Bulk Shear Wave Research Articles

Application of the passive seismic Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) technique for embankment integrity monitoring

Embankments are common features in mine sites necessary for tailings storage, surface water management or general infrastructure such as dewatering ponds. Differing construction methodologies, from loosely placed waste material to engineered embankments with individually compacted lifts, will achieve varying density, strength and permeability. Conventional construction quality assurance is however not always possible without causing significant interruptions to the construction program. Estimating levees’ bulk shear wave velocities via passive seismic HVSR surveying as a proxy for stiffness is a practical, continuous and non-invasive method that can be carried out with limited construction interruption over all types of structures. This also provides a continuous dataset throughout the embankment as opposed to discrete observations using conventional geotechnical methods. Field data acquired over the length of several embankment types demonstrate the very good correlation between estimated shear wave velocities and the levees’ degree of compaction. As a result, alternative construction methodologies can be quantitatively benchmarked against a bulk density spectrum with fully engineered embankments and loose waste dumps as end-members. Collection of repeated measurements over time also discriminates stable embankments from altering ones, and constitutes a cost-effective way to identify possible zones of weakness before hazardous failure.

Longitudinal Pochhammer — Chree Waves in Mild Auxetics and Non-Auxetics

ABSTRACTThe exact solutions of Pochhammer — Chree equation for propagating harmonic waves in isotropic elastic cylindrical rods, are analyzed. Spectral analysis of the matrix dispersion equation for the longitudinal axially symmetric modes is performed. Analytical expressions for displacement fields are obtained. Variation of the wave polarization due to variation of Poisson’s ratio for mild auxetics (Poisson’s ratio is greater than -0.5) is analyzed and compared with the non-auxetics. It is observed that polarization of the waves for both considered cases (auxetics and non-auxetics) exhibits abnormal behavior in the vicinity of the bulk shear wave speed.

Studying the Effect of Microscopic Medium Inhomogeneity on the Propagation of Surface Waves

Based on the analysis of literature data, it has been shown that a system of microcracks rapidly nucleates and develops in a surface layer of several grain sizes under fatigue loading. This brings about changes in the elastic modulus and density of the material. These can be described in the form of material’s effective characteristics. The problem of the propagation of a surface wave has been solved for a microscopically inhomogeneous medium with dispersion and insignificant surface-layer variations. Using the example of testing 08Kh18N10T steel samples for low-cycle fatigue, it has been shown that the propagation speed of surface waves changes at a higher rate than that of bulk (longitudinal and shear) waves; this can be used in the tasks of testing materials at early stages of fatigue failure.

Assessment of Reservoir Rock Properties from Rock Physics Modeling and Petrophysical Analysis of Borehole Logging Data to Lessen Uncertainty in Formation Characterization in Ratana Gas Field, Northern Potwar, Pakistan

ABSTRACT Petrophysical evaluation and rock physics analysis are the important tools to relate the reservoir properties like porosity, permeability, pore fluids with seismic parameters. Nevertheless, the uncertainties always exist in the quantification of elastic and seismic parameters estimated through wireline logs and rock physics analysis. A workflow based on statistical relationships of rock physics and logs derived elastic and seismic parameters with porosity and the percentage error exist between them is given. The statistical linear regressions are developed for early Eocene Chorgali Formation between various petrophysically factors determined from borehole logging of well Ratana – 03 drilled in tectonically disturbed zone and the seismic and elastic parameters estimated through rock physics modeling. The rock physics constraints such as seismic velocities, effective density and elastic moduli calculated from Gassmann fluid substation analysis are in harmony and close agreement to those estimated from borehole logs. The percentage errors between well logs and rock physics computed saturated bulk modulus (Ksat), effective density (ρeff), compressional and shear wave velocities (VP and VS) are 1.31%, 4.23 %, 5.25% and 4.01% respectively. The permeability of reservoir intervals show fairly strong linear relationship with the porosity, indicating that the reservoir interval of the Chorgali Formation is permeable and porous thus having large potential of hydrocarbon accumulation and production.

