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Ultrasonics and Industry
Pitching the latest science to manufacturers
Ultrasonics – despite being too high for human hearing – have a large number of uses. A team led by Professor Steve Dixon and Dr Rachel Edwards extended these even further. By developing improved electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs), the project linked researchers with industry. This led to the creation of a spin out company, Sonemat. A range of businesses and manufacturers have now introduced new processes to make the most of ultrasonics. Existing methods were improved, and new uses found for the technology.
The challenge
From medical imaging to inspecting aircraft, ultrasonics have a number of practical uses. How could these be extended further? Professor Dixon and Dr Edwards’s team needed to find a way to generate and detect a range of ultrasonic frequencies at the same time. Equally, any new technology would have to serve the demands of business partners worldwide. Practicality was key.
Our approach
In collaboration with research partners (including sixteen major industrial groups, six UK universities and twenty SMEs), the Warwick team created an improved EMAT. This had a number of uses:
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Measuring the thickness of thin AI sheets
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Testing for damage due to rust
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Uncovering subsurface flaws in metals
Working with industry allowed for the team to ensure that the technology would be durable and practical from the start. This included an EMAT probe that was able to work whilst bathed in molten metal at 450ºC.
Our impact
Demand for Sonemat’s products has grown every year since the company was set up. Purchasers have put Professor Dixon and Dr Edwards’s research to work in a number of fields. Inspections using the improved EMAT have kept workers on oil rigs safe by checking the structures’ strength. Corrosion causes a quarter of all pipeline breakages across the world, costing $1.4 billion every year. Improved technology will cut this cost significantly. Boiler tubes, metal cans, engine construction: more and more products are benefiting from better testing and safety thanks to the Department of Physics and Sonemat.
