by Lo, Kin Yin Anthony. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-195). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Declaration --- p.V / Publications and Conference Presentations --- p.vi / Scholarships and Awards --- p.vii / Acknowledgements --- p.viii / Table of contents --- p.X / Abbreviations --- p.xiv / List of Figures --- p.xvi / List of Tables --- p.xvii / Chapter 1. --- General Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction of nephrolithasis and surgical management --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Epidemology and physiochemistry --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Surgical management of nephrolithasis parallel with stone factors --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2 --- Extracorpoeral Shock Wave Lithotripsy in present study --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- The 4th generation - Sonolith Vision electroconductive lithotripter --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- The role of shock wave delivery rate in treatment outcome and its prediction --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Patient-controlled analgesia during Shock Wave Lithotripsy treatment and its pain management --- p.29 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Shock wave induced renal injury & the use of urinary biomarker --- p.35 / Chapter 3. --- Materials and Methods --- p.62 / Chapter 3.1 --- Study Design --- p.63 / Chapter 3.2 --- Patient Selection --- p.64 / Chapter 3.3 --- Treatment Protocol --- p.63 / Chapter 3.4 --- Sample size calculation --- p.68 / Chapter 3.5 --- Statistical analysis --- p.68 / Chapter 4. --- The effect of shock wave delivery rate on treatment outcome and its prediction --- p.69 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.70 / Chapter 4.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.72 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- ESWL treatment protocol --- p.72 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Outcome Assessment --- p.73 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Mathematical model development --- p.75 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Statistical analysis --- p.76 / Chapter 4.3 --- Results --- p.77 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Baseline characteristics and treatment modalities --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- ESWL treatment outcome --- p.79 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Mathematical model --- p.81 / Chapter 4.4 --- Discussion --- p.82 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Overall treatment outcome improved by the use of slower rate --- p.82 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- When should we use fast/slow rate? --- p.86 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Mathematical model to predict ESWL outcome --- p.88 / Chapter 4.5 --- Conclusion --- p.91 / Chapter 5. --- The role of shock wave delivery rate and patient-controlled analgesia in pain --- p.101 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.102 / Chapter 5.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.104 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- ESWL treatment protocol and PCA settings --- p.104 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Outcome Assessment --- p.105 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Statistical analysis --- p.107 / Chapter 5.3 --- Results --- p.108 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Baseline characteristics and treatment modalities --- p.108 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Pain experience and satisfaction with PCA at different shock wave delivery rates --- p.108 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Correlation between rate pain --- p.110 / Chapter 5.3.4 --- Vital signs --- p.110 / Chapter 5.4 --- Discussion --- p.111 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Adverse complication was mild with PCA using alfentanil --- p.111 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Less pain experience with 60 SWs/min --- p.112 / Chapter 5.4.3 --- Why PCA usage was the same in both groups? --- p.112 / Chapter 5.4.4 --- No correlation with treatment outcome --- p.114 / Chapter 5.5 --- Conclusion --- p.115 / Chapter 6. --- "The relations among rate of shock wave delivery, induced renal injury and acute complications" --- p.128 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.129 / Chapter 6.2 --- Materials and Methods --- p.130 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- ESWL treatment protocol --- p.130 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Outcome Assessment --- p.131 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Statistical analysis --- p.136 / Chapter 6.3 --- Results --- p.137 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Baseline characteristics and treatment modalities --- p.137 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Quality control of creatinine and NAG --- p.137 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- Standard curves ofIL-18 and NGAL --- p.137 / Chapter 6.3.4 --- Higher levels of urinary NAG and IL-18 in 60 SWs/min group --- p.138 / Chapter 6.3.5 --- Similar levels of urinary NGAL in both groups --- p.138 / Chapter 6.3.6 --- Unplanned hospital visits were similar in both groups --- p.139 / Chapter 6.4 --- Discussion --- p.140 / Chapter 6.4.1 --- More tubular damages caused by slower rate --- p.140 / Chapter 6.4.2 --- Escalated inflammatory activities in 60 SWs/min --- p.141 / Chapter 6.4.3 --- Vascular damage and ischemic insults were the same in both groups? --- p.142 / Chapter 6.4.4 --- Post-operative complications are similar in both groups --- p.142 / Chapter 6.4.5 --- 60 SWs/min vs. 120 SWs/min - What makes the difference in renal injury? --- p.143 / Chapter 6.5 --- Conclusion --- p.145 / Chapter 7. --- Discussion --- p.154 / Chapter 7.1 --- General discussion --- p.155 / Chapter 8. --- Conclusion --- p.158 / Chapter 8.1 --- General conclusion --- p.159 / Appendix --- p.160 / Appendix I --- p.161 / Appendix II --- p.163 / References --- p.167

Hui, Fan Fong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-181). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.ii / Abstract --- p.iii / Abbreviations --- p.vii / Table of Contents --- p.ix / List of Tables --- p.xv / List of Tables --- p.xv / List of Figures --- p.xvi / Major Conference Presentations --- p.xix / Publications in Preparation --- p.xxii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Study Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1. --- Spinal Deformities --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.1. --- Treatment --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2. --- Spinal fusion --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.1. --- Gold Standard of Spinal Fusion --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.2. --- Decortication in Spinal Fusion --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.3. --- Autograft in Spinal Fusion --- p.4 / Chapter 1.2.4. --- Local Factors Influencing Spinal Fusion --- p.5 / Chapter 1.2.5. --- Ultimate Goals of Spinal Fusion --- p.7 / Chapter 1.2.6. --- Limitations of Spinal fusion --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3. --- Alternatives of Different Components for Enhancing Spinal Fusion / Chapter 1.3.1. --- Bone Graft Substitute --- p.9 / Chapter 1.3.2. --- Bioactive Factors --- p.15 / Chapter 1.4. --- Limitations of the Alternative Methods in Spinal Fusion Enhancement --- p.19 / Chapter 1.4.1. --- BMPs --- p.19 / Chapter 1.4.2. --- Gene Therapy --- p.20 / Chapter 1.4.3. --- Biophysical Stimulation --- p.20 / Chapter 1.5. --- Recent Methods in Enhancing Spinal Fusion --- p.21 / Chapter 1.5.1. --- Low Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound --- p.21 / Chapter 1.5.2. --- Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Spinal Fusion --- p.24 / Chapter 1.6. --- Conclusion --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "Hypothesis, Objectives and Plan of Study" --- p.29 / Chapter 2. --- "Hypothesis, Objectives and Plan of Study" --- p.30 / Chapter 2.1 --- Study Hypothesis --- p.31 / Chapter 2.2 --- Study Objectives --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3 --- Plan of Study --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- For First Objective --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- For Second Objective --- p.32 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- For Third Objective --- p.33 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- In vitro Study of Effect of Low Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound on Mesenchymal Stem Cells --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1. --- Introduction --- p.35 / Chapter 3.2. --- Materials and Methods --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.1. --- Experimental Animal --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.2. --- Materials and Reagents --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.2.1. --- Dulbecco，s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.2.2. --- Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2.2.3. --- Osteogenic Medium (OS) --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2.2.4. --- Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) Buffer --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2.2.5. --- ALP Substrate Buffer --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2.2.6. --- MTT Stock Solution --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2.2.7. --- MTT Working Solution --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2.2.8. --- Lysis buffer --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2.2.9. --- Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) Working