Patent ID: 6567753
Filing Date: 2003-05-20
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A system for determining barrier properties of a barrier coating, comprising:at least one dual-mode transducer comprising at least one sensor, the at least one sensor comprising at least one material responsive to interactions with a plurality of fluids; at least one barrier coating associated with each sensor, such that said barrier coating is positioned between said sensor and said fluids to thereby modify the interaction of said sensor with said fluids, wherein said barrier coating at least partially prevents a fluid from interacting with said at least one sensor; and wherein each sensor has initial characteristics and subsequent characteristics each associated with the barrier properties of the coating with respect to each of a plurality of fluids, where the initial characteristics correspond to the barrier coating properties prior to exposure to any of the plurality of fluids and the subsequent characteristics correspond to the barrier coating properties after exposure to at least two of a plurality of fluids, the initial characteristics for each barrier coating comprising an initial optical property and an initial acoustic wave property, and the subsequent characteristics of each barrier coating comprising a subsequent optical property and subsequent acoustic wave property; wherein the initial and subsequent acoustic wave properties correlate to the density, viscosity, mass, or crytallinity of the sensor material before and after, respectively, exposure of the coating to the plurality of fluids, and the initial and subsequent optical properties correspond to the ability of the sensor to respond to radiation before and after, respectively, exposure of the coating to the plurality of fluids; an optical characteristic measurement device for measuring the initial optical property and subsequent optical property associated with each barrier coating; an acoustic wave property measurement device for measuring the initial acoustic wave property and the subsequent acoustic wave property associated with each barrier coating; and a computer for determining a first barrier property and a second barrier property of each barrier coating, the first barrier property with respect to one of the plurality of fluids, the second barrier property with respect to a second of the plurality of fluids, the first barrier property and the second barrier property based on the variation between the initial characteristics and subsequent characteristics associated with both the optical properties and the acoustic wave properties of each barrier coating.