US Patent 7584062 Sub-wavelength ultrasound characterization of composite material

An ultrasonic stimulus pulse is emitted incident to a laminar structure and recorded as pulse data. Echoes resulting from the stimulus pulse are recorded as echo data. One or more vectors are derived by way of time-shifting the recorded pulse data by respective amounts and a matrix Φ is defined including the one or more vectors. An echo vector Y is defined using the recorded echo data. A solution vector X is determined in accordance with: Y=Φ*X, typically within a predetermined tolerance. B-scan display or other analysis of one or more distinct solution vectors enables user and/or automated identification and measurement of any anomalies within the laminate material.