Attenuation characteristics of the leaky mode guided wave propagating in piping coated with anticorrosion grease

Guided wave inspection is expected especially for buried piping because it can be applied easily to such piping requiring only its partial digging from the ground. However, in buried piping, the attenuation coefficient is extremely large compared with that in above-ground piping because the leaky mode guided wave (LTGW) propagates in buried piping and its energy leaks into the adjacent surrounding material as a bulk shear wave. Petrolatum anticorrosion grease (PAG) is the most widely used as the coating material on the pipe surface before burying piping in sand or soil, which is a viscous material with a temperature-dependent shear wave velocity. In this paper, attenuation characteristics of the LTGW are shown theoretically and experimentally. The theoretical calculations explain very well the experimental results measured. The temperature dependence of the attenuation coefficient is discussed with the theoretical outcomes.

Laser-ultrasonic temperature mapping of an acousto-optic dispersive delay line

Many acousto-optic paratellurite-based devices use a slow shear bulk wave for interaction with light beams. Strong bulk absorption of this wave leads to a significant inhomogeneous crystal heating, a drift of material constants, and to the consequent change in light diffraction patterns. Current paper is focused on a study of thermal regimes in acousto-optic devices. A method of laser ultrasonic time-of-flight thermography of solid-state devices is proposed. The method is used to experimentally evaluate temperature maps of an acousto-optic dispersive delay line with different acoustic pump frequencies. The comparison of obtained results with thermal imaging is carried out, showing good agreement within measurement error.

Intersection Waves

AbstractIntersections in a fracture network control the connectivity of the flow paths through rock. The long near‐linear geometric nature of fractures makes them difficult to identify and characterize. We present a new type of elastic wave, an intersection wave, which travels along an intersection and is sensitive to the coupling between two orthogonal fractures that define the intersection. Group theory for C2v and C4v point groups predicts sets of propagating elastic waves confined to the fracture intersection. Along with the use of the wave equation and displacement discontinuity boundary conditions, the dispersion relationships for intersection waves are predicted. Experimental ultrasonic measurements on a nonwelded linear intersection between two orthogonal, synthetic fractures in aluminum confirm the existence of multiple modes that travel between the speed of wedge waves (sub‐Rayleigh waves) when the intersection is completely, and bulk shear waves, when the intersection is closed, as predicted by theory. Between these two limits, the intersection behaves as a nonwelded contact and yields these new intersection waves that are dispersive and sensitive to the coupling along the intersection. Intersection waves provide the foundation for new geophysical approaches for characterizing the hydraulic connectivity of fracture networks.

Evaluation of epoxy crosslinking using ultrasonic Lamb waves

The use of epoxy adhesives in structural bonding provides lightweight materials, however the assessment of the integrity and quality of the joint is of critical concern. Thus it is essential to know if the adhesive is well crosslinked. This work deals with the nondestructive acoustic characterization of epoxy networks, representative of the adhesive family, of different crosslinking density; i.e. conversion. Different curing cycles were applied and differential scanning calorimetry measurements allowed the determination of their glass transition temperature and epoxy conversion. The acoustic study was performed on epoxy plane plates, all in the glassy state and well beyond the gel point. The methods were based on the propagation of bulk longitudinal and shear waves, as well as on guided Lamb waves. Depending on the conversion of the epoxy, it was shown that the changes in thermo-mechanical properties, resulting from different degrees of cure, greatly influence the acoustic behavior of some Lamb modes if a selection of the sensitive modes has been performed upstream.

