High temperature ultrasonic viscometer

摘要

An ultrasonic viscometer is described which is particularly designed for monitoring the viscosity of a thermally curing resin or composite, such as a fiber-reinforced epoxy composite, in an autoclave at high temperature. According to a preferred embodiment, the viscometer comprises a piezoelectric element of lithium niobate crystals bonded to a first buffer of copper, which is bonded on the other side to a second buffer of aluminum. The resin or composite is in contact with the second buffer. When the transducer emits a short ultrasonic pulse, two echoes are reflected back, the first echo being generated by the copper-aluminum interface, the second by the aluminum-resin interface. The signals from the two echoes are processed to obtain the complex reflection coefficient at the interface of the second buffer and the resin, from which the viscosity of the resin can be calculated and the cure state of the resin determined.