Safe and ultrasound

Researchers at

are creating ultrasonic platforms that could examine the structure of complex materials and microscale objects, such as the component parts of cells.

Complex materials, such as metal matrix composites of reinforcing wires in titanium or aluminium used in aircraft manufacture, are effectively opaque to ultrasound, so there is no non-destructive way of telling if they are defective. While it is relatively simple to take an overall measurement, the complexity at the micro scale makes it difficult to understand what may be happening inside.

Project leader Dr Matt Clark said: 'The difficulty you encounter is relating your measurement to the state of the material. We're looking at using powerful modelling techniques to model these complex materials and understand how the state of the material affects their behaviour and, therefore, the ultrasonic measurement.'

These materials are typically made by assembling the components and pressing them together under high temperature and pressure to fuse all the parts together. If the manufacturing process is not perfect — if a wire crosses over, for example — you can end up with imperfect bending and voids within the material.