Materials Characterization Using High-Frequency Atomic Force Microscopy and Friction Force Microscopy

During the last decade, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has been widely used to image the topography of various surfaces with corrugations down to the atomic scale [1,2]. Since then, development of new techniques based on AFM has been conducted to evaluate physical, chemical or mechanical surface properties [3]. We describe the use of near-field acoustic microscopy, based on AFM and hereafter referred to as Acoustic Microscopy by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFAM), as it has been developed earlier [4]. The relevance of this new scanning probe microscopy for high-resolution nondestructive testing and evaluation purposes is pointed out. It is shown that AFAM is capable of measuring elasticity on surfaces with a spatial resolution of less than 100 nm. Subsurface elastic properties and subsurface microdefect characterization can be performed by this technique. The high frequency Friction Force Microscopy (FFM) image, hereafter called Acoustic Friction Force Micropscopy (AFFM), reveals information different from the conventionally taken friction force image. We describe experimental and theoretical aspects of high-frequency atomic force and friction force microscopy

A Model of Pulsed Eddy Current Crack Detection

As its name implies, the pulsed eddy current (PEC) method makes use of a short burst of excitation current, rather than continuous sinusoidal (CW) current as is the case with conventional eddy current probes. Reflected fields, including flaw signal fields, are therefore time-dependent in the pulsed case, and are characterized by peak signal amplitude, pulse arrival time and signal decay parameters, rather than amplitude and phase as in the CW case

Ultrasonic Wave Dispersion and Attenuation in Fluid Filled Porous Media

The study of ultrasonic wave propagation in granular materials can lead to a better understanding of wave interaction with such materials as uncured cement and concrete. The measured parameters can then be used to investigate the curing process in particular the time required for a given mixture to consolidate. The cohesionless granular materials having loose contact between the constituent grains form a matrix that has negligible shear modulus. Sediment, sandy ground and concrete before solidification can be considered as examples of cohesionless granular materials. The shear and rigidity moduli of these materials can differ greatly from the values obtained by effective medium theories. In particular these differences could affect the ultrasonic wave propagation in such a material. In the case of cohesionless granular material the complete description of mechanical properties requires the consideration of discrete nature of the solid frame and the contact areas between the grains. Therefore wave interaction with such a material should also include the above mentioned effects. The goal of this work is to investigate the ultrasonic wave dispersion and attenuation in cohesionless granular materials the results can be to applied to the monitoring of cement and concrete during the curing process

The Scattering Response of a Flat-Bottom Hole

The flat-bottom hole is one of the oldest reference/calibration standards in the field of ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation (NDE). It has been used for both calibration of ultrasonic test equipment sensitivity and for the generation of distance-amplitude correction (DAC) curves [1]. Flat-bottom holes are also useful for equivalent flaw sizing applications since they can represent the response, at normal incidence, of ideal “perfect” scatterers, such as flat cracks

Fourier, hyperbolic and relativistic heat transfer equations: a comparative analytical study

[EN] Parabolic heat equation based on Fourier's theory (FHE), and hyperbolic heat equation (HHE), has been used to mathematically model the temperature distributions of biological tissue during thermal ablation. However, both equations have certain theoretical limitations. The FHE assumes an infinite thermal energy propagation speed, whereas the HHE might possibly be in breach of the second law of thermodynamics. The relativistic heat equation (RHE) is a hyperbolic-like equation, whose theoretical model is based on the theory of relativity and which was designed to overcome these theoretical impediments. In this study, the three heat equations for modelling of thermal ablation of biological tissues (FHE, HHE and RHE) were solved analytically and the temperature distributions compared. We found that RHE temperature values were always lower than those of the FHE, while the HHE values were higher than the FHE, except for the early stages of heating and at points away from the electrode. Although both HHE and RHE are mathematically hyperbolic, peaks were only found in the HHE temperature profiles. The three solutions converged for infinite time or infinite distance from the electrode. The percentage differences between the FHE and the other equations were larger for higher values of thermal relaxation time in HHE.This work received financial support from the Spanish Government (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Ref. TEC2011-27133-C02-01).López Molina, JA.; Rivera Ortun, MJ.; Berjano, E. (2014). Fourier, hyperbolic and relativistic heat transfer equations: a comparative analytical study. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 470:1-16. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2014.0547S11647

