A continuous wave method for ultrasonic characterization of liquid materials

Abstract

This paper describes a method for measuring the velocity and attenuation of high-frequency sound waves traveling through liquid materials. This method is based on the measurement of the forward scattering parameter (S21) of the acoustic system composed of two transducers and the liquid between them. The acoustic parameters are obtained from the analysis of S21 in the time domain. Various experiments using distilled water as the liquid sample have been carried out. They show the influence on the measurement sensitivity of receiver detection bandwidth, liquid thickness, and difference of temperature between the room and the test cell. The method was used for the measurement of the attenuation and velocity of mixtures of alcohol and water.