A feasibility study of the use of bounded beams resembling the shape of evanescent and inhomogeneous waves.

Plane waves are solutions of the visco-elastic wave equation. Their wave vector can be real for homogeneous plane waves or complex for inhomogeneous and evanescent plane waves. Although interesting from a theoretical point of view, complex wave vectors normally only emerge naturally when propagation or scattering is studied of sound under the appearance of damping effects.

Ultrasonic polar scans: numerical simulation on generally anisotropic media.

Ultrasonic polar scans are based on the recording of the reflected or transmitted amplitude of sound, impinging a fiber reinforced composite from every possible angle of incidence. The mechanical anisotropy of such materials makes the reflection coefficient direction dependent, whence an ultrasonic polar scan forms a fingerprint of the investigated material. Such scans have already proved to be very valuable in the characterization of composites.

Enhanced anisotropy in Paratellurite for inhomogeneous waves and its possible importance in the future development of acousto-optic devices.

The anisotropic feature of most crystals, involves a direction dependent wave velocity for each of the possible modes. Paratellurite (Tellurium dioxide) is extraordinary because, for one of the propagation modes, i.e.

Fringed sound fields and their interaction with liquid-solid interfaces.

On the one hand, it is well known that Gaussian beams possess the ability to stimulate Rayleigh waves, resulting in the Schoch effect, a lateral beam displacement. This effect, often characterized by a reflected sound pattern consisting of two anti-phase beams, is due to the re-radiation of sound because of the stimulation of leaky Rayleigh waves. On the other hand, fringed sound beams are characterized by the fact that they consist of a number of neighboring anti-phase narrow beams.

The radiation mode theory in ultrasonics.

This paper describes the history and the state of the art in radiation mode theory (RMT) in ultrasonics. The RMT originates from electromagnetism in which it has proved to be very efficient in the field of wave guides and discontinuities. In ultrasonics, the RMT made its entrance only a decade ago and has already proved to be very efficient in describing the interaction of sound with discontinuities such as a step on a plate, a liquid wedge, the extremity of a plate and much more.

The history and properties of ultrasonic inhomogeneous waves.

This paper gives a historical survey of the development of the inhomogeneous wave theory, and its applications, in the field of ultrasonics. The references are listed predominantly chronologically and are as good as complete. Along the historical description, several scientific features of inhomogeneous waves are described.

Schlieren photography to study sound interaction with highly absorbing materials.

Strong absorption of sound is often caused by the conversion of sound energy into heat. When this happens, it is not possible to study the interaction of sound with the absorbing material by means of reflected sound characteristics, because there is no reflected sound. Detecting for example the distance that sound travels in a strongly absorbing material, can be done by heat detection systems.

Diffraction of homogeneous and inhomogeneous plane waves on a doubly corrugated liquid/solid interface.

This paper extends the theory of the diffraction of sound on 1D corrugated surfaces to 2D corrugated surfaces. Such surfaces, that are egg crate shaped, diffract incoming sound into all polar directions, which is fundamentally different from 1D corrugated surfaces. A theoretical justification is given for extending the classical grating equation to the case of incident inhomogeneous waves, for 1D corrugated surfaces as well as for 2D corrugated surfaces.

On the theoretical possibility to apply an acoustic diffraction grating as a complex frequency filter device for electronic signals.

In electronics, it is well known that filtering devices can be made that are able to decompose a signal instantaneously into a number of real frequency components. This procedure is equivalent to a numerical real time Fourier transform. However, it is also known that an electronic signal can be decomposed not just in real frequency components, but also in complex frequency components.

A theoretical study of special acoustic effects caused by the staircase of the El Castillo pyramid at the Maya ruins of Chichen-Itza in Mexico.

It is known that a handclap in front of the stairs of the great pyramid of Chichen Itza produces a chirp echo which sounds more or less like the sound of a Quetzal bird. The present work describes precise diffraction simulations and attempts to answer the critical question what physical effects cause the formation of the chirp echo. Comparison is made with experimental results obtained from David Lubman.

A useful analytical description of the coefficients in an inhomogeneous wave decomposition of a symmetrical bounded beam.

If a bounded beam is described using a superposition of infinite inhomogeneous waves, the values of the coefficients attributed to each inhomogeneous wave are found using a classical optimization procedure, whence it is impossible to describe the obtained values analytically. In this paper, we develop a new and easy to apply straightforward analytical method to find the appropriate values of the sought coefficients. Supplementary to its analytical and straightforward nature, the method proves to reduce the inherent instabilities found in the inhomogeneous wave decomposition.

The representation of 3D gaussian beams by means of inhomogeneous waves.

There are different methods to mathematically represent a bounded beam. Perhaps the most famous method is the classical Fourier method that consists of the superposition of pure homogeneous plane waves all traveling in different directions and having an amplitude that can be found by the Fourier transform of the required profile. This method works perfectly for 2D as well as for 3D bounded beams.

On the influence of fatigue on ultrasonic polar scans of fiber reinforced composites.

Ultrasonic polar scans have already proved to be well-suited as a practical means of characterizing fiber reinforced composite plates. The method consists of registering the reflected or transmitted sound amplitude as a function of each possible angle of incidence. It is hence an amplitude measurement by which it differs from more common 'time of flight' measurements.

Interaction of a bounded ultrasonic beam with a thin inclusion inside a plate.

A theoretical study of the reflection of a two-dimensional Gaussian ultrasonic beam, incident at a Lamb angle of a plate containing a thin rectangular inclusion at an arbitrary position, is presented on the basis radiation mode theory. The inclusion is parallel to the plate surface and its thickness is assumed to be much smaller than the ultrasonic wavelength. It is shown that the amplitude and phase of the reflected beam profile can be used for accurate inclusion characterization.

Diffraction of horizontally polarized ultrasonic plane waves on a periodically corrugated solid-liquid interface for normal incidence and Brewster angle incidence.

The theory, and the use at normal incidence, of shear-vertically polarized waves (with polarization vector in the plane containing the incident wave vector and the normal on the interface) using the mode conversion method has been tackled by others. Here we develop the theory for shear-horizontally polarized incident waves (with polarization vector perpendicular to both the normal on the interface and the incoming wave vector). We take into account normal incidence as well as oblique incidence.

The use of polarized bounded beams to determine the groove direction of a surface corrugation at normal incidence, the generation of surface waves and the insonification at Bragg-angles.

Zero order reflected sound from a singly corrugated interface between a solid and a liquid, insonified from the solid side by circular polarized shear waves, can become almost perfect linearly polarized in a direction parallel or perpendicular to the corrugations, depending on the frequency, and can therefore reveal the direction of the corrugations. When narrow bounded beams, formed by a summation of infinite plane waves, are diffracted at certain frequencies, depending on the angle of incidence, or vice versa, one can predict phenomena like backscattering at Bragg-angle incidence and also the creation of Scholte-Stoneley waves.