Acoustic invention enhances ultrasound to access enclosed metal spaces

There was no access to underwater pipes and the inside of sealed nuclear containers. Acoustics researchers at Penn State’s College of Engineering have developed a way to transmit energy and transmit communication through metal walls using ultrasound.

They published their invention, a pillar-based acoustic metamaterial that operates in the ultrasound frequency range, A physical examination was performed.. According to the researchers, the work may have implications for research in space.

“If you want to power a device, such as a Temperature stimulusInside a metal wall like a pipe, Ultrasound waves can carry that energy to the instrument,” said Yun Jing, professor of acoustics and Biomedical Engineering and corresponding author on the paper. “But before that, waves couldn’t pass through metal barriers that blocked sound, unless the transducers were in direct contact with the barrier.”

The researchers created a pillar-based metamaterial: an array of small, cylindrical pillars on a metal plate that act as resonators, which vibrate or oscillate to produce acoustic resonance.

When a metamaterial is located between a transducer’s transmitter and receiver, it dramatically increases the rate of ultrasonic power transmission through the metal barrier, without the need for direct contact between the transducer and the barrier. Previously, the faint ultrasound waves could pass through metal, but they lacked enough energy to power sensors or transmit messages through metal.

“With a narrow end and a wide end like a pillar, the acoustic metamaterial is designed like an acoustic resonator,” said first author Jon Ji, who recently received his doctorate in acoustics from Penn State. Is. “Metamaterial shape allows wireless transmission and reception of ultrasound through a metallic barrier.”

The researchers tested the performance of metamaterial samples in two experiments. First, they used an ultrasonic transmitter and a receiver to transmit electricity wirelessly through a metal plate with a metamaterial, successfully powering an LED light on the other side. He confirmed the metamaterial’s ability to conduct electricity through metal walls.

In another test case, they used an encoded ultrasonic signal to transmit an image of the letters “PSU” through a metal plate lined with metamaterial, confirming that ultrasound waves can travel through metal barriers. Communication is possible through the use of metamaterials that strengthen the transmission of

Wireless communication for connected spaces and can provide solutions for power engineers in many fields, e.g Space exploration, explained Ji. Metallic containers, for example, to carry samples from other planets would require electrical power and wireless alternatives to maintain communications.

“To avoid potential contamination of samples brought back to Earth, the container will need wireless sensors to detect and communicate pressure leaks,” Gee said.

Gee said that ultrasound communications — with the addition of metamaterials — could be the solution to returning samples to Earth in the same state in which they were collected.