Ultrasonics, 3rd Edition

1    Ultrasonics

A Broad Field

1.1      INTRODUCTION

The study of ultrasonics is the investigation of the effects of propagation, interaction with matter, and the application of a particular form of energy—sound waves—at frequencies above the limits of human perception.

Ultrasonics includes the basic science of the energy–matter interaction, the associated technologies for generation and detection, and an increasingly diverse range of applications, which are now encountered in almost every field of engineering, many of the sciences and in medicine. It encompasses a citation literature with more than 200,000 references. Students in basic physics and engineering courses may receive some introductions to sound, vibrations, and waves [1], but ...