Engineered metabarrier as shield from seismic surface waves

Resonant metamaterials have been proposed to reflect or redirect elastic waves at different length scales, ranging from thermal vibrations to seismic excitation. However, for seismic excitation, where energy is mostly carried by surface waves, energy reflection and redirection might lead to harming surrounding regions. Here, we propose a seismic metabarrier able to convert seismic Rayleigh waves into shear bulk waves that propagate away from the soil surface. The metabarrier is realized by burying sub-wavelength resonant structures under the soil surface. Each resonant structure consists of a cylindrical mass suspended by elastomeric springs within a concrete case and can be tuned to the resonance frequency of interest. The design allows controlling seismic waves with wavelengths from 10-to-100 m with meter-sized resonant structures. We develop an analytical model based on effective medium theory able to capture the mode conversion mechanism. The model is used to guide the design of metabarriers for varying soil conditions and validated using finite-element simulations. We investigate the shielding performance of a metabarrier in a scaled experimental model and demonstrate that surface ground motion can be reduced up to 50% in frequency regions below 10 Hz, relevant for the protection of buildings and civil infrastructures.

Pure shear backward waves in the X-cut and Y-cut piezoelectric plates of potassium niobate

The problem of the existence of pure shear backward waves and waves with zero group velocity is investigated for X-cut and Y-cut plates of orthorhombic crystal of potassium niobate, which distinguishes from the other crystals by exceptionally strong piezoelectric effect. The secular equations of the problem are derived in an explicit analytical form and they are studied numerically in the case of crystal-vacuum interface. Two factors contributing to the appearance of backward waves are identified: the negative displacement of the rays of bulk shear waves at oblique reflection from the surface in piezoelectric crystals and the concavity in cross section of the slowness surface for bulk shear waves near the X axis of the potassium niobate plate. The wide frequency ranges of the existence of symmetric and antisymmetric backward waves of the first and second orders are numerically found in the X-cut plate, for which both of these factors affect. To study the dispersion spreading of backward shear wave pulses, it is suggested to apply the parabolic equation corresponding to the second approximation in the dispersion theory. It is demonstrated that the “diffusion” coefficient in this equation vanishes at certain frequencies, leading to significant suppression of the dispersion distortions in the pulses of the waves under study.

Correction of an effect of using a faulty model for the retrieval of a bulk wave slowness of a layered half space

This study concerns the retrieval of a single, real constitutive parameter (the bulk shear wave inverse velocity) of a simple, although representative, geophysical configuration involving two homogeneous, non-dissipative media, from its simulated response to pulsed plane wave probe radiation. This nonlinear inverse problem is solved exactly, at all frequencies, by equating the simulated frequency domain response incorporating the true real inverse velocity to the assumed response incorporating a trial complex inverse velocity. Due to discordance, caused by prior (a parameter of a model that is not retrieved, but rather assumed to be known, although its value may be wrong) uncertainty, between the models associated with the assumed and trial responses (the model giving rise to the latter is therefore qualified as being ‘faulty’), the imaginary part of the retrieved inverse velocity turns out to be non-nil, and, in fact, to be all the greater, the larger is the prior uncertainty. Moreover, the retrieved inverse velocity is found to be dispersive and its real part nearly equal to the true inverse velocity at all frequencies. The reconstructed signals (obtained by inserting the retrieved complex parameter into the faulty response model) are found to coincide exactly with the true signals for three types of probe pulses, even when the prior uncertainty is large.

Pore network microarchitecture influences human cortical bone elasticity during growth and aging

Cortical porosity is a major determinant of bone strength. Haversian and Volkmann׳s canals are׳seen’ as pores in 2D cross-section but fashion a dynamic network of interconnected channels in 3D, a quantifiable footprint of intracortical remodeling. Given the changes in bone remodeling across life, we hypothesized that the 3D microarchitecture of the cortical pore network influences its stiffness during growth and ageing.Cubes of cortical bone of 2 mm side-length were harvested in the distal 1/3 of the fibula in 13 growing children (mean age±SD: 13±4 yrs) and 16 adults (age: 75±13 yrs). The cubes were imaged using desktop micro-CT (8.14µm isotropic voxel size). Pores were segmented as a solid to assess pore volume fraction, number, diameter, separation, connectivity and structure model index. Elastic coefficients were derived from measurements of ultrasonic bulk compression and shear wave velocities and apparent mass density.The pore volume fraction did not significantly differ between children and adults but originates from different microarchitectural patterns. Compared to children, adults had 42% (p=0.033) higher pore number that were more connected (Connective Density: +205%, p=0.001) with a 18% (p=0.007) lower pore separation. After accounting for the contribution of pore volume fraction, axial elasticity in traction-compression mode was significantly correlated with better connectivity in growing children and with pore separation among adults.The changes in intracortical remodeling across life alter the distribution, size and connectedness of the channels from which cortical void fraction originates. These alterations in pore network microarchitecture participate in changes in compressive and shear mechanical behavior, partly in a porosity-independent manner. The assessment of pore volume fraction (i.e., porosity) provides only a limited understanding of the role of cortical void volume fraction in its mechanical properties.

