Determining the crystallographic orientation of hexagonal crystal structure materials with surface acoustic wave velocity measurements.

Throughout our engineered environment, many materials exhibit a crystalline lattice structure. The orientation of such lattices is crucial in determining functional properties of these structures, including elasticity and magnetism. Hence, tools for determining orientation are highly sought after. Surface acoustic wave velocities in multiple directions can not only highlight the microstructure contrast, but also determine the crystallographic orientation by comparison to a pre-calculated velocity model. This approach has been widely used for the recovery of orientation in cubic materials, with accurate results. However, there is a demand to probe the microstructure in anisotropic crystals - such as hexagonal close packed titanium. Uniquely, hexagonal structure materials exhibit transverse isotropic linear elasticity. In this work, both experimental and simulation results are used to study the discrete effects of both experimental parameters and varying lattice anisotropy across the orientation space, on orientation determination accuracy. Results summarise the theoretical and practical limits of hexagonal orientation determination by linear SAW measurements. Experimental results from a polycrystalline titanium specimen, obtained by electron back scatter diffraction and spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy show good agreement (errors of ϕ1=5.14° and Φ=6.99°). Experimental errors are in accordance with those suggested by simulation, according to the experimental parameters. Further experimental results demonstrate dramatically improved orientation results (Φ error <1°). Demonstrating the possibility of achieving results near the theoretical limit by strict control of the experimental parameters.

Characterization of metal matrix composites by linear ultrasonics and finite element modeling.

Titanium metal matrix composites (TiMMCs) offer advantages over traditional materials for aerospace applications due to the increased mechanical strength of the materials. But the non-destructive inspection of these materials, especially with ultrasound, is in an infancy stage. If the manufacturing process of TiMMC is not correctly controlled, then disbonds and voids between the fibers can result. The effective microstructure of the composite makes difficulty to interpret results from traditional ultrasound techniques because of the scattering caused by fibers; the scattering prevents the ultrasound from penetrating far into the composite region and produces a background signal masking any reflections from voids. In this paper, relatively low frequency ultrasound is used to probe the composite region, and the state of the composite (porosity) is inferred from the velocity of the ultrasound traversing the composite. The relationship between the velocity and porosity is complex in this regime, so finite element (FE) analysis is used to model the composite regions and relate the velocity to the porosity. The FE simulated results are validated by ultrasound velocity measurements.

Determination of crystallographic orientation of large grain metals with surface acoustic waves.

A previously described laser ultrasonic technique known as spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy (SRAS) can be used to image surface microstructure, using the local surface acoustic wave (SAW) velocity as a contrast mechanism. It is shown here that measuring the SAW velocity in multiple directions can be used to determine the crystallographic orientation of grains. The orientations are determined by fitting experimentally measured velocities to theoretical velocities. Using this technique the orientations of 12 nickel and 3 aluminum single crystal samples have been measured, and these are compared with x-ray Laue backreflection (LBR) measurements with good agreement. The root mean square difference between SRAS and LBR measurements in terms of an R-value is less than 4.1°. The influence of systematic errors in the SAW velocity determination due to instrument miscalibration, which affects the accurate determination of the planes, is discussed. SRAS has great potential for complementary measurements or even for replacing established orientation determination and imaging techniques.

Measurement of material nonlinearity using surface acoustic wave parametric interaction and laser ultrasonics.

A dual frequency mixing technique has been developed for measuring velocity changes caused by material nonlinearity. The technique is based on the parametric interaction between two surface acoustic waves (SAWs): The low frequency pump SAW generated by a transducer and the high frequency probe SAW generated and detected using laser ultrasonics. The pump SAW stresses the material under the probe SAW. The stress (typically <5 MPa) is controlled by varying the timing between the pump and probe waves. The nonlinear interaction is measured as a phase modulation of the probe SAW and equated to a velocity change. The velocity-stress relationship is used as a measure of material nonlinearity. Experiments were conducted to observe the pump-probe interaction by changing the pump frequency and compare the nonlinear response of aluminum and fused silica. Experiments showed these two materials had opposite nonlinear responses, consistent with previously published data. The technique could be applied to life-time predictions of engineered components by measuring changes in nonlinear response caused by fatigue.

A laser-activated MEMS transducer for efficient generation of narrowband longitudinal ultrasonic waves.

In this paper, we demonstrate an optically powered microelectromechanical system (MEMS) transducer. It was designed and fabricated using MEMS techniques, and can generate narrowband ultrasonic bulk waves from a broadband laser excitation pulse with high efficiency. The transducer is a two-mask-level MEMS device with a microdisk seated on a microstem. When a laser pulse is incident on the disk center, a resonant flapping motion of the disk is actuated because of the thermomechanical interaction between the absorbing and non-absorbing parts of the disk, coupling a narrowband longitudinal bulk wave propagating along the axis of the stem into the sample. Finite element (FE) methods were used to simulate the generated ultrasound; the results agree well with experimental measurements. Experiments with the fabricated transducers have shown that narrowband ultrasound with a high SNR/amplitude was generated successfully; compared with normal thermoelastic generation, ultrasound with at least 5 times higher amplitude can be achieved by an optimized MEMS transducer. The transducer is inexpensive, compact, and simple to use.