Quasi-normal frequencies: Key analytic results

The study of exact quasi-normal modes [QNMs], and their associated quasi-normal frequencies [QNFs], has had a long and convoluted history - replete with many rediscoveries of previously known results. In this article we shall collect and survey a number of known analytic results, and develop several new analytic results - specifically we shall provide several new QNF results and estimates, in a form amenable for comparison with the extant literature. Apart from their intrinsic interest, these exact and approximate results serve as a backdrop and a consistency check on ongoing efforts to find general model-independent estimates for QNFs, and general model-independent bounds on transmission probabilities. Our calculations also provide yet another physics application of the Lambert W function. These ideas have relevance to fields as diverse as black hole physics, (where they are related to the damped oscillations of astrophysical black holes, to greybody factors for the Hawking radiation, and to more speculative state-counting models for the Bekenstein entropy), to quantum field theory (where they are related to Casimir energies in unbounded systems), through to condensed matter physics, (where one may literally be interested in an electron tunelling through a physical barrier).Comment: V1: 29 pages; V2: Reformatted, 31 pages. Title changed to reflect major additions and revisions. Now describes exact QNFs for the double-delta potential in terms of the Lambert W function. V3: Minor edits for clarity. Four references added. No physics changes. Still 31 page

Born's rule from measurements of classical signals by threshold detectors which are properly calibrated

The very old problem of the statistical content of quantum mechanics (QM) is studied in a novel framework. The Born's rule (one of the basic postulates of QM) is derived from theory of classical random signals. We present a measurement scheme which transforms continuous signals into discrete clicks and reproduces the Born's rule. This is the sheme of threshold type detection. Calibration of detectors plays a crucial role.Comment: The problem of double clicks is resolved; hence, one can proceed in purely wave framework, i.e., the wave-partcile duality has been resolved in favor of the wave picture of prequantum realit

Remote Measurement of the Elastic Parameters by Ultrasound- Stimulated Vibro-Acoustic Spectrography

Estimation of the Young’s modulus of metals based on the resonance frequency of a given structure has been reported previously. In some of these methods, an electromagnetic or piezoelectric actuator has been used to induce resonance in the structure [1]. The resulting response could be measured by different means, for example by a piezoelectric device. In most cases either the excitation and/or detection require some form of contact with the structure. In many applications such a contact is not desirable, either because of its loading effect or limitation in accessing the object, especially when the object under test is too small for such measurements

Calculated and Measured Ultrasonic Response of an Elastic Cylinder Embedded in an Elastic Medium

itanium metal matrix composite (TMC) materials are fabricated by consolidating alternate layers of suitable titanium foils and silicon carbide fibers. The foils are generally 0.005-0.010 in thick and the fibers have diameters ranging from 0.004 in. to 0.0055 in. Furthermore, the fibers have a core of one material and an outer annular ring of silicon carbide (Fig. 1). The fibers used in the work described here, designated SCS6 fibers, have an outer diameter of 0.0055 in. and an inner carbon core with a diameter of 0.0013 in. During consolidation, the matrix material is heated under pressure so that it flows around the fibers, forming a strong interfacial bond with the fiber and a strong diffusion bond where the adjacent foils come in contact. Several types of defects can occur during the consolidation process. There can be lack of bonding or incomplete bonding between the adjacent foils or between the matrix and the fibers. It is also possible that an undesirable reaction can occur between the fiber and the matrix, producing a brittle zone that will degrade the strength of the material.</p

Saddle point localization of molecular wavefunctions

The quantum mechanical description of isomerization is based on bound eigenstates of the molecular potential energy surface. For the near-minimum regions there is a textbook-based relationship between the potential and eigenenergies. Here we show how the saddle point region that connects the two minima is encoded in the eigenstates of the model quartic potential and in the energy levels of the [H, C, N] potential energy surface. We model the spacing of the eigenenergies with the energy dependent classical oscillation frequency decreasing to zero at the saddle point. The eigenstates with the smallest spacing are localized at the saddle point. The analysis of the HCN???HNC isomerization states shows that the eigenstates with small energy spacing relative to the effective (v1, v3, l) bending potentials are highly localized in the bending coordinate at the transition state. These spectroscopically detectable states represent a chemical marker of the transition state in the eigenenergy spectrum. The method developed here provides a basis for modeling characteristic patterns in the eigenenergy spectrum of bound states