Reagents --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2.3. --- Isolation of Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BM derived MSCs) --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2.4. --- In vitro Low Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound Treatment --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2.4.1. --- In vitro LIPUS Devices --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2.4.2. --- Treatment Procedure and Experimantal Groupings --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2.5. --- Effect of LIPUS on Cell Viability and Osteogenesis in bone marrow derived-MSCs --- p.41 / Chapter 3.2.5.1. --- Cell Viability Assay --- p.41 / Chapter 3.2.5.2. --- Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) Enzyme Activity --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2.5.3. --- Cell Morphology and Alkaline Phosphatase Cytochemistry --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2.6. --- Statistical Analysis --- p.43 / Chapter 3.3. --- Results --- p.43 / Chapter 3.3.1. --- Morphology --- p.43 / Chapter 3.3.2. --- Total Number of Viable Cells --- p.44 / Chapter 3.3.3. --- ALP Activity Absorbance --- p.44 / Chapter 3.3.4. --- ALP staining --- p.45 / Chapter 3.3.5. --- Qualitative Analysis --- p.45 / Chapter 3.3.6. --- Quantitative Analysis --- p.46 / Chapter 3.4. --- Discussion --- p.46 / Chapter 3.4.1. --- LIPUS have No Enhancing Effect on Proliferation of MSCs in Basal Medium Nor Osteogenic Medium --- p.47 / Chapter 3.4.2. --- LIPUS Stimulate Proliferation of MSCs in Early Period --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4.3. --- LIPUS Further Enhanced Osteogenesis of MSCs in Osteogenic Medium --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4.4. --- 10 mins LIPUS treatment for 7 days can positively enhance osteogenic differentiation --- p.50 / Chapter 3.4.5. --- Optimum Conditions of LIPUS was Cell Type Dependent --- p.51 / Chapter 3.4.6. --- LIPUS Promoted Osteogenesis in MSCs through Accelerated Mineralization --- p.52 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Enhancement of Posterior Spinal Fusion The Effect of Tissue-Engineered MSC and Calcium Phosphate Ceramic composite treated with LIPUS in Vivo --- p.68 / Chapter 4.1. --- Introduction --- p.69 / Chapter 4.1.1. --- TCP Biomaterials --- p.70 / Chapter 4.2. --- Materials and Methods --- p.71 / Chapter 4.2.1. --- Materials and Reagents --- p.71 / Chapter 4.2.2. --- Preparation of MSC Derived Osteogenic Cells-tricalcium Phosphate Ceramics Composite --- p.73 / Chapter 4.2.3. --- Posterior Spinal Fusion Surgery --- p.74 / Chapter 4.2.4. --- In vivo LIPUS treatment --- p.75 / Chapter 4.2.5. --- Assessment of Fusion Mass --- p.76 / Chapter 4.2.6. --- Histology --- p.77 / Chapter 4.2.7. --- Statistical Analysis --- p.79 / Chapter 4.3. --- Results --- p.79 / Chapter 4.3.1. --- Fusion by Manual Palpation --- p.79 / Chapter 4.3.2. --- pQCT Analysis --- p.80 / Chapter 4.3.3. --- Histological Analysis --- p.81 / Chapter 4.4. --- Discussion --- p.85 / Chapter 4.4.1. --- Summary of the Findings from Different Assessment Methods --- p.85 / Chapter 4.4.2. --- Addition of MSCs to TCP ceramic in Spinal Fusion --- p.87 / Chapter 4.4.3. --- The Needs of Differentiated MSC in Spinal Fusion --- p.89 / Chapter 4.4.4. --- bFGF Masked the Effect of OS in MSC --- p.91 / Chapter 4.4.5. --- LIPUS Enhanced Bone Formation --- p.95 / Chapter 4.4.6. --- LIPUS Enhanced Bone Formation through Mineralization --- p.96 / Chapter 4.4.7. --- LIPUS Enhanced Spinal Fusion through Bone Remodeling-induced Fusion Mass --- p.97 / Chapter 4.4.8. --- LIPUS Enhanced Bone Formation through Endochondral Ossification --- p.99 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- In Vivo Monitoring of Spinal Fusion in Animal Model with High-resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography-A New Pilot Study --- p.122 / Chapter 5.1. --- Introduction --- p.123 / Chapter 5.2. --- Materials and Methods --- p.124 / Chapter 5.2.1. --- Animal Groupings --- p.124 / Chapter 5.2.2. --- Preparation of MSC Derived Osteogenic Cells-tricalcium Phosphate Ceramics Composite --- p.124 / Chapter 5.2.3. --- Posterior Spinal Fusion Operation Procedures --- p.125 / Chapter 5.2.4. --- LIPUS treatment --- p.125 / Chapter 5.2.5. --- High-resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography …- --- p.125 / Chapter 5.2.6. --- Analysis with HR-pQCT --- p.126 / Chapter 5.3. --- Result --- p.128 / Chapter 5.3.1. --- Qualitative Observations from HR-pQCT Images --- p.128 / Chapter 5.3.2. --- Quantitative Analysis --- p.129 / Chapter 5.4. --- Discussion --- p.130 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- "Overall Summary, Discussion and Conclusion" --- p.140 / Chapter 6.1. --- Overall Summary and Discussion --- p.141 / Chapter 6.2. --- Limitations and Further Studies --- p.145 / Chapter 6.3. --- Conclusions --- p.147 / Chapter 6.4. --- Summary Flowchart of the whole thesis --- p.148 / References --- p.153

