Technology reports of the Yamaguchi University

Back to Top

Technology reports of the Yamaguchi University Volume 4 Issue 5
published_at 1991-12

Three-dimensional measurement of granular surface profile by ultrasonic array sensor

Three-dimensional measurement of granular surface profile by ultrasonic array sensor
Morimoto Eiji
Egawa Naoki
fulltext
555 KB
KJ00004351138.pdf
Descriptions
Ultrasonic measuring system has been developed to image three-dimensional surface of granular materials stored in a hopper for more accurate estimation of content amount than conventional level measuring method. Eight bimorph type linear array ceramic sensors compsed of eight receiving elements each were located in a concentric configuration around a condenser type emitter sendig 40kHz pulses. An incident angle to the arrays and a distance from surface were measured by a phase difference between adjacent receiving elements and by a sound propagation time between transducer, respectively. On the basis of properties studied by preliminary experiments on particle sizes, shapes, and surface conditions, model patterns of concave and convex in a vessel were tested to investigate the characteristics of the equipment. Estimated profiles were displayed in an stereogram manner showing good results especially for the concave profiles with an average error of ±8mm in height.