A device and method used to log images of target objects with ultrasound transducers. The object may be a fluid-carrying tubular, such as a pipeline. The transducers operate as phased arrays, insonifying areas of the target object with a plane wave and then storing the reflected signals. The signals are sampled and summed for each pixel, by considering various paths taken by the wave from transmitting to receiving via that pixel. Refraction and reflection from surfaces are used to determine segments of the paths.

A phased array ultrasonic transducer includes a bonding wire structure, a damping material, a plurality of ultrasonic transducers, and a printed circuit board. The bonding wire structure includes a plurality of bonding wire elements. The damping material surrounds the bonding wire structure and is interposed with the plurality of bonding wire elements. The plurality of ultrasonic transducers is arranged in a matrix beneath a membrane, each of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers being coupled to a corresponding bonding wire element of the plurality of bonding wire elements. The printed circuit board includes a plurality of circuits. Each of the plurality of circuits is coupled to a corresponding bonding wire element of the plurality of bonding wire elements.

Disclosed are devices, systems and methods for touch, force and/or thermal sensing by an ultrasonic transceiver chip. In some aspects, an ultrasonic transceiver sensor device includes a semiconductor substrate; a CMOS layer attached to the substrate; an array of piezoelectric transducers coupled to the CMOS layer to generate ultrasonic pulses; and a contact layer attached to the substrate on a side opposite the substrate for providing a surface for contact with an object, where an ultrasonic pulse generated by a piezoelectric transducer propagates through the substrate and the contact layer, such that when the object is in contact with the surface of the contact layer, a reflected ultrasonic pulse is produced and propagates through the contact layer and the substrate to be received at the array of piezoelectric transducers, and the CMOS layer receive and process outputs from the piezoelectric transducers produced in response to the received reflected ultrasonic pulses.

Systems and techniques for measuring process characteristics including electrolyte distribution in a battery cell. A non-destructive method for analyzing a battery cell includes determining acoustic features at two or more locations of the battery cell, the acoustic features based on one or more of acoustic signals travelling through at least one or more portions of the battery cell during one or more points in time or responses to the acoustic signals obtained during one or more points in time, wherein the one or more points in time correspond to one or more stages of electrolyte distribution in the battery cell. One or more characteristics of the battery cell are determined based on the acoustic features at the two or more locations of the battery cell.

According to one embodiment, a sensor module includes a sensor and a diagnosis circuit. The sensor includes piezoelectric transducers and switches. The piezoelectric transducers have different resonance frequencies. The switches are provided to correspond to the piezoelectric transducers, respectively. Each of the switches outputs an output signal corresponding to a voltage generated by an inverse piezoelectric effect of a corresponding piezoelectric transducer of the piezoelectric transducers. The diagnosis circuit diagnoses, based on a difference in pattern of the output signal, whether vibration has newly occurred in the sensor, and switch an output destination of the output signal of the sensor according to a result of the diagnosis.

An acoustic technique can be used for performing non-destructive testing. For example, a method for acoustic evaluation of a target can include generating respective acoustic transmission events via selected transmitting ones of a plurality of electroacoustic transducers, and in response to the respective acoustic transmission events, receiving respective acoustic echo signals using other receiving ones of the plurality of electroacoustic transducers, and coherently summing representations of the respective received acoustic echo signals to generate a pixel or voxel value corresponding to a specified spatial location of the target. Such summation can include weighting contributions from the respective representations to suppress contributions from acoustic propagation paths outside a specified angular range with respect to a surface on or within the target, such as to provide an acoustic path-filtered total focusing method (PF-TFM).

An ultrasonic dry coupled wheel probe with radial transducers emit ultrasound in substantially all radial directions relative to a longitudinal axis. The probe does not require normalization and is efficient in directing ultrasound to a surface being inspected. The probe has a wheel composed of rubber or other materials for acoustically dry coupling the transducer to the surface. A first transducer is composed of a piezoelectric material so that the transducer receives an electrical signal, vibrates, and generates and transmits sound, such as ultrasound. Similarly, a second transducer receives sound such as ultrasound, vibrates, and generates a corresponding electrical signal. The transducer arrangement both transmits ultrasound to the surface and receives the reflection of the ultrasound from the surface. An acoustic barrier separates the transmitting component from the receiving component. The transducer has annular electroplates adjacent to the piezoelectric material. The two transducers can comprise a single, integrated transducer module.

An ultrasonic testing device performs flaw detection on a stringer having an inner circumferential surface of a substantially rectangular shape closed in a transverse section. The ultrasonic testing device includes: a shoe configured to be in contact with a corner of the inner circumferential surface of the stringer; an ultrasonic array configured to be fixed to the shoe to define, together with the shoe and the corner a medium space in which a contact medium used for propagating an ultrasonic wave is enclosed, and configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave to the corner and receive a reflected ultrasonic wave; and a forcing unit configured to be in contact with a corner and push the shoe against the corner.

A system for inspecting a structure includes a laser ultrasound device configured to direct laser light onto a surface of the structure that generates ultrasonic waves within the structure and to generate an array of ultrasound data representative of the ultrasonic waves. The system includes a robotic arm configured to move the laser light across the surface. The system includes a multiplex controller configured to trigger generation of the ultrasonic waves within the structure at an inspection location and to receive the array of ultrasound data for the inspection location. The system includes a computer system that includes a motion-control module configured to control movement of the laser light relative to the surface of the structure, a motion-tracking module configured determine when the laser light is at the inspection location, and an inspection module configured to process the array of ultrasound data to inspect the structure at the inspection location.

Methods and systems for material identification include generating a plurality of first fingerprints for a plurality of material sheets supplied by a supplier at a first step of processing the plurality of material sheets. Each first fingerprint in the plurality of first fingerprints represents a first attenuation measurement of each material sheet in the plurality of material sheets as captured by an array of transducers. Further, the methods and systems include generating a batch mask relating to the first step of processing the plurality of material sheets and based on the plurality of first fingerprints. The batch mask represents a signal correlation of the plurality of first fingerprints that is unique to the plurality of material sheets supplied by the supplier. A target material can be identified using the batch mask.