• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.56-62
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• 2011

In the present study, the phase velocities of guided ultrasonic waves such as the first arriving signal (FAS) and the slow guided wave (SGW) propagating along the long axis on the 12 tubular cortical bone samples in vitro were measured and their correlations with the cortical thickness were investigated. The phase velocities of the FAS and the SGW were measured by using the axial transmission method in air with a pair of unfocused ultrasonic transducers with a diameter of 12.7 mm and a center frequency of 200 kHz. The phase velocity of the FAS measured at 200 kHz exhibited a very high negative correlation with the cortical thickness and that of the SGW arriving after the FAS showed a high positive correlation with the cortical thickness. The simple and multiple linear regression models with the phase velocities of the FAS and the SGW as independent variables and the cortical thickness as a dependent variable revealed that the coefficient of determination of the multiple linear regression model was higher than those of the simple linear regression models. The phase velocities of the FAS and the SGW measured at 200 kHz on the 12 tubular cortical bone samples were, respectively, consistent with those of the S0 and the A0 Lamb modes calculated at 200 kHz on the cortical bone plate.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.48-57
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• 2015

In a sodium-cooled fast reactor, which is a Generation-IV reactor, refueling is conducted by rotating, but not opening, the reactor head to prevent a reaction between the sodium, water and air. Therefore, an inspection technique that checks for the presence of any obstacles between the reactor core and the upper internal structure, which could disturb the rotation of the reactor head, is essential prior to the refueling of a sodium-cooled fast reactor. To this end, an ultrasound-based inspection technique should be employed because the opacity of the sodium prevents conventional optical inspection techniques from being applied to the monitoring of obstacles. In this study, a ranging inspection technique using a plate-type ultrasonic waveguide sensor was developed to monitor the presence of any obstacles between the reactor core and the upper internal structure in the opaque sodium. Because the waveguide sensor installs an ultrasonic transducer in a relatively cold region and transmits the ultrasonic waves into the hot radioactive liquid sodium through a long waveguide, it offers better reliability and is less susceptible to thermal or radiation damage. A 10 m horizontal beam waveguide sensor capable of radiating an ultrasonic wave horizontally was developed, and beam profile measurements and basic experiments were carried out to investigate the characteristics of the developed sensor. The beam width and propagation distance of the ultrasonic wave radiated from the sensor were assessed based on the experimental results. Finally, a feasibility test using cylindrical targets (corresponding to the shape of possible obstacles) was also conducted to evaluate the applicability of the developed ranging inspection technique to actual applications.