Products & ServicesNPL’s Acoustics group offers a comprehensive suite of measurement and calibration services to support industry and academia.
NPL’s products and services are designed to meet the most challenging measurement requirements and give customers the technical edge needed to be truly world-class. NPL offers Acoustics products and services in three main areas:
For more information please contact acoustics_enquiries@npl.co.uk
Sound in Air
- A wide range of consultancy services are available, from solutions to specific measurement problems to the bespoke design of a complete primary calibration system.
- NPL provides a UKAS-accredited traceable calibration service for sound calibrators and sound level meters.
- NPL Acoustics Team provides traceable acoustic measurement services to both public and private sectors.
- NPL uses a number of world class test facilities to deliver its research and measurement services. Many of these are also made available for hire, or for use in consultancy work.
- For customers who require their measurement grade microphones to be calibrated to the highest possible accuracy, the NPL Acoustics group offers calibration by the internationally agreed reciprocity method.
- These secondary calibration services are suitable for customers who require traceable microphone calibration, but not the extremely high precision of measurement attained from calibration by reciprocity technique.
- NPL offers a range of tailored training and consultancy services to suit specific requirements of clients.
Ultrasonics
- Measuring the attenuation and speed of sound in liquids and solids
- Calibrations of the free-field sensitivity of miniature hydrophones of the type used to characterise medical ultrasonic fields.
- Details of ultrasound products available from NPL and our chosen partners.
- Measurements of the acoustic output of medical ultrasonic devices.
- NPL supplies two different types of thermal test objects.
- NPL make two types of soft tissue mimicking materials, agar-based and gelatine-based.
- Training in output measurements for medical ultrasound equipment, both therapeutic and diagnostic.
- Details of expertise and consultancy in ultrasound available from NPL.
- NPL offers training in output measurements for medical ultrasound equipment, and has a Ultrasound Measurement Club to promote information exchange.
- Details and listings of NPL's comprehensive range of ultrasound calibration, measurement and consultancy services.
- Ultrasound transducers and reference sources such as those produced by NIST and Precision Acoustics may be calibrated according to IEC61161.
Underwater Acoustics
Acoustic calibration and testing at simulated ocean conditions (in the NPL Acoustic Pressure Vessel)
The NPL Acoustic Pressure Vessel provides the capability for the free-field acoustic testing of transducers and systems at simulated ocean conditions.- The service offered by this open-water test and calibration facility, based on the reservoir at Wraysbury, near Staines, Middlesex, will be UKAS-accredited for the frequency range 1 kHz to 350 kHz.
- Unique underwater acoustics measurement capability includes two open test tanks that provide a flexible approach to the most demanding testing requirements.
- NPL offers a variety of training courses in underwater acoustic calibration and measurement. Instead of being classroom-based, the courses are "hands-on" – providing experience of real measurements being made with state-of-the-art instrumentation.
- A wide range of consultancy services are available from NPL - these range from advice on specific measurement problems, right through to the provision of complete measurement solutions.
- The NPL Underwater Acoustic Coupler Reciprocity Facility is designed to allow calibrations to be performed at elevated hydrostatic pressures over a range of temperatures.
- A unique suite of underwater acoustics facilities for the calibration of hydrophones and the characterisation of acoustic fields generated by transducers and sonar systems, providing the traceability to national standards for compliance with quality systems.
- In underwater acoustics, accurate measurements are the key to successful product development and high-quality test services.