45 research outputs found
Time of flight diffraction and imaging (TOFDI)
Time of flight diffraction and imaging (TOFDI) is based on time of flight diffraction (TOFD),
adding cross-sectional imaging of the sample bulk by exploiting the scattering of ultrasonic waves
from bulk defects in metals. Multiple wave modes are emitted by a pulsed laser ultrasound ablative
source, and received by a sparse array of receiving electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs),
for non-contact (linear) scanning, with mode-conversions whenever waves are scattered.
Standard signal processing techniques, such as band-pass filters, reduce noise. A B-scan is
formed from multiple data captures (A-scans), with time and scan position axes, and colour
representing amplitude or magnitude. B-scans may contain horizontal lines from surface waves
propagating directly from emitter to receiver, or via a back-wall, and angled lines after reflection
off a surface edge. A Hough transform (HT), modified to deal with the constraints of a B-scan,
can remove such lines. A parabola matched filter has been developed that identifies the features
in the B-scan caused by scattering from point-like defects, reducing them to peaks and minimising
noise. Multiple B-scans are combined to reduce noise further. The B-scan is also processed to form
a cross-sectional image, enabling detection and positioning of multiple defects.
The standard phase correlation technique applied to camera images, has been used to track
the relative position between transducer and sample. Movement has been determined to sub-pixel
precision, with a median accuracy of 0.01mm of linear movement (0.06 of a pixel), despite uneven
illumination and the use of a basic low resolution camera.
The prototype application is testing rough steel products formed by continuous casting, but
the techniques created to facilitate operation of TOFDI are applicable elsewhere
Shear horizontal (SH) ultrasound wave propagation around smooth corners
Shear horizontal (SH) ultrasound guided waves are being used in an increasing number of non-destructive testing (NDT) applications. One advantage SH waves have over some wave types, is their ability to propagate around curved surfaces with little energy loss; to understand the geometries around which they could propagate, the wave reflection must be quantified. A 0.83 mm thick aluminium sheet was placed in a bending machine, and a shallow bend was introduced. Periodically-poled magnet (PPM) electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs), for emission and reception of SH waves, were placed on the same side of the bend, so that reflected waves were received. Additional bending of the sheet demonstrated a clear relationship between bend angles and the reflected signal. Models suggest that the reflection is a linear superposition of the reflections from each bend segment, such that sharp turns lead to a larger peak-to-peak amplitude, in part due to increased phase coherence
Ultrasonic metal sheet thickness measurement without prior wave speed calibration
Conventional ultrasonic mensuration of sample thickness from one side only requires the bulk
wave reverberation time and a calibration speed. This speed changes with temperature, stress,
and microstructure, limiting thickness measurement accuracy. Often, only one side of a
sample is accessible, making in situ calibration impossible. Non-contact ultrasound can
generate multiple shear horizontal guided wave modes on one side of a metal plate. Measuring
propagation times of each mode at different transducer separations, allows sheet thickness to
be calculated to better than 1% accuracy for sheets of at least 1.5 mm thickness, without any
calibration
Mode mixing in shear horizontal ultrasonic guided waves
SH guided waves are used increasingly for non-destructive testing (NDT) applications, particularly for pipes and pipe supports using circumferentially guided wave modes. In practical implementations, it is not always straightforward to ensure single-mode operation and this requires consideration when interpreting results. During shear horizontal (SH) wave generation or SH guided wave interaction with geometrical changes or defects, multiple SH guided wave modes may be produced, depending on the shear wave speed, the frequency of operation, the thickness of the sample and the transducer characteristics. This paper discusses the interference patterns created as the multiple SH modes mix (for both continuous tone generation and short bursts), and the problems caused by the interference patterns on applications such as NDT. In particular, the patterns can lead to defects being missed during an NDT inspection using SH waves, and a way to circumvent this problem is suggested
Investigation of the Domain Wall Fermion Approach to Chiral Gauge Theories on the Lattice
We investigate a recent proposal to construct chiral gauge theories on the
lattice using domain wall fermions. We restrict ourselves to the finite volume
case, in which two domain walls are present, with modes of opposite chirality
on each of them. We couple the chiral fermions on only one of the domain walls
to a gauge field. In order to preserve gauge invariance, we have to add a
scalar field, which gives rise to additional light mirror fermion and scalar
modes. We argue that in an anomaly free model these extra modes would decouple
if our model possesses a so-called strong coupling symmetric phase. However,
our numerical results indicate that such a phase most probably does not exist.
