Papers by Author: Kazushi Yamanaka

Abstract: Detection of hydrogen gas is a crucial task for establishing safety and reliability of fuel cells, a key technology for the environment and our society. However, hydrogen is difficult to detect and various hydrogen sensors have many drawbacks. Here we report a novel hydrogen gas sensor, the ball surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor, using Pd or PdNi sensitive film. The ball SAW sensor is based on a novel phenomenon, diffraction-free propagation of collimated beam along an equator of sphere. The resultant ultra-multiple roundtrips of SAW makes it possible to achieve highest sensitivity among SAW sensors. Moreover, it enables to use a very thin sensitive film, and consequently the shortest response time (2s) was realized. In terms of the sensing range, it has the widest range of 10 ppm to 100 % among any hydrogen sensors including FET or resistivity sensors. The ball SAW sensor can be applied not only to hydrogen but also to any gasses and possibly to liquids.

Abstract: Evaluation method of nano-scale internal cracks by ultrasonic atomic force microscopy (UAFM) is proposed based on two approaches. The first one is a linear vibration analysis of the contact stiffness calculated from a finite element method analysis of a model including a subsurface gap. The second one is a nonlinear vibration analysis of a stiffening or softening spring representing the opening-and-closing behavior of the gap. These methods were verified by obtaining the resonance frequency mapping, the load dependence of the resonance frequency and the resonance spectra in UAFM on a subsurface gap in highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. As a result, it was proved that the proposed method is useful for evaluating the opening-and-closing behavior of the gap. Although the present study is focused on a nano-scale gap, this method is applicable to larger scale cracks using a larger tip and more stiff support than those used in AFM.

Abstract: We developed a laser TOFD (Time of flight diffraction) algorithm which utilizes not only longitudinal wave but also shear wave. This algorithm made it possible to obtain accurate flaw depth without knowing the specimen velocity and probe distance previously. We constructed the laser TOFD system and applied it to estimate the slit depth of aluminum alloy plate. Time of flight of lateral wave, flaw tip diffraction waves and mode converted shear wave at flaw tip were used to estimate the slit depth using new algorithm.