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Ultrasonic level sensors for liquids under high pressureAn ultrasonic level sensor of novel design continuously measures the level of a liquid subjected to a high pressure (up to about 40 MPa), as is sometimes required for the effective transfer of the liquid. The sensor operates as a composite resonator fabricated from a standard high-pressure plug. A flat-bottom hole is machined into the plug along its center line. An ultrasonic transducer is bonded rigidly to the interior surface of the bottom wall, while the exterior surface is in contact with the liquid. Although the bottom wall is designed to satisfy the pressure code, it is still sufficiently thin to permit ready excitation of the axisymmetric plate modes of vibration. The liquid level is measured by a conventional pulse-echo technique. A prototype sensor was tested successfully in a 2300-l water vessel at pressures up to about 37 MPa. A spectral analysis of the transmitted pulse reveals that the flexural, extensional, thickness-shear, and radial plate modes are excited into vibration, but none of these appears to be significantly affected by the pressurization of the liquid.
Document ID
19870023949
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Zuckerwar, A. J.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Mazel, D. S.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Hodges, D. Y.
(Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 13, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1986
Publication Information
Publication: Review of Scientific Instruments
Volume: 57
ISSN: 0034-6748
Subject Category
Instrumentation And Photography
Accession Number
87A11223
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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