Ultrasonic phase velocity spectroscopy is a very sensitive technique used in the measurement of material properties. In a phase velocity calculation, ambiguities can arise in the spectral phases, in the form of integer multiples of 2π rad, which, if not corrected, results in large errors. In this work, we propose a method for determining these ambiguities, more specifically, the number of 2π rad phase jumps, using the Kramers-Kronig relations, for samples exhibiting a frequency power-law attenuation coefficient. The method is based on a first estimate of the phase velocity from group velocity and attenuation coefficient that are not affected by phase jumps. This estimated phase velocity is used to obtain the number of 2π rad phase jumps, which in turn is used to calculate the corrected phase velocity. The method was tested with samples of liquids with a frequency power-law attenuation coefficient (exponent yvarying from 1.5 to 2) and a solid [polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)] with y ~ 1, and velocity dispersions ranging from 0 to 34 (cm/s)/MHz.
Funding
This work was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) under Grant 2014/09034-8 and Grant 2014/09038-3. The work of Luis Elvira was supported in part by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III under Grant PI16/00738, in part by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), in part by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Brazil, under Grant 001, and in part by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) under Grant 420673/2016 and Grant 305546/2017.
