Numerical predictions of surface wave phenomena for ultrasonic NDE

Abstract

Finite-element analysis formulation has been developed for the simulation of ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation phenomena, which include the effects of finite aperture transducers and anisotropic material properties. The computer code has been validated qualitatively for 2-D simulations of elastic-wave propagation in an aluminium block by comparison with experimental measurements, and quantitatively for 2-D simulations of point sources acting on an infinite half-space by comparison with an analytical Cagniard-de-Hoop formulation. The authors describe how the finite-element formulation can be used to predict not only longitudinal and shear-wave propagation, but also the interaction of surface waves with cracks in materials.<>