What Is a Couplant

Posted on August 17, 1971 Updated on September 28, 2014

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A couplant is a material that serves as a medium for the transmission of sound waves. Usually, couplant gel is a form of water-based substance, or a paste composed of oils or grease-like chemicals. It is placed in physical contact with a transducer that receives audio signals in the air and then coverts them to electrical impulses for transmission. Microphones and sound test equipment use couplant gel or dry couplants to facilitate this.

Ultrasonic testing of materials can also employ complete immersion of the transducer in a couplant-like water, or just a thin film of glycerin or oil between the transducer and medium being studied. Acoustic couplant is important for ultrasonic testing because air is a fairly poor medium for the transmission of sound waves in general as compared to solids. The level of energy that ultrasonic frequencies carry falls off dramatically when transmitted through air, so these materials are meant to minimize this loss.

Many conventional substances can be used as a couplant, including motor oil or even hair gel. This is because even a very thin layer of air between a transducer and sound specimen will have strong attenuation effects, and nearly any solid placed between them will reduce this. Electrical components can generate a lot of heat, however, so specially formulated couplants are designed to accommodate this.

Ultrasonic couplants in the nuclear and medical equipment industry go a step further by requiring materials that are low in halogen or sulfur compounds at less than 50 parts per million (ppm). Propylene glycol, the same material used in automotive antifreeze, is another specialty compound used. It is chemically nonreactive and can withstand temperatures of 200° Fahrenheit (90° Celsius) before undergoing thermal breakdown. Optical couplant fills another unique need. Often referred to as index matching gel, it is used in the splicing of fiber optic cable to minimize variations in the index of refraction that occur where the fibers meet, which can degrade signal transmission.

The main properties looked for in a good couplant material are its acoustic properties, corrosion inhibition, and surface wetting so that it binds well. The length of time it stays wet, known as drying time, is also important, as well as the temperature levels it can endure and its uniformity. A unique aspect of some couplant gel is that it contains a fluorescent tracer dye that glows in the ultraviolet band, which is used to monitor coverage levels.

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Posted on August 10, 1971 Updated on September 30, 2014

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A new report has concluded that a sizeable proportion of modern technology (in particular smartphones, tablets and other commonly-used gadgets) is extremely over reliant on very rare materials.

If the report’s findings are accurate, the scarcity of the metals and metalloids in question, combined with a sharply increasing demand for such devices, could seriously damage design innovation, as well as the manufacture of future products.

The report, compiled by researchers at Yale University, discussed the use of 62 materials found in widely used technology. Ultimately, the study concluded that none of the 62 metals or metalloids could be replaced without damaging the efficiency of the product. In fact, 12 of the 62 materials could not be replaced at all.

The potential substitute materials simply aren’t up to the job or, perhaps more worryingly, don’t actually exist. In either instance, these material shortages could lead to an economic and technological downturn in the development of mobile technology.

All of the rare components listed are difficult and expensive to obtain.

This scarcity of product availability would limit potential profits, as well as creating something of a ‘glass ceiling’ for innovation and product improvement.

This new report marks the first time that this worrying issue has been properly researched.

In the eyes of many, this study should be seen as a warning and a wake up call. In 2010, China restricted the trading of some of the components featured in the study. It was an act that increased market prices fivefold.

As these materials become increasingly rare, tactics like this may become ever more frequent, causing increased political tension around the world.

It also needs to be stated that the mass manufacture of these devices drains the planet of natural resources and the processing of these materials seriously harms our environment.

The report itself warns that,

“As wealth and population increase worldwide in the next few decades, scientists will be increasingly challenged to maintain and improve product utility by designing new and better materials, but doing so under potential constraints in resource availability.”