Wave Scattering Calculations From Multiple Inclusions Using a Volume Integral Equation

Abstract

Elastic wave scattering problems have important applications in a variety of engineering fields including NDE. Scattering problems have been investigated by numerous authors with different solution schemes. For simple geometries of the scatterers (e.g., cylinders or spheres), the analysis of steady-state elastic wave scattering has been carried out using analytical techniques [1,9]. For arbitrary geometries and multiple inclusions, numerical methods have been developed [2]. Special finite element methods, e.g., the infinite element method and Global-Local finite element method [3] have also been developed for this purpose. Recently, the boundary integral equation method has been used successfully to solve scattering problems [4–5]. In this paper, a volume integral equation (VIE) method is proposed as a new numerical solution scheme for the solution of general elastodynamic problems involving single or multiple inclusions sketched in Fig. 1. The relative advantages of the boundary and volume integral methods in solving multiple inclusion problems are discussed.