Conventional contact ultrasonic methods suffer from large variability, which is known to originate from a number of sources such as coupling variability, and the surface roughness at the transducer/specimen interface. The inherently small higherharmonic signals can be significantly influenced by the changes in contact conditions, especially in nonlinear ultrasonic measurements. For this reason, the noncontact generation and detection techniques are very attractive. This research first focuses on the optical generation of tone-burst surface acoustic waves in a metallic specimen. Two methods that use laser light as an optical source are compared for generating surface acoustics waves in the 5 MHz range. Both the shadow mask and diffraction grating are used to convert a laser pulse to a tone-burst signal pattern on the specimen. The generated signals are detected by a wedge transducer at a fixed location and then the harmonic contents in the generated signals and the repeatability of the methods are evaluated. Finally, the developed method is used to characterize the material nonlinearity of aluminum (Al 6061) and steel (A36). The results showed repeatable measurements for ablative signal excitation on aluminum.

This research investigates how ultrasonic damage monitoring in civil structures can be implemented on a small, battery-powered, self-contained device. The device is intended for the continuous monitoring of surface breaking cracks in steel using Rayleigh waves. This study in detail presents the challenges that are to be considered for the intended ultrasonic monitoring, with the objective to provide a foundation for the future development of a fully autonomously operating device. The study proposes a suitable hardware and software layout, and a prototype device is built using a digital signal processor, a commercial wireless transceiver, and custom amplification circuits. With the help of two narrowband ultrasonic contact transducers in a pitch-catch setup and appropriate contact wedges, the wave field that arises from scattering of an incident tone burst wave at a crack is measured. A data analysis algorithm extracts wave burst signals from the acquired output in order to minimize the data that is to be transmitted. Additional compression of the data and the implementation of a communication protocol allow for a reliable and efficient wireless transmission. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach, measurements of notches in a steel plate with different depths are taken. Measurement results from experiments with commercial ultrasonic equipment are compared to measurements taken with the prototype device. The influence of the sampling distortions on the signals are analyzed. The scope of this study is limited to a qualitative analysis of the experimental results; quantitative methods to determine the dimensions of a crack or notch from the measured data are not included. The research conducted demonstrates that taking ultrasonic measurements with a small, self-contained device is feasible. Comparison of frequency-based to time-based signal analysis methods yields that frequency-based methods are preferable, as they are affected less by sampling effects. The experimental results show that the intended ultrasonic examination technique can be used for qualitative damage assessment. The knowledge gained in this study contributes to improving the safety of civil infrastructure. Continuous local damage monitoring as proposed helps to detect critical conditions in-time, and to take countermeasures to avoid catastrophic failures.

Recent theoretical and experimental studies in a wide range of applications (ultrasonics, underwater acoustics, seismicoe) have demonstrated that Green's functions (impulse responses) can be extracted from cross-correlation of diffuse fields using only passive sensors. The technique, whose validity is supported by a physical argument based on time-reversal invariance, effectively uses a correlation process between the point source and points located in the focal zone. Indeed, the coherent noise source distributions can be considered as a timereversal mirror and the cross-correlation operations gives the field measured at one receiver after refocusing on the other receiver. Passive-only reconstruction of coherent Lamb waves (80-200 kHz) in an aluminum plate and thickness comparable to aircraft fuselage and wing panels will be presented. In particular, the influence of the noise source characteristics (location, frequency spectrum) on the signal-to-noise ratio the emerging coherent waveform will be investigated using a scanning laser Doppler velocimeter. This study suggests the potential for a structural health monitoring method for aircraft panels based on passive ultrasound imaging reconstructed from diffuse fields.