Correlation of densities with shear wave velocities and SPTNvalues

Site effects primarily depend on the shear modulus of subsurface layers, and this is generally estimated from the measured shear wave velocity (Vs) and assumed density. Very rarely, densities are measured for amplification estimation because drilling and sampling processes are time consuming and expensive. In this study, an attempt has been made to derive the correlation between the density (dry and wet density) and V-s/SPT (standard penetration test) N values using measured data. A total of 354 measured Vs and density data sets and 364 SPT N value and density data sets from 23 boreholes have been used in the study. Separate relations have been developed for all soil types as well as fine-grained and coarse-grained soil types. The correlations developed for bulk density were compared with the available data and it was found that the proposed relation matched well with the existing data. A graphical comparison and validation based on the consistency ratio and cumulative frequency curves was performed and the newly developed relations were found to demonstrate good prediction performance. An attempt has also been made to propose a relation between the bulk density and shear wave velocity applicable for a wide range of soil and rock by considering data from this study as well as that of previous studies. These correlations will be useful for predicting the density (bulk and dry) of sites having measured the shear wave velocity and SPT N values.

Shear horizontal surface acoustic waves in a magneto-electro-elastic system

AbstractPropagation of shear horizontal surface acoustic waves (SHSAWs) within a functionally graded magneto-electro-elastic (FGMEE) half-space was previously presented (Shodja HM, Eskandari S, Eskandari M. J. Eng. Math. 2015, 1–18) In contrast, the current paper considers propagation of SHSAWs in a medium consisting of an FGMEE layer perfectly bonded to a homogeneous MEE substrate. When the FGMEE layer is described by some special inhomogeneity functions – all the MEE properties have the same variation in depth which may or may not be identical to that of the density – we obtain the exact closed-form solution for the MEE fields. Additionally, certain special inhomogeneity functions with monotonically decreasing bulk shear wave velocity in depth are considered, and the associated boundary value problem is solved using power series solution. This problem in the limit as the layer thickness goes to infinity collapses to an FGMEE half-space with decreasing bulk shear wave velocity in depth. It is shown that in such a medium SHSAW does not propagate. Using power series solution we can afford to consider some FGMEE layers of practical importance, where the composition of the MEE obeys a prescribed volume fraction variation. The dispersive behavior of SHSAWs in the presence of such layers is also examined.

Preliminary Results on the Feasibility of Using ARFI/SWEI to Assess Cutaneous Sclerotic Diseases

In this study, acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) and shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) were applied to the skin to investigate the feasibility of their use in assessing sclerotic skin diseases. Our motivation was to develop a non-invasive imaging technology with real-time feedback of sclerotic skin disease diagnosis. This paper shows representative results from an ongoing study, recruiting patients with and without sclerosis. The stiffness of the imaged site was evaluated using two metrics: mean ARFI displacement magnitude and bulk shear wave speed inside the region of interest (ROI). In a subject with localized graft versus host disease (GVHD), the mean ARFI displacement inside sclerotic skin was 61% lower (p < 0.01) and shear wave speed 128% higher (p < 0.005) compared to those in normal skin—indicating stiffer mechanical properties in the sclerotic skin. This trend persisted through disease types. We conclude ARFI and SWEI can successfully differentiate sclerotic lesions from normal dermis.

