This electronic flyer highlights our capabilities and activities in the area of Magnetostrictive Sensor (MsS) Instrument for Guided Wave Research. Please sign our guestbook. For additional information, e-mail Dr. Sergey Vinogradov, Southwest Research Institute.

Magnetostrictive Sensor (MsS®) Instrument for Guided Wave Research

A new state-of-the-art guided wave instrument is now available for universities and research laboratories. The instrument, based on patented magnetostrictive sensor (MsS) technology, was developed at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). The MsS® instrument is an excellent tool for low-frequency (1-250 kHz) guided wave research.

SwRI's MsS system received an R&D 100 award from R&D Magazine as one of the year's 100 most significant technical accomplishments in 1998.

Research Areas

  • Wave propagation properties
  • Material properties
  • Wave interaction with defects or geometric changes
  • Nondestructive evaluation (NDE)
  • Industrial measurement applications (position, length, temperature, vibration, etc.)
  • Fracture, shock waves, and acoustic emission

Spectrogram of data taken from a 4.5-inch-diameter pipe using the MsS instrument. The behavior of various wave modes as a function of frequency can be observed simultaneously over a wide frequency range. The data in this example show several flexural wave modes (far right) produced at a 45-degree bend in the pipe by the incident L(0,2) wave (far left) through mode conversion.

MsS Features

  • Noncontact
  • Broadband
  • Versatile
  • Easy to use
  • Rugged

Applicable Structures

  • Rods/cables
  • Pipes/tubes
  • Plates/sheets
  • Other structures with irregular geometries such as rail, I-beam, and finned tubing

Applicable Wave Modes

  • In cylindrical structure -- longitudinal, flexural and torsional
  • In plate structure -- Lamb (symmetric and antisymmetric) and shear horizontal
This flyer was published in May 2000. For more information about magnetostrictive sensor (MsS) instrument for guided wave research, contact Dr. Sergey Vinogradov, staff engineer, Phone: (210) 522-3342, NDE Science and Technology Department, Mechanical Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510, Fax (210) 647-4325.

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