Biomedical subjects

Jürg Dual

Publications and source records attributed to Jürg Dual.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Non-destructive testing of tubes using a time reverse numerical simulation (TRNS) method.

A method for the detection of defects in cylindrical structures and the determination of their positions and orientations is presented in this paper. The scattered field, which is generated by the interaction of excited guided waves with a defect, is evaluated with an approach named time reverse numerical simulation method (TRNS). Since the excited waves and the scattered field propagate along the sample, the time-consuming scanning of the whole tube can be eliminated. The scattered displacement field is measured in three dimensions over time with a laser vibrometer at different locations distributed equally around the circumference at a fixed axial coordinate far away from the defect. Instead of analyzing the complicated time signals directly, they are played back in time. If the recorded displacement histories of the scattered field are reversed in time and played back in an identical structure, the waves travel back the same path and interfere to a maximum at their origin. The result is an amplitude increase at the position of the defect where the scattered field was generated. Instead of playing back the recorded time signals in an experiment, this step is replaced by a numerical simulation. Only this enables the visualization and detection of the amplitude increase. As long as the simulation is of high accuracy, the position of the maximum interference corresponds exactly to the location of the defect in the experiment, although no defect is implemented in the simulation.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Pulse laser acoustics for the characterization of inhomogeneities at interfaces of microstructures.

Interfaces between neighbouring materials are often subjected to diffusion processes which cause layers having gradually varying mechanical properties--like densities, Young's moduli or shear moduli--perpendicular to the surface or interface. In this investigation particular interest is drawn on the question how the propagation characteristics of bulk acoustic waves are affected by diffusion layers. The reflection and transmission behavior of bulk acoustic waves encountering a continuum having a spatially dependent sound velocity is discussed based on numerical simulations as well as on experimental verifications. The simulated results are part of an on-going project in which material properties of MEMS devices are investigated by short pulse laser acoustic methods. Mechanical waves are excited and detected thermoelastically using laser pulses of 70 fs duration. For metals this leads to wavelengths of 10-20 nm and the corresponding frequencies amount to 0.3-0.6 THz. In contrast to previous work done in this field in which diffusion effects are generally considered as undesirable phenomena, the deliberate realization of microstructures having well defined gradually varying material properties in one or more dimensions represents a goal of this investigation. For metallic thin film multilayers thermally induced diffusion processes have shown to be an easy and reliable technique for the realization of layered structures having continuously varying mechanical properties within several 10 nm. Among the experimental methods suitable for the in-depth profiling of submicron metallic thin films providing resolutions of several nanometers, are short pulse laser acoustic methods, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES). Short pulse laser acoustic methods and RBS have the advantage to be nondestructive. The short pulse laser acoustic method is described in detail and RBS measurements are presented for verification purposes. Finally potential engineering applications like micro-machined spectrum analyzers, acoustic isolation layers, and band pass filters, operating at very high frequencies are presented.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Detection of defects in cylindrical structures using a time reverse method and a finite-difference approach.

The detection and characterization of defects in structures is an important issue in non-destructive testing. To avoid the scanning of large samples, guided elastic waves, which propagate along the structure, are excited. These waves interact with a defect, which results in a scattered wave field. In an experiment, the displacements of these scattered waves are recorded over time for a fixed axial coordinate at a number of circumferential positions of a circular cylindrical tube. Since in complex structures it is difficult to determine the axial and particularly circumferential position of the defect directly from the time signals, a time reversed numerical simulation is performed. There the measured displacement histories are reversed in time and used as displacement excitations in a simulation of the tested structure. A three-dimensional code in cylindrical coordinates, based on a velocity-stress finite-difference method, is used to simulate the wave propagation. As long as the geometric and material parameters are chosen equivalent to the performed experiment, the scattered waves travel back through the simulated structure and interfere, even if no defect is present in the numerical model. The result is an increase of the amplitudes of the stress and displacement components at the location where the defect was in the tested sample.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

Sensitivity improvement of a pump-probe set-up for thin film and microstructure metrology.

This investigation deals with various new aspects of the sensitivity improvement of a pump-probe laser based acoustic method. A short laser pulse is used to excite a mechanical pulse thermo-elastically. Echoes of these mechanical pulses reaching the surface are causing a slight change of the optical reflectivity. The surface reflectivity is scanned versus time with a probe pulse. Thus the time of flight of the acoustic pulse is measured. The quantity to be measured i.e. the optical reflectivity change deltaR caused by acoustic pulses, is rather small. A set-up having an estimated sensitivity deltaR/R of about 10(-5) has shown to be sufficient to detect up to the fifth echo in a 50 nm aluminum film on sapphire substrate. A key challenge is the reduction of optical and electrical cross-talk between the excitation and the detection. Therefore the concepts of double-frequency modulation, cross-polarization, and balanced photodetection are implemented. Practical aspects like beam guiding, modulation techniques, beam focus minimization, and beam focus matching are discussed. Measurements for single- and multi-layer metallic films demanding higher sensitivity are presented.

Journal Article↗