The present disclosure provides methods of identifying a loosened joint implant by analyzing acoustic emissions from the implant. The present disclosure further provides apparatuses for measuring acoustic data and analyzing acoustic emissions from a joint implant.

The present disclosure provides methods of identifying a loosened joint implant by analyzing acoustic emissions from the implant. The present disclosure further provides apparatuses for measuring acoustic data and analyzing acoustic emissions from a joint implant.

Methods and locating systems for determining an insulation fault location on an electric conductor of a subsea supply line are provided. By applying electric voltage on the electric conductor, an electrochemical reaction takes place at an insulation fault location between the metallic conductor material and the seawater, said electrochemical reaction forming gas, which in turn is connected to developing noise. Sonic sensors capture the sonic waves produced thereby within and without of the subsea supply line and evaluate the measuring signals in order to determine the insulation fault location. Alternatively or additionally to capturing noise, the gas-bubble image patterns occurring at the insulation fault location are optically captured and consulted in order to determine the insulation fault location.

Methods and locating systems for determining an insulation fault location on an electric conductor of a subsea supply line are provided. By applying electric voltage on the electric conductor, an electrochemical reaction takes place at an insulation fault location between the metallic conductor material and the seawater, said electrochemical reaction forming gas, which in turn is connected to developing noise. Sonic sensors capture the sonic waves produced thereby within and without of the subsea supply line and evaluate the measuring signals in order to determine the insulation fault location. Alternatively or additionally to capturing noise, the gas-bubble image patterns occurring at the insulation fault location are optically captured and consulted in order to determine the insulation fault location.

An active mechanical waveguide including an ultrasonically-transmissive material and a plurality of reflection points defined along a length of the waveguide may be driven at multiple resonant frequencies to sense environmental conditions, e.g., using tracking of a phase derivative. In addition, frequency-dependent reflectors may be incorporated into an active mechanical waveguide, and a drive frequency may be selected to render the frequency-dependent reflectors substantially transparent.

An active mechanical waveguide including an ultrasonically-transmissive material and a plurality of reflection points defined along a length of the waveguide may be driven at multiple resonant frequencies to sense environmental conditions, e.g., using tracking of a phase derivative. In addition, frequency-dependent reflectors may be incorporated into an active mechanical waveguide, and a drive frequency may be selected to render the frequency-dependent reflectors substantially transparent.

The present invention is related to a device and a method using said device for the measurement and classification of bubble sizes in a liquid medium. This invention comprises two electric emitter and receiver transducers located at an angle lower than 180 degrees one with respect to the other, and ultrasonic signal emitter and receiver circuits operatively connected to the electric emitter and receiver transducer respectively. The classification of the bubble sizes is based on two-dimensional time domain patterns that represent the trace of the bubbles when they cross a generated ultrasonic field. This invention is of great utility to track processes involving the generation of bubbles in liquid media such as the froth flotation in mining.

The present invention is related to a device and a method using said device for the measurement and classification of bubble sizes in a liquid medium. This invention comprises two electric emitter and receiver transducers located at an angle lower than 180 degrees one with respect to the other, and ultrasonic signal emitter and receiver circuits operatively connected to the electric emitter and receiver transducer respectively. The classification of the bubble sizes is based on two-dimensional time domain patterns that represent the trace of the bubbles when they cross a generated ultrasonic field. This invention is of great utility to track processes involving the generation of bubbles in liquid media such as the froth flotation in mining.

A method in which an acoustic sensor disposed in a polishing apparatus can be accurately calibrated is disclosed. In this method, polishing sounds of a substrate are acquired using an acoustic sensor; and then at least two distinctive sounds, having distinctive frequencies respectively, are selected from the acquired polishing sounds. Further, the at least two distinctive sounds are output from a sound source coupled to any of a polishing table, the acoustic sensor, and a substrate holder to cause the at least two distinctive sounds to be input to the acoustic sensor. Next, output values of the acoustic sensor are calibrated, such that the output values of the acoustic sensor relative to the at least two distinctive sounds come within an allowable range.

A method for denoising magnetostrictive guided wave detection signals to improve detection accuracy. The method includes forming a matrix A by using the signals; performing a singular value decomposition on the matrix A to obtain a singular matrix B including a plurality of eigenvalues; setting eigenvalues in the singular matrix B that are smaller than the median to zero to obtain a matrix C; performing an inverse transformation of the singular value decomposition on the matrix C to obtain a matrix D; and determining the denoised signals according to the matrix D.