Electromagnetic acoustic transducer system
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJohn Ralph Hull, Michael Strasik, Richard H. Bossi
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for an electromagnetic acoustic transducer. An apparatus comprises a conductive material and a current inducer. The conductive material is configured to generate a magnetic field, wherein the magnetic field has magnetic flux lines that are substantially fixed and the conductive material has a temperature that is equal to or less than a critical temperature at which the conductive material has substantially zero electrical resistance. The current inducer is configured to cause an electric current to flow in a test object that interacts with the magnetic field, wherein the electric current has a frequency that generates an acoustic wave in the test object.
Claims21
An apparatus comprising:
- a superconducting magnet configured to generate a first magnetic field around a conductive material as a temperature of the conductive material is lowered to a critical temperature;
- the conductive material configured to generate a second magnetic field, such that the second magnetic field comprises magnetic flux lines that are substantially fixed, the temperature of the conductive material being equal to or less than the critical temperature at which the conductive material comprises a substantially zero electrical resistance;
- and
- a current inducer configured to cause an electric current to flow in a test object that interacts with the second magnetic field, wherein the electric current has a frequency that generates an acoustic wave in the test object.
A method for operating an electromagnetic acoustic transducer, the method comprising:
- positioning the electromagnetic acoustic transducer relative to a test object, wherein a conductive material is configured to generate a magnetic field that encompasses at least a portion of the test object and the magnetic field has magnetic flux lines that are substantially fixed, and the conductive material has a temperature that is equal to or less than a critical temperature at which the conductive material has substantially zero electrical resistance, such that the magnetic field is a first magnetic field and the conductive material is a superconductor;
- generating a second magnetic field around the superconductor held in a fixed position while the temperature of the conductive material is greater than the critical temperature;
- decreasing the temperature of the superconductor to equal to or less than the critical temperature while the second magnetic field is present;
- and
- causing an electric current to flow in the portion of the test object encompassed by the magnetic field, wherein the electric current interacts with the magnetic field to generate an acoustic wave in the test object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.