An ultrasound probe including: a circuit substrate (23) having a recess in a first region on the lower surface side; a buffer layer (400) composed of an insulating material on a second region different from the first region of circuit substrate (23); and an element array layer (22) including a first piezoelectric element (100) for ultrasound transmission formed in the first region of the circuit substrate (23) without the buffer layer (400), and a second piezoelectric element (200) for ultrasound reception formed in the second region of the circuit substrate (23) on the buffer layer (400). The first piezoelectric element (100) vibrates in a flexural vibration mode on the circuit substrate (23), and the second piezoelectric element (200) vibrates in a thickness vibration mode on the circuit substrate (23).

A system features an acoustic sensor configured to mount on a wall of a mixing drum, sense an acoustic characteristic of a mixture of a slurry, including concrete, contained in a mixing drum when rotating, and provide acoustic sensor signaling containing information about the acoustic characteristic sensed; and a signal processor configured to receive the acoustic sensor signaling, and determine corresponding signaling containing information about a slump characteristic of the mixture of concrete contained in the mixing drum, based upon the signaling received.

Methods and systems structural health monitoring system for a cyclically loaded structure are provided. The system includes a processor and a memory, and is configured to, in accordance with a data acquisition pattern: acquire raw sensed data from each of the N sensors; convert the raw sensed data into a data packet; store the data packet as a first data packet; acquire raw sensed data from each of the N sensors a second time and store the data packet as a second data packet; identify a scalar deviation between the first data packet and the second data packet; and transmit anomaly information to an external maintenance reasoner when the scalar deviation is determined to exceed a threshold. The data acquisition pattern incorporates a customer specific arrangement of a plurality of piezoelectric (PZT) sensors and sampling the sensors at predetermined angular locations on a circle of rotation associated with the structure.

The invention relates to a system which provides a real time update on an estimated positioning of an ultrasonic which is having an ultrasonic generator placed near the inspection probe in the 3D surface, which generates an ultrasonic guided wave travelling along the surface of 3D component and includes positioning more than one ultrasonic receiver probes along the length of 3D component.

An acoustic sensor for sensing environmental attributes within an enclosure is disclosed. The acoustic sensor may include a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) transducer configured to be installed outside the enclosure. The BAW transducer may generate an acoustic wave pulse and receive a reflected acoustic wave pulse. The acoustic sensor may further a waveguide assembly configured to be installed inside the enclosure. The waveguide assembly configured to receive the acoustic wave pulse from the BAW transducer. The acoustic sensor may further include a sensing device, wherein the sensing device may determine a change in one or more acoustic wave propagation parameters, based on the generated acoustic wave pulse and the reflected acoustic wave pulse. The sensing device may further determine one or more environmental attributes within the enclosure, based on the change in the one or more acoustic wave propagation parameters.

The present invention relates to a system and method for molecular and/or atomic level detection of elements forming contraband such as concealed explosives, drugs, smuggled goods, etc., through the use of an acoustic frequency detector having a crystalline transducer module and elemental and mass comparator. The present invention can be employed in a non-destructive manner for the mobile and stationary inspection of objects such as luggage, persons, containers, etc., through a combination of computer-aided techniques and algorithms combined with a crystalline and oil enhanced transducer that, upon return of a system-generated acoustic signal, are used to screen and confirm explosive threats and/or other contraband.

A measurement system and a method for determining steam quality (i.e. vapor mass fraction) measurements of multi-phase fluid flowing through pipes are described. An acoustic sensor device consists of an acoustic transmitter and an acoustic receiver that are designed to be attached to a pipe. The acoustic transmitter and the acoustic receiver are exposed to an interior space of the pipe through openings in a wall of the pipe. Acoustic waves generated by the transmitter and captured by the receiver traverse the multi-phase fluid flowing into the pipe. Swept-frequency acoustic interferometry (SFAI) technique is used to measure ultrasonic acoustic properties of a fluid. Machine-learning techniques based on principal component analysis, support vector machine regression and support vector machine classification are used for determining steam quality.

A capacitive device includes a unit cell including a CMUT, and a transmission/reception plate for impedance matching which is provided above the unit cell via a connection portion, in which a membrane of the CMUT constituting the unit cell is connected to the transmission/reception plate via the connection portion having an area smaller than that of the transmission/reception plate. The area of the transmission/reception plate is desirably larger than the area of a hollow portion of the CMUT.

Disclosed is a flexible ultrasonic transducer in which a single layer serves dual function as both a matching layer and a flexible circuit for making electrical connections, and there is no separate matching layer. Also disclosed is a method of assembling the flexible transducer.

Integrated probes and probe systems suitable for attachment to a robotic arm of a remotely operated vehicle are disclosed. The probes and probe systems serve to perform cleaning operations and both cathodic protection (CP) voltage measurements and ultrasonic testing (UT) thickness measurements at an underwater surface. The cathodic protection measurement system includes one or more electrically conductive legs that extend outwardly from the probe. These legs are arranged about a cleaning tool and an ultrasonic sensor. When the integrated probe contacts the underwater surface, at least one leg contacts the surface, thereby providing a desired distance between the probe and the underwater surface for efficient cleaning and UT inspection. The underwater surface can be cleaned and CP and UT measurements can all be performed using a single, integrated probed during a single operation, without having to reposition the probe.