Patent 11181406 was granted and assigned to Woodward, Inc. on November, 2021 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method of sensing that includes activating a first emitter to emit at least one incident wave, transmitting the incident wave along a buffer rod having a first axial end abutted to the first emitter and a second axial end opposite the first axial end, reflecting a first echo of the incident wave by a gap defined along a portion of the buffer rod, detecting the first echo, determining a first amplitude of the first echo, reflecting a second echo of the incident wave by the second axial end, detecting the second echo, determining a second amplitude of the second echo, and determining a reflection coefficient based on the first amplitude and the second amplitude.