Application of Phase-Reversal Fresnel Zone Plates for High-Resolution Robotic Ultrasonic Non-Destructive Evaluation

Nowadays the development of automated inspection systems based on six degrees of freedom robotic manipulators is a highly relevant topic in ultrasonic non-destructive testing. One of the issues associated with such development is the problem of acquiring high-resolution results. In this article, the application Phase-Reversal Fresnel Zone Plates is considered for solving this problem. Such acoustic lenses can solve the task of high-resolution results acquisition by using a single unfocused transducer. Furthermore, Phase-Reversal Fresnel Zone Plates can provide the desired focusing depth with the fixed thickness of the coupling layer. It is important in the case of application of devices which provide localized coupling. In this paper a proper design of Phase-Reversal Fresnel Zone Plate was determined according to the conditions of planned experiments. Its efficiency was verified via the Finite Element Method modeling. In all performed experiments the relative error of flaws size estimation did not exceed 6% whereas the signal-to-noise ratio was not lower than 17.1 dB. Thus, experimental results demonstrate that the application of Phase-Reversal Fresnel Zone Plates allowed to obtain results with high lateral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. These results demonstrate the reasonability of the development of devices that provide localized coupling and use Phase-Reversal Fresnel Zone Plates.

On the Design of Soret Zone Plates Based on Binary Sequences Using Directional Transducers

In this work, we analyze the effect of the distribution of transparent Fresnel regions over the focusing profile of Soret Zone Plates (SZP) based on binary sequences. It is shown that this effect becomes very significant in those fields where directional transducers are employed, such as microwaves or acoustics. A thorough analysis of both the SZP transmission efficiency and the focusing enhancement factor is presented. Moreover, experimental measurements are also carried out for a particular type of binary sequence, the Cantor ternary set, validating the theoretical model and demonstrating that the distribution of transparent Fresnel regions becomes a critical parameter in applications requiring directional emitters.

Analysis of Predistortion Techniques on Fresnel Zone Plates in Ultrasound Applications

In this work, we analyze the effect of predistortion techniques on the focusing profile of Fresnel Zone Plates (FZPs) in ultrasound applications. This novel predistortion method is based on either increasing or decreasing the width of some of the FZP Fresnel rings by a certain amount. We investigate how the magnitude of the predistortion, as well as the number and location of the predistorted rings, influences the lens focusing profile. This focusing profile can be affected in different ways depending on the area of the lens where the predistortion is applied. It is shown that when the inner area of the lens, closer to its center, is predistorted, this technique allows the control of the focal depth at the main focus. However, when the predistortion is applied to an area farther from the center of the lens, the acoustic intensity distribution among the main focus and the closest adjacent secondary foci can be tailored at a certain degree. This predistortion technique shows great potential and can be used to control, modify and shape the FZP focusing profile in both industrial and therapeutic applications.