On Estimation of Sound Velocity and Attenuation in Common 3D-Printing Filaments

Abstract

Estimation of frequency-dependent attenuation and speed of sound using ultrasound is of great importance. The acoustic properties can be used for material characterization and to study the local variations in a solid. As ultrasound is a mechanical wave, it is directly sensitive to changes in the material properties. The layered nature of additively manufactured prod-ucts pose a challenge for the estimation of acoustic properties. The non-parametric approaches using frequency transforms are sensitive to noise. In this paper, a parametric model is used to estimate the phase velocity and attenuation of 3D-printed cubes. The received signal from the cubes is a superposition of the backscattered responses from multiple layers of the printed part. A reference echo from aluminium is used as an input to the linear model and to estimate the received ultrasound response. The estimate of the ultrasound signal using the linear model is similar to the measured data and it suggests that it can be used to estimate wave propagation in additively manufactured products. The estimated acoustic properties show an increasing trend with the frequency and dispersion can be seen due to the layered nature of the material.