USB Microcontroller Based High Resolution Ultrasonic Velocity Meter for Solids and Liquids

Measurements of velocities of ultrasonic waves in materials provide valuable information about the elastic and physical properties of materials. Among the several methods available to measure ultrasonic velocity in materials the ‘through transmission principle’ is used to design a high resolution and accurate ultrasonic velocity meter. A high performance, Enhanced Flash USB Microcontroller PICI8F4550 is used to interface a high speed (100 MHz) counter circuit with the host computer, a laptop. The transit time of ultrasonic waves through the sample can be measured accurately with a resolution of 0.01 microseconds (μs.), The novelty of the present instrumentation is that it can be used for solid as well as liquid samples.