---- Note: 9 Postscript figures are appended as uuencoded compressed tar file.Comment: 27p. Latex; UCSD/PTH 93-28, Wash. U. HEP/93-6
Topological Lattice Actions
We consider lattice field theories with topological actions, which are
invariant against small deformations of the fields. Some of these actions have
infinite barriers separating different topological sectors. Topological actions
do not have the correct classical continuum limit and they cannot be treated
using perturbation theory, but they still yield the correct quantum continuum
limit. To show this, we present analytic studies of the 1-d O(2) and O(3)
model, as well as Monte Carlo simulations of the 2-d O(3) model using
topological lattice actions. Some topological actions obey and others violate a
lattice Schwarz inequality between the action and the topological charge Q.
Irrespective of this, in the 2-d O(3) model the topological susceptibility
\chi_t = \l/V is logarithmically divergent in the continuum limit.
Still, at non-zero distance the correlator of the topological charge density
has a finite continuum limit which is consistent with analytic predictions. Our
study shows explicitly that some classically important features of an action
are irrelevant for reaching the correct quantum continuum limit.Comment: 38 pages, 12 figure
The Phase Diagram and Spectrum of Gauge-Fixed Abelian Lattice Gauge Theory
We consider a lattice discretization of a covariantly gauge-fixed abelian
gauge theory. The gauge fixing is part of the action defining the theory, and
we study the phase diagram in detail. As there is no BRST symmetry on the
lattice, counterterms are needed, and we construct those explicitly. We show
that the proper adjustment of these counterterms drives the theory to a new
type of phase transition, at which we recover a continuum theory of (free)
photons. We present both numerical and (one-loop) perturbative results, and
show that they are in good agreement near this phase transition. Since
perturbation theory plays an important role, it is important to choose a
discretization of the gauge-fixing action such that lattice perturbation theory
is valid. Indeed, we find numerical evidence that lattice actions not
satisfying this requirement do not lead to the desired continuum limit. While
we do not consider fermions here, we argue that our results, in combination
with previous work, provide very strong evidence that this new phase transition
can be used to define abelian lattice chiral gauge theories.Comment: 42 pages, 30 figure
MAC-in-the-Box: Verifying a Minimalistic Hardware Design for MAC Computation
We study the verification of security properties at the state machine level of a minimalistic device, called the MAC-in-the-Box (MITB). This device computes a message authentication code based on the SHA-3 hash function and a key that is stored on device, but never output directly. It is designed for secure password storage, but may also be used for secure key-exchange and second-factor authentication. We formally verify, in the HOL4 theorem prover, that no outside observer can distinguish this device from an ideal functionality that provides only access to a hashing oracle. Furthermore, we propose protocols for the MITB’s use in password storage, key-exchange and second-factor authentication, and formally show that it improves resistance against host-compromise in these three application scenarios
Chiral Fermions on the Lattice through Gauge Fixing -- Perturbation Theory
We study the gauge-fixing approach to the construction of lattice chiral
gauge theories in one-loop weak-coupling perturbation theory. We show how
infrared properties of the gauge degrees of freedom determine the nature of the
continuous phase transition at which we take the continuum limit. The fermion
self-energy and the vacuum polarization are calculated, and confirm that, in
the abelian case, this approach can be used to put chiral gauge theories on the
lattice in four dimensions. We comment on the generalization to the nonabelian
case.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figures, two refs. adde