Structural health monitoring (SHM) of aerospace components is a rapidly emerging field due in part to commercial and military transport vehicles remaining in operation beyond their designed life cycles. Damage detection strategies are sought that provide real-time information of the structure's integrity. One approach that has shown promise to accurately identify and quantify structural defects is based on guided ultrasonic wave (GUW) inspections, where low amplitude attenuation properties allow for long range and large specimen evaluation. One drawback to GUWs is that they exhibit a complex multi-modal response, such that each frequency corresponds to at least two excited modes, and thus intelligent signal processing is required for even the simplest of structures. In addition, GUWs are dispersive, whereby the wave velocity is a function of frequency, and the shape of the wave packet changes over the spatial domain, requiring sophisticated detection algorithms. Moreover, existing damage quantification measures are typically formulated as a comparison of the damaged to undamaged response, which has proven to be highly sensitive to changes in environment, and therefore often unreliable. As a response to these challenges inherent to GUW inspections, this research develops techniques to locate and estimate the severity of the damage. Specifically, a phase gradient based localization algorithm is introduced to identify the defect position independent of excitation frequency and damage size. Mode separation through the filtering technique is central in isolating and extracting single mode components, such as reflected, converted, and transmitted modes that may arise from the incident wave impacting a damage. Spatially-integrated single and multiple component mode coefficients are also formulated with the intent to better characterize wave reflections and conversions and to increase the signal to noise ratios. The techniques are applied to damaged isotropic finite element plate models and experimental data obtained from Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometry tests. Numerical and experimental parametric studies are conducted, and the current strengths and weaknesses of the proposed approaches are discussed. In particular, limitations to the damage profiling characterization are shown for low ultrasonic frequency regimes, whereas the multiple component mode conversion coefficients provide excellent noise mitigation. Multiple component estimation relies on an experimental technique developed for the estimation of Lamb wave polarization using a 1D Laser Vibrometer. Lastly, suggestions are made to apply the techniques to more structurally complex geometries.

The effect of stress on Lamb wave propagation is relevant to both nondestructive evaluation and structural health monitoring because of changes in received signals due to both the associated strain and the acoustoelastic effect. A homogeneous plate that is initially isotropic becomes anisotropic under biaxial stress, and dispersion of propagating waves becomes directionally dependent. The problem is similar to Lamb wave propagation in an anisotropic plate, except the fourth order tensor in the resulting wave equation does not have the same symmetry as that for the unstressed anisotropic plate, and the constitutive equation relating incremental stress to incremental strain is more complicated. Here we review the theory of acoustoelastic and develop theory for acoustoelastic Lamb wave propagation and show how dispersion curves shift anisotropically for an aluminum plate under biaxial tension. We also develop an approximate method using the effective elastic constants (EECs) and show that existing commercial tools to generate dispersion curves can be used under restricted conditions to describe wave propagation in biaxially stressed plates. Predictions of changes in phase velocity as a function of propagation direction using theory and the EEC method are compared to experimental results for a single wave mode.

The time required for inspection and maintenance of piping systems and vessels needs to be reduced to both minimize down time and decrease operational costs of petrochemical plants. Current ultrasonic inspection systems are not suited for on-line monitoring, with the main issues being the resistance of transducers and their coupling to high temperatures and the removal of insulation to access structures. The use of welded cylindrical rods is thus proposed, but measurements are threatened by "trailing echo" generation in waveguides. The introduction of a taper angle is investigated to attenuate these undesired echoes. While clean signals can always be obtained by increasing the taper angle in long rods, that is not always the case for short rods, which are considered here. In addition, temperature variations have a non-negligible impact on the arrival time of the backwall echo when performing measurements with a waveguide, and on-line compensation is essential. Since the interface echo between the rod and the pipe wall may be suppressed after the welding operation, a notch is machined at the end of the rod to create a reflected echo, which can be used for on-line compensation. Finally, the implementation of waveguides is considered for both pulse-echo and pitch-catch modes. In the pitch-catch mode, the backwall echo and the notch echo are received by different transducers and signals of interst are both first arrivals. As a result, trailing echoes do not impede measurements and their attenuation becomes unnecessary. In contrast, pulse-echo measurements are sensitive to trailing echoes and the waveguide's design plays an essential role in the feasibility of measurements. However, the environment also imposes a set of constraints on waveguide dimensions that complicates the implementation of pulse-echo measurements. Being more flexible, the pitch-catch configuration is chosen for final implementation. Experiments are performed to verify the concept feasibility, and the accuracy of measurements with thickness and temperature changes is also confirmed.

