Seminar Series - 1999-2000

Elastic Waves and Material Characterization

Professor Tribikram Kundu
Department of Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
 
Sponsored by the Dept. of Engineering Mechanics

Date:  Monday, April 3, 2000
Time:  3:30 p.m.
Place:  W129 Nebraska Hall


Different aspects of the use of elastic waves for material characterization will be discussed.  The talk will start with the importance of the theoretical study of elastic wave propagation in multi-layered solids and scattering of elastic waves by cracks.  Then the theory of acoustic microscopy will be briefly reviewed.  Elastic waves in the ultrasonic range are used for studying and inspecting different types of materials.  Some of the emerging nondestructive material inspection techniques using elastic waves will be presented. New techniques for biological cell characterization and for detection of small defects (delaminations) in integrated circuit (IC) chips by acoustic microscopes, that use high frequency ultrasonic signals, will be discussed.  Advantage of the acoustic microscopy over optical microscopy is that it is useful for characterizing opaque materials and can be used in the dark environment, necessary for some photosensitive biological materials. This presentation will also include ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation of composite and metal plates, pipes, concrete beams, and composite-concrete interface using Lamb waves.  Advantage of the Lamb wave technique is that it can inspect a plate or pipe relatively quickly and detect many defects that cannot be detected by the conventional ultrasonic inspection techniques.


Back to 1999-2000 Seminars List