Multichannel, time-resolved picosecond laser ultrasound imaging and spectroscopy with custom complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor detector.

This paper presents a multichannel, time-resolved picosecond laser ultrasound system that uses a custom complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor linear array detector. This novel sensor allows parallel phase-sensitive detection of very low contrast modulated signals with performance in each channel comparable to that of a discrete photodiode and a lock-in amplifier. Application of the instrument is demonstrated by parallelizing spatial measurements to produce two-dimensional thickness maps on a layered sample, and spectroscopic parallelization is demonstrated by presenting the measured Brillouin oscillations from a gallium arsenide wafer. This paper demonstrates the significant advantages of our approach to pump probe systems, especially picosecond ultrasonics.

Design and experimental study of microcantilever ultrasonic detection transducers.

This paper presents the analysis, design, and experimental study of a microcantilever optically-activated ultrasonic detection transducer. An analytical model was derived using 1-D cantilever structural dynamics, leading to the optimization of the transducer design. Finite element modeling enabled dynamic simulation to be performed, with results in good agreement with the analytical model. Transducers were fabricated using MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) techniques. Experimental results are presented on remote noncontact detection of ultrasound using the fabricated transducers; high SNR is achieved for the detected signals, even for relatively low ultrasonic amplitudes. Both analysis and experimental study show that the transducer has a sensitivity approximately 1 to 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of conventional optical detection techniques. Furthermore, we show that the dominant factor in the increased sensitivity of the transducer is the resonant nature of the finger structure.

Spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy for fast noncontact imaging of material microstructure.

We have developed a noncontact and nondestructive technique that uses laser-generated and detected surface acoustic waves to rapidly determine the local acoustic velocity, in order to map the microstructure of multi-grained materials. Optical fringes excite surface waves at a fixed frequency, and the generation efficiency is determined by how closely the fringe spacing matches the acoustic wavelength in the excitation region. Images of titanium alloys are presented, acquired using the technique. Methods to improve the current lateral resolution of 0.8mm are discussed, and the ability to measure velocity change to an accuracy of one part in 3300 is experimentally demonstrated.

Optimisation using measured Green's function for improving spatial coherence in acoustic measurements.

Aberrating materials can degrade acoustic measurements by distorting the acoustic wavefront and causing acoustic speckle (as opposed to speckle noise which is a manifestation of coherent backscatter). The amplitude and phase fluctuations associated with acoustic speckle can introduce considerable measurement uncertainty which is difficult to deal with. This paper demonstrates a new technique which optimises the spatial distribution of the generation of the ultrasound to compensate for the aberration. This technique uses experimentally measured Green's functions to allow the calculation of the field resulting from the generation wavefront during optimisation. The technique is used to improve the accuracy of velocity measurements in a steel sample using 82 MHz SAW waves. This is achieved by optimising for improved spatial coherence in the measurement region which suppresses the speckle noise. Experimental evidence of acoustic aberration arising from grain structure is shown for steel and aluminium and the measured Green's function optimisation technique is shown to overcome the resulting acoustic speckle. The technique was performed using the Adaptive Optical Scanning Acoustic Microscope (AOSAM) at Nottingham University, UK.

Surface acoustic wavefront sensor using custom optics.

We have designed and had manufactured a custom surface acoustic wavefront sensor, using a standard CMOS process. Ultrasound propagating along the surface of an object perturbs the reflection of incident laser light, which has been focused onto the object using a cylindrical lens. These high-frequency angular perturbations of reflected light relate to the amplitude and phase of the ultrasound along a line on the surface of the object, and thus correspond to the acoustic wavefront. The reflected light is imaged onto a custom linear array of split photodiodes; these simultaneously detect the high-frequency perturbations at several discrete points along the line, forming an acoustic wavefront sensor. As well as a description of the device, its role within an adaptive optical scanning acoustic microscope is discussed. The sensor detects the distortions to the acoustic wavefront after it has propagated through an aberrating medium, such as a metal containing grains of random orientation. The information attained may then be used to alter the generation profile of the optical generation source of the acoustic waves, thus reducing the distortion caused by the aberration and increasing the resolution and accuracy of the system as a whole.

All-optical adaptive scanning acoustic microscope.

We have constructed a fast laser-based surface acoustic wave (SAW) microscope, which may be thought of as a non-perturbing scanning acoustic microscope. The instrument is capable of rapid high resolution vector contrast imaging at several discrete frequencies, without any damage to the sample. Tailoring the generating optical distribution using computer-generated holograms allows us to both focus the acoustic waves (increasing their amplitude) and to spread the optical power over the sample surface (preventing damage). Accurate quantitative amplitude and phase (velocity) measurements and unique acoustic contrast mechanisms are possible with our instrument based on this technology due to the non-perturbing nature and the instrument geometries.However, the complexity of the optical generation profile leads to a strong dependence on material properties such as the SAW velocity and material anisotropy. We address these issues in this paper, and demonstrate how a spatial light modulator may be used to adapt the generating optical distribution to compensate for the material properties. This facilitates simpler alignment and velocity matching, and, combined with an acoustic wavefront sensor, will allow real-time adjustment of the generating source to enable imaging on anisotropic materials.