Focused acoustic beam imaging of grain structure and local Young's modulus with Rayleigh and surface skimming longitudinal waves

Abstract

The interaction of a focused acoustic beam with materials generates Rayleigh surface waves (RSW) and surface skimming longitudinal waves (SSLW). Acoustic microscopic investigations have used the RSW amplitude and the velocity measurements, extensively for grain structure analysis. Although, the presence of SSLW has been recognized, it is rarely used in acoustic imaging. This paper presents an approach to perform microstructure imaging and local elastic modulus measurements by combining both RSW and SSLW. The acoustic imaging of grain structure was performed by measuring the amplitude of RSW and SSLW signal. The microstructure images obtained on the same region of the samples with RSW and SSLW are compared and the difference in the contrast observed is discussed based on the propagation characteristics of the individual surface waves. The velocity measurements are determined by two point defocus method. The surface wave velocities of RSW and SSLW of the same regions of the sample are combined and presented as average Young's modulus image.