Feasibility study of using ultrasonic transducer border waves for centering hydrophones in ultrasonic field characterization: a theoretical and experimental approach

During ultrasound field characterization, it is necessary to center a hydrophone. This paper presents a new proposal to center it by using transducer border waves. First, changes in border wave amplitude had been computed by using the impulse response method and considering the transducer as a rigid planar baffle. Then, changes in border wave amplitude have been measured experimentally. Agreement between experimental and calculated results demonstrates that changes in border wave amplitude can be used to center the hydrophone. It has been observed that border wave amplitude reaches its maximum when the hydrophone is centered, and that these amplitude changes are very sensitive to position.