This thesis describes procedures and theory for a family of one-sided ultrasonic methods for determining third order elastic constants (TOEC) using sets of angle-beam wedges mounted on one side of a specimen. The methods are based on the well-known acoustoelastic effect, which is the change of wave speed with applied loads and is a consequence of the mechanical nonlinearity of a material. Increases in material nonlinearity have been correlated to the progression of damage, indicating that tracking changes in TOECs may provide a practical means of monitoring damage accumulation at the microstructural level prior to formation of macroscopic defects. Ultrasonic methods are one of the only ways to measure TOECs, and most prior techniques have utilized wave propagation paths parallel and perpendicular to the loading directions. A few additional ultrasonic techniques reported in the literature have employed oblique paths but with immersion coupling. These reported techniques are generally unsuitable for field implementation. The one-sided contact approach described here is applicable for in situ measurements of TOECs and thus lays the foundation for tracking of TOECs with damage. Theory is reviewed and further developed for calculating predicted velocity changes, and thus time shifts, as a function of uniaxial tensile loading for longitudinal, shear vertical, and shear horizontal waves in the context of angle-beam transducers mounted on the surface of the specimen. A comparison is made to published results where possible. The inverse problem of determining the three TOECs of an isotropic material from three measurements employing three different angle beam configurations is comprehensively analyzed. Four configurations providing well-posed solutions are identified and examined. A detailed sensitivity analysis is carried out to identify the best mounting configuration, wave mode combinations, refracted angles and geometry requirements for recovering the three TOECs. Two transducer mounting configurations are considered: (1) attached (glued-on) transducers potentially suitable for in situ monitoring, and (2) floating (oil-coupled) transducers potentially suitable for single measurements. Limited experimental results are presented for the attached case using two longitudinal measurements and one shear vertical measurement. The floating case experiments utilized three of the four well-posed solutions, and measurements were made on several aluminum alloys and low carbon steel. Key experimental issues are identified and discussed for both transducer mounting configurations.

Le contrôle non destructif in-situ de durabilité des matériaux cimentaires est essentiel à la prédiction et la prévention des défauts de fonctionnement des constructions. Alors que les dégradations, et donc la perte de durabilité, des matériaux cimentaires sont déclenchées et contrôlées par les caractéristiques et les évolutions de leur microporosité, il n'existe pas à notre connaissance de méthode non destructive d'instrumentation in-situ de la microporosité elle-même. Nous proposons un concept innovant d'évaluation de la durabilité des matériaux cimentaires fondé sur l'instrumentation in-situ de leur microstructure. La méthode repose sur l'investigation ultrasonore haute fréquence de micropores individuels au moyen de micro-transducteurs ultrasoniques capacitifs (μ-cMUT) immergés en grand nombre dans le matériau. Le dispositif proposé pour répondre aux multiples contraintes applicatives et technologiques est un μ-cMUT dont la plaque vibrante est constituée d'une couche mince de nanotubes de carbone monoparoi densément alignés. Nous avons traité la question de la pertinence de ce principe d'instrumentation en modélisant par un problème élasto-acoustique microfluidique l'interaction entre la plaque vibrante d'un μ-cMUT et le fluide, air ou eau, contenu dans un pore de taille micrométrique. La spécificité du modèle réside dans la prise en compte du comportement dissipatif du fluide. La résolution de ce problème couplé a nécessité le développement d'une méthode numérique ad-hoc. Nous avons constaté numériquement que la dissipation cause une diminution des fréquences de résonance. La couche limite a une épaisseur importante par rapport à la taille du domaine. Les amplitudes de vibration des plaques sont particulièrement sensibles au contenu des pores et à la géométrie des pores remplis d'eau. Nous en avons déduit que les μ-cMUT proposés pourraient être pertinents dans les matériaux cimentaires pour le suivi de l'hydratation, pour la détection des dégradations et le suivi de leur évolution. Pour