Ultrasonic instrumentation: principles, methods and applications

Abstract

This paper explains the principles of operation of instruments which use ultrasonic waves to 'see with sound' enabling one to use ultrasonics for medical imaging, for nondestructive testing and materials evaluation, and for instrumentation in the process industries. The fundamentals of ultrasonics, necessary for the design of ultrasonic instruments and the interpretation of their measurements, are summarised, together with aspects of ultrasonic transducer design. Tables of wave velocities, acoustic impedance, transmission and reflection coefficients are included.