Ciprian develops a range of tools and instruments that  are designed for all kind of acoustic or ultrasonic applications.

We propose high-voltage power amplifiers for excitation of transducers and very low noise pre-amplifiers for measurement.

 

Typical Acoustic or Ultrasonic experimental setup

In a typical acoustic or ultrasonic experiment, an electronic waveform generator produces a low voltage signal (typically a few volts) which is amplified up to many hundred volts by a High Voltage Power Amplifier. This electronic signal is then converted, by the means of a transducer, to an acoustic wave. This  wave propagates through the medium under study.

The reflected wave returns to the excitation transducer which converts this acoustic wave back to an electronic signal.

The transmitted acoustic wave is converted by a second transducer to another  electronic signal.

A High Voltage Divider is needed to measure the excitation electronic signal — corresponding to the incident acoustic wave on the specimen — and Low Voltage Amplifiers are often used to measure  the low-amplitude (often in the 100µV range) electronic signals corresponding to the reflected and transmitted acoustic waves.

 

ultrasound experimental setup link to high voltage power amplifier link to preamplifier link to preamplifier

Applications

 This setup can be used for various studies of materials and the determination of their properties, as for example:

— Measurement of the speed of the ultrasonic wave (time of flight) ; this allows measurement of distances and thicknesses ( for example, measurement of the thickness of a pipeline in order to check that it does not suffer from corrosion)

— Very precise determination of absolute ultrasonic attenuation

— Determination of phase shifts of the reflected waves (echos)

— Spectroscopic study of linear and nonlinear materials, without the need of  the hypothesis of linearity

— Determination of particle size distributions

— Measurement  of viscosity

— High precision flow meter

— Monitoring the  changes of the state of materials : for example, concrete hardening, cheese maturation

— Study of highly- attenuating media