Comparison of 2-D numerical viscoelastic waveform modeling with ultrasonic physical modeling

Abstract

The objective of the study is to test the validity of theoretical models of wave attenuation by comparing their predictions of attenuation against physical model results. The study is confined to a 2-D geometry, and the viscoelastic materials used in physical modeling are those commonly used in the experiment. The physical modeling data of homogeneous media are compared with the numerical results in the frequency domain. The time‐domain comparisons between numerical modeling and physical modeling are also shown by three examples. The theoretical viscoelastic models used in the numerical study are the Kelvin‐Voigt model, the standard linear solid model, and the standard linear solid model with a continuous spectrum of relaxation time. On the comparison of a single model, all the models simulate the physical model fairly well, but the standard linear solid model gives the best result among them. The Kelvin‐Voigt model is easy to use as a quick first‐order simulation of the viscoelastic materials because it has fewer viscosity parameters than the other two models. The disadvantage of the Kelvin‐Voigt model is that it predicts too much attenuation of the high‐frequency components. It is also shown that neglecting the viscosity of some materials like polyvinylcloride plastic (PVC), which has high viscosity, will produce incorrect results in synthetic seismograms.