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Title: Acoustic resonance for nonmetallic mine detection

Conference ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/663408· OSTI ID:671904

The feasibility of acoustic resonance for detection of plastic mines was investigated by researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory`s Instrumentation and Controls Division under an internally funded program. The data reported in this paper suggest that acoustic resonance is not a practical method for mine detection. Representative small plastic anti-personnel mines were tested, and were found to not exhibit detectable acoustic resonances. Also, non-metal objects known to have strong acoustic resonances were tested with a variety of excitation techniques, and no practical non-contact method of exciting a consistently detectable resonance in a buried object was discovered. Some of the experimental data developed in this work may be useful to other researchers seeking a method to detect buried plastic mines. A number of excitation methods and their pitfalls are discussed. Excitation methods that were investigated include swept acoustic, chopped acoustic, wavelet acoustic, and mechanical shaking. Under very contrived conditions, a weak response that could be attributed to acoustic resonance was observed, but it does not appear to be practical as a mine detection feature. Transfer properties of soil were investigated. Impulse responses of several representative plastic mines were investigated. Acoustic leakage coupling, and its implications as a disruptive mechanism were investigated.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); USDOE Assistant Secretary for Management and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-96OR22464
OSTI ID:
671904
Report Number(s):
ORNL/CP-97101; CONF-980412-; ON: DE98004900; BR: 260900000; TRN: AHC2DT07%%62
Resource Relation:
Conference: 12. annual international symposium on aerospace/defense sensing, simulation and controls, Orlando, FL (United States), 13-19 Apr 1998; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1998
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English