Method and apparatus for determining and assessing a characteristic of a material
First Claim
1. A method for assessing a characteristic of a material, comprising:
- (a) propagating an acoustic wave through the material in an unloaded condition;
(b) detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave;
(c) determining a parameter of the transmitted acoustic wave or the reflected acoustic wave using first and second sensors mounted on a movable load and separated by a known length;
(d) repeating steps (a)–
(c) with the material in a loaded condition;
(e) determining a parameter difference between the unloaded and loaded conditions; and
(f) determining from the parameter difference the characteristic of the material.
5 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
An acoustic energy-based, non-contact or contact testing approach provides low cost, highly accurate, and reliable information to (a) identify flaws and anomalies and (b) assess the integrity of a particular material. This approach is not hindered by surface conditions or impediments, and indeed, looks beneath the surface of the material by propagating an acoustic wave through the material using two differential transducers. A dynamic differential measurement is made of the material under a load condition and an unloaded condition that allows identification and assessment of various characteristics of the material. Multiple “windows” of information may be generated that permit (a) direct detection of flaws, defects, and anomalies using a scattering technique, (b) detection of crack closure and opening used to assess the stability of the material, (c) determination of strain on the material which relates to its performance, and (d) determination of defect dynamics linked to the defect size and stability.
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Citations
64 Claims
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1. A method for assessing a characteristic of a material, comprising:
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(a) propagating an acoustic wave through the material in an unloaded condition; (b) detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave; (c) determining a parameter of the transmitted acoustic wave or the reflected acoustic wave using first and second sensors mounted on a movable load and separated by a known length; (d) repeating steps (a)–
(c) with the material in a loaded condition;(e) determining a parameter difference between the unloaded and loaded conditions; and (f) determining from the parameter difference the characteristic of the material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for assessing a characteristic of a material, comprising:
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(a) propagating an acoustic wave through the material in an unloaded condition; (b) detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave; (c) determining a parameter of the transmitted acoustic wave or the reflected acoustic wave; (d) repeating steps (a)–
(c) with the material in a loaded condition;(e) determining a parameter difference between the unloaded and loaded conditions; and (f) determining from the parameter difference the characteristic of the material, the method further comprising; repeating steps (a)–
(f) for different positions along the material and generating therefrom data corresponding to one or more waveforms representing the characteristic of the material with respect to position, andassessing an effect of a crack, defect, anomaly, microstructure variation, chemistry variation, or flaw in the material based on a detected nonlinearity in the data corresponding to one or more waveforms, wherein the parameter is a velocity of the acoustic wave or the reflected acoustic wave determined for different positions along the material, further comprising; generating data corresponding to one or more waveforms representing the characteristic of the material with respect to position based on the velocity parameter.
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25. A method for assessing a characteristic of a material, comprising:
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(a) propagating an acoustic wave through the material in an unloaded condition; (b) detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave; (c) determining a parameter of the transmitted acoustic wave or the reflected acoustic wave; (d) repeating steps (a)–
(c) with the material in a loaded condition;(e) determining a parameter difference between the unloaded and loaded conditions; and (f) determining from the parameter difference the characteristic of the material, the method further comprising; using loaded and unloaded acoustic wave data to determine defect stability from acoustic scattering in the material.
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26. A method for assessing a characteristic of a material, comprising:
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propagating an acoustic wave through the material under different load conditions; detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave under the different load conditions; processing information related to the detected acoustic wave to detect dynamically or statically crack-opening or closing of a crack in the material, wherein the processing includes determining a velocity parameter of the detected acoustic wave for unloaded and loaded conditions, determining a velocity difference between the unloaded and loaded velocity parameters, and determining a non-linear characteristic of the velocity difference, and the method further comprising; determining that a crack, defect, anomaly, microstructure variation, chemistry variation, or flaw in the material likely exists based on the non-linear characteristic of the velocity difference. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. Apparatus for assessing a characteristic of a material, comprising:
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a radiation source for propagating an acoustic wave through the material; a first transducer for detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave at a first position in the material under a first load; a second transducer for detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave at a second position in the material under a second load less than the first load; electronic circuitry configured to determine (1) a parameter of the transmitted acoustic wave or the reflected acoustic wave for the first and second load conditions, (2) a parameter difference between the first and second load conditions, and (3) from the parameter difference, the characteristic of the material, wherein the first and second transducers are mounted on a movable load and are separated by a predetermined length. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. Apparatus for assessing a characteristic of a material, comprising:
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a radiation source for propagating an acoustic wave through the material; a first transducer for detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave without contacting the material at a first position under a first load; a second transducer for detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave without contacting the material at a second position under a second load less than the first load; electronic circuitry configured to determine (1) a parameter of the transmitted acoustic wave or the reflected acoustic wave for the first and second load conditions, (2) a parameter difference between the first and second load conditions, and (3) from the parameter difference, the characteristic of the material; a memory for archiving data obtained from (1)–
(3) for monitoring changes in the material over time; anda global positioning detector for detecting a global position associated with the (1)–
(3),wherein the electronic circuitry is configured to store associated global position information in the memory.
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59. Apparatus for assessing a characteristic of a material, comprising:
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a source for propagating an acoustic wave through the material under different load conditions; a detector for detecting a reflection or a transmission of the acoustic wave under the different load conditions; and processing circuitry configured to process information related to the detected acoustic wave to detect an opening or closing of a crack in the material. wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine a velocity parameter of the detected acoustic wave for less loaded and more loaded conditions, a normalized velocity difference between the less loaded and more loaded velocity parameters, a non-linear characteristic of the velocity difference, and that a crack, defect, anomaly, microstructure variation, chemistry variation, or flaw in the material likely exists based on the non-linear characteristic of the velocity difference. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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Specification