A SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) magnetic sensor includes: a piezoelectric thin film; a seed layer; an interdigital transducer arranged respectively on each side of the piezoelectric thin film, the interdigital transducer comprising an interdigital electrode made from magnetic materials, and reflector grids located at both ends of the interdigital electrode; an underlying substrate arranged at the seed layer opposite to the piezoelectric thin film. A manufacturing method for the sensor is also disclosed.

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.

Various embodiments of a bio-inspired robot operable for detecting crack and corrosion defects in tubular structures are disclosed herein.

Operating parameters are selected for inspecting a structure. Selecting the operating parameters includes exciting broadband ultrasonic guided waves in a multilayered structure, acquiring data corresponding to the sensed broadband ultrasonic guided waves in the multilayered structure, selecting one or more narrow frequency bands based on the acquired data, and inspecting the multilayered structure using ultrasonic guided waves in the one or more narrow frequency bands. In some examples, the data is acquired by an inspection tool capable of sensing the broadband ultrasonic guided waves in the multilayered structure.

An electromagnetic acoustic transducer includes a flux guide surrounded by one or more permanent magnets abutting side faces of the flux guide. The magnetic field from the permanent magnets enters the flux guide where repulsion between the magnetic fields directs at least a portion of the magnetic fields toward a test face abutting a test object. The flux density at the test face is greater than the flux density within the originating permanent magnets. An active portion of a coil disposed between the flux guide and the test object contains conductors that are substantially straight, parallel and carry current in the same direction in order to provide substantially mode pure and uni-directionally polarised excitation of shear waves within the test object.

A robotic device and method for inspecting a pipeline to assess metal loss, the presence of defects and corrosion effects. The robotic device is an inline inspection tool that can establish a positional address in the pipeline using known positional benchmarks. The robotic device comprises flexible electronic caliper sensors measuring pipe diameter and an elastic foam body to prevent seizing within the pipeline. A removable PCB enables interchangeable operation with in-kind devices of different diameters and/or with the computers, extracting and plotting the data. The method of measurement may use data fusion between different instruments and measurement methodologies.

Apparatus and associated methods relate to determining liquid-water concentration in a cloud atmosphere based on a frequency of resonance of a magnetostrictive resonator and/or a temporal variation of the resonant frequency of the magnetostrictive resonator. The magnetostrictive resonator is configured to resonate at a resonant frequency indicative of a measure of ice accumulation upon an exterior surface of the magnetostrictive resonator. When in liquid-water ambient, however, the magnetostrictive resonator has a resonant frequency less than a baseline resonant frequency. When in the liquid-water ambient, the magnetostrictive resonator also has temporal variations in resonant frequency that exceed one part in ten thousand. Using one or both of these resonant-frequency responses to liquid-water ambient, a signal indicative of liquid-water content can be generated.

The electromagnetic ultrasonic transducer includes a detection bottom surface and a stopper connected to a sidewall of the electromagnetic ultrasonic transducer; wherein the stopper extends towards the detection bottom surface; a bottom surface of the stopper is lower than the detection bottom surface; a distance “d” between the bottom surface of the stopper and the detection bottom surface is in a range 0 mm<d≦1 mm; the bottom surface of the stopper contacts a surface of an object to be detected in a working state of the electromagnetic ultrasonic transducer.

A system for measuring the position of a rod element as, for example, a hydraulically or pneumatically operated piston rod. Unlike the prior art, the system according to the present invention employs a measuring principle that does not require preparatory treatment of the rod element as is required in the known solutions. The system employs direct time of flight measurements with the aid of acoustic surface waves that are introduced into the rod element. The instrument is retrofittable on existing cylinders without any modification/reconstruction thereof. An EMAT principle is employed to introduce the surface waves into the measurement in a non-contact manner.

An in-line pipeline inspection tool includes a plurality of sensors assemblies distributed about a central body. Each sensor assembly includes a sensor body coupled at the ends thereof to the central body by first and second linkage assemblies. The linkage assemblies include first and second links, the first link coupled by a first pivot to the central body and by a second pivot to the second link. The second link is coupled to the sensor body by a third pivot. As the tool is moved in one direction, the sensor body is urged away from the first linkage assembly, which engages a block that prevents further rotation of about one of the pivots. As the tool is moved in another direction, the block disengages, thereby permitting rotation about all three pivots. The second linkage assembly functions in an identical fashion.