TX line is our standard transducer design, used in regular measurement conditions with temperature from 10°C up to 60°C and pressure up to 3 bars.
Frequency
TX line is available at the five standard emitting frequencies 0.5 – 1 – 2 – 4 – 8 MHz of our UVP profilers.
Each frequency requires a specific transducer’s active diameter to keep similar acoustic beam divergence over the whole frequency set, with optimized spatial resolution. The probe diameter is thus increased while frequency decreases to keep its divergence angle constant.
This is why low frequency transducers have larger diameters, and are ideally used for large measurement depths and large velocities, with the following features:
- Higher emitted power
- Limited acoustic attenuation over distance
- Coarser spatial resolution and larger velocity range
In contrast, high frequency transducers with smaller dimensions and reduced emitted signals are ideal for confined flows and small velocities, with:
- Smaller emitted power (less echo from walls)
- More compact to access confined measurement locations
- Higher spatial and velocity resolutions
Performances
- High sensitivity
Thanks to a special piezo-composite technology used for the transducers active element, Met-Flow transducers show higher electro-acoustic efficiency than similar transducers made with ordinary components, useful for applications with limited echo generation or on the contrary with high acoustic attenuation. - Accurate acoustic signals generation
High sensitivity can be tricky for our specific transducers used in pulsed emission, as it may affect their bandwidth and then spoil the shape of the emitted signals, with direct bad consequences on the spatial resolution of UVP measurement. With the smart combination of a special acoustic absorber and electrical impedance matching specific to each frequency, a clean acoustic signal with still high amplitude can be generated. - Precise transducer mounting
Besides the design itself, manufacturing has a crucial influence on the transducer final performances. A precise production and mounting of all transducers components is essential to ensure the coaxiality between the emitted signals and the transducer casing. An axis offset would be obviously harmful for the measurement consistency.
For all above aspects and challenges to guarantee the high performances of our transducers, we take advantage of our long-standing collaboration with our partner Imasonic and its high expertise in that field.
Applicability
Selecting the right frequency, TX line can thus be used for most research applications, from very confined organic flows to large hydraulic models.
Our standard TX line is acoustically optimized for a use in water-based liquids or liquids with similar acoustic impedance, such as water suspensions, oil, alcohol, organic liquids, which represent most of UVP applications. Although TX line has sometimes been used successfully in liquids with different acoustic impedance, tailor-made designs with specific acoustic optimization can be proposed on request.