ACOUSTIC TRANSDUCER COMPONENTS

A waveguide suspension device (2) and modular construction for sonic waveguides (4), including a damping element (6) for use with a waveguide (4) that supports a current pulse and results in a torsional or longitudinal strain wave, is also disclosed. the damping element (6) is to prevent the reflection of the sonic strain wave and includes a sleeve (27) surrounding the waveguide and a mechanism (29) for applying pressure on the sleeve (27) so the sleeve (27) exerts pressure on the waveguide (4), thereby gradually dampening the sonic strain wave energy along the length of the waveguide (4) surrounded by the damping element sleeve (27) to prevent reflection of the sonic strain wave. Further, the return conductor (1) placement is determined by measuring system response to provide minimal ringing of the signal received from a pickup oil (13). In addition, the suspension mechanism (2) is used to contain the waveguide thereby avoiding extraneous noise. A bracket (10) is disclosed that facilitates the process of assembly of the waveguide assembly. Also, a local buffer circuit for use with a magnetostrictive transducer is disclosed wherein the magnetostrictive transducer (4) includes a pickup coil (13) and the local buffer circuit includes two diodes (22, 23) in parallel with the pickup coil (13) to clip or short the energy produced in the pickup coil (13) generated by an interrogation pulse, and also includes a common emitter amplifier (24) to reduce the electrical impedance of the pickup coil (13), also in parallel with the pickup coil (13).