étudier la faisabilité d'un μ-cMUT à nanotubes opérationnel à haute fréquence dans l'air et l'eau, nous avons tout d'abord réalisé par diélectrophorèse des dépôts denses et minces de nanotubes bien alignés. Un des dépôts est monocouche, ce qui constitue une performance remarquable pour un dépôt par diélectrophorèse. Nous avons ensuite suspendu les nanotubes, obtenant ainsi des membranes rigides et longues. L'épaisseur de ces membranes suspendues est particulièrement faible et leur facteur de forme particulièrement élevé par rapport à l'état de l'art des cMUT. Nous avons enfin montré par vibrométrie laser que les membranes vibrent à basse fréquence avec des amplitudes atteignant 5 nm pic-à-pic. Il s'agit à notre connaissance de la première mise en évidence de vibrations de nanotubes de carbone monoparoi par vibrométrie laser. Ces résultats démontrent une brique de base essentielle de l'étude complète de faisabilité du dispositif imaginé. Ils indiquent aussi la faisabilité à court terme de microdétecteurs d'air pour le suivi de la microporosité gazeuse des matériaux cimentaires. En regroupant ainsi une étude numérique de pertinence et une étude technologique de faisabilité, la thèse constitue une contribution significative à la mise au point d'une nouvelle méthode de suivi de durabilité de matériaux cimentaires fondé sur l'immersion au coeur du matériau d'un grand nombre de microcapteurs intégrant des nanotechnologies / In-situ non-destructive testing of durability in cementitious materials is essential to the early prediction and prevention of structural failures. Whereas degradations in cementitious materials, and henceforth durability loss, are brought about and controlled by the characteristics and evolutions of microporosity, there isn't to our knowledge any method for the in-situ non-destructive testing of microporosity itself. To evaluate in-situ the durability of cementitious materials, we put forward an innovative concept based on in-situ instrumentation of their microstructure. Individual micropores are to be probed by high-frequency ultrasonic waves generated and detected by capacitive ultrasonic microtransducers (μ-cMUT) embedded in large number within the material. The vibrating plate of the μ-cMUT devices is to be made of a thin layer of densely aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes, in order for the devices to satisfy the applicative and technological requirements. Relevance of this instrumentation method has been studied : we have used an elasto-acoustical model to describe the interaction between the vibrating plate of a μ-cMUT device and the fluid (water or air) filling a pore of micrometric size. The specificity of this model lies in the integration of fluid viscosity. It has required us to develop ad-hoc solving techniques. We have found out numerically that in this problem dissipation leads to a decrease in resonance frequency compared to non-visquous acoustics. The boundary layer is large compared to the domain size. The vibration amplitudes of the plate are very sensitive to pore content and to water-filled pore geometry. We have deduced from these results that the μ-cMUT devices we envision may be relevant to study hydration and to monitor degradations in cementitious materials. Feasibility of a high-frequency, nanotubes-based μ-cMUT device operating in water or air has also be evaluated : using first a dielectrophoretic deposition technique, we have made thin, dense membranes of well-aligned nanotubes. One of our deposition reaches mono-layer thickness, which is remarkable for dielectrophoretic depositions. We have suspended the nanotubes, thus obtaining long and rigid membranes. They are very thin and have a high form factor compared to state-of-the-art cMUT devices. Finally, we have used laser vibrometry to observe membrane vibrations. Membrane vibration amplitudes reach 5 nm at low frequency. As far as we know, it is the first time vibrations of carbon nanotubes have been successfully observed with laser vibrometry. These results prove that we have overcome one of the most significant technological bottle-neck of the whole feasibility study. Moreover, they indicate short-term feasibility of air microdetectors that could be valuably employed to monitor gaseous microporosity in cementitious materials. By associating a numerical study on relevance and a technological study on feasibility, this work contributes significantly to the development of a new durability monitoring method for cementitious materials. Central to this method is the use of a large number of embedded microsensors integrating nanotechnologies