Discrimination of Epoxy Curing by High Lamb Modes Order

This work is a contribution to the non destructive testing of structural adhesive bonding by ultrasonic methods. The aim of this paper is to link acoustic behaviors of epoxy bulk samples to their level of cure, quantified by a partial or a total epoxy conversion. The bulk longitudinal and shear waves velocities are measured for each sample. They are used to determine the theoretical dispersion curves of Lamb waves. Theoretical results predict a high sensitivity of some high order Lamb modes to the cure level by the variation of their wavenumber, for a given mode and for the same frequency range. In parallel, an experimental study is conducted to determine the experimental dispersion curves. The experimental results and the predicted ones are in a good agreement.

A hybrid finite element model for spiral coil electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT)

This paper discusses finite element modeling of spiral coil electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) to generate bulk waves. First, a 2D electromagnetic model is developed for calculating the Lorentz force density, which is the driving force for sound wave generation within the material. Second, the calculated force at each point in the material is used as the driving force for generating sound wave modes. This model is used to predict the ultrasonic A-scan signals of bulk (longitudinal and shear) waves in isotropic homogeneous material. Spiral coil EMATs of two different coil spacings are developed for experimental studies. The model predicted results are validated by experimental results and for this, the ratio of amplitude of shear wave to longitudinal wave is used.

High Sensitivity EMAT System using Chirp Pulse Compression and Its Application to Crater End Detection in Continuous Casting

A high sensitivity EMAT system using chirp pulse compression technique was developed. The system uses a high power gated amplifier having 2kVpp output to transmit chirp waves. Pulse compression of the received signals are performed digitally in a PC after amplification and analog-to-digital conversion. A 20dB improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio was achieved by chirp pulse compression and synchronous averaging. A new surface cooling technique was also developed to improve the signal amplitude of the bulk shear wave with hot steel, and its effectiveness was demonstrated. An actual plant test of crater end detection by the developed EMAT system was conducted at a continuous caster, and clear detection by non-contact EMATs was achieved.

Latest Trends in Acoustic Sensing

Acoustics-based methods offer a powerful tool for sensing applications. Acoustic sensors can be applied in many fields ranging from materials characterization, structural health monitoring, acoustic imaging, defect characterization, etc., to name just a few. A proper selection of the acoustic wave frequency over a wide spectrum that extends from infrasound (&lt;20 Hz) up to ultrasound (in the GHz–band), together with a number of different propagating modes, including bulk longitudinal and shear waves, surface waves, plate modes, etc., allow acoustic tools to be successfully applied to the characterization of gaseous, solid and liquid environments. The purpose of this special issue is to provide an overview of the research trends in acoustic wave sensing through some cases that are representative of specific applications in different sensing fields. [...]

Phase transition and elastic properties of TiN under pressure from first-principles calculations

The structural phase transition and elastic properties of Titanium Nitride (TiN) are investigated using density functional theory (DFT) method within the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) form of generalized gradient approximation (GGA). Our theoretical equilibrium structural parameters of TiN are in good agreement with the available experimental results and other theoretical values. The predicted phase transition from NaCl-type (B1) to CsCl-type (B2) structure occurs at ca. 341.9GPa. This conclusion is in agreement with that of Ahuja et al., contrary to the calculation of Ojha et al. using a two-body interionic potential theory. In addition, it is found that the zinc-blende type (B3) and WC structures are not stable in the whole pressure range considered. Especially, the elastic properties of B1 and B2 structures for TiN under pressures are studied for the first time. The bulk moduli, shear moduli, compressional and shear wave velocities of B1–TiN and B2–TiN are obtained successfully and these results increase monotonically with increasing pressure. By analyzing of B/G, the brittle-ductile behavior of TiN is assessed. In addition, polycrystalline elastic properties are also obtained successfully for a complete description of elastic properties.