Ultrasound is an emerging method employed for nondestructive evaluation. One potential advantage of ultrasound is that the motion of an object can be detected by observing the frequency shift of the returned signal. This research will seek to exploit this advantage by developing procedures to measure motion parameters with reflected ultrasound signals and by determining their limitations. A wide range of motion types are considered, from determining the motion parameters of a single moving point reflector through characterizing the motion of a collection of random reflectors. The procedures involve analysis, simulation and experiments. The fundamental limitations are due to the speed of sound, the limited size of the apertures, and the presence of noise. The impact of these limitations will be investigated by considering the placement of multiple transducers and novel signal processing procedures. This should allow translation of these physical limitations into bounds on the accuracy that can be applied to practical instruments. The result of this research will enhance the understanding of probing media with acoustic signals and determine the feasibility of a new generation of measuring instrumentation.
