lAcoustique 5 (1992) 161-170 AVRIL 1992, PAGE 161

Classification
Physics Abstracts
43.20Hq - 43.20Fn

Experimental determination of the transversal wave velocity

in plates
J. Laperreï"), W. Thyse), o. Lenoin") and J.L. IzbickW)

e) Interdisiplinair Research Center, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Campus Kortrijk, B-8500 Kor-
trijk, Belgium
e) Laboratoire d'Acoustique Ultrasonore et d'Electronique, URA CNRS 1373, Université du Havre,
76610 Le Havre, France

(Reçu le 3 juin 1991, accepté le 23janvier 1992)

Résumé. - Cet article présente une méthode pour mesurer la célérité transversale dans les plaques
immergées. Elle est basée sur le fait qu'entre le premier et le second angle critique et à haute fréquence,
le coefficient de réflexion des ondes transversales est indépendant de la fréquence. Dans ce cas, la
célérité de l'onde transversale peut être déduite de la différence de fréquence entre deux modes
transversaux successifs de la plaque. La méthode est testée pour deux matériaux: l'aluminium et le
polyéthylène. Les résultats sont en bon accord avec ceux obtenus à l'aide d'une méthode "temps de
propagation" .

Abstract. - A method ta measure the shear wave velocity of submerged plates is presented. It is
based on the fact that between the first and second critical angle and at sufficiently high frequencies,
the reâection coefficient of the zigzagging shear waves on the plate boundaries becomes frequency
independent. ln this case the shear wave velocity can be written in terms of the frequency difference
between two successive transversal modes of the plate. The method was tested for two materials:
aluminum and polyethylene. ln both cases the measured shear velocity is in good agreement with that
obtained with a shear transducer.

1. Introduction.

The sound velocity is an important quantity in solid state acoustics. Because its knowledge allows
the calculation of the elastic constants of the material [1], it is used in non-destructive testing to
monitor for instance the residual stresses [2,3]. It also plays an essential role in the calculation of
refiection coefficients, dispersion curves and surface wave velocities (see e.g. [4-6]).
Ultrasonic velocity measurements can be made in either time or frequency domain. ln the
time domain/approach, the time-of-flight of a short pulse between two faces of the specimen is
measured [7]. ln the frequency domain methods, the fast-Fourier-transform (FFf) analysis of the
reflected signal provides minima from which the sound velocity can be calculated. The transmitted
162 J. Laperre et al:

echo sequence can be used as well, but then the frequency of the maxima has to be used instead
[8, 9]. ln section 2, we briefly discuss these methods.
Both approaches can be used to de termine either the longitudinal wave velocity or the shear
wave velocity. If the longitudinal wave velocity is to be determined, longitudinal waves are gener-
ated in the plate by insonifying it in a watertank at normal incidence. Th measure the shear wave
velocity, shearwaves can be generated eitherby means ofa shear transducer mounted on the plate
with a couplant or by insonifying it in a watertank at oblique incidence (typicallya few degrees)
[10]. ln the latter case things are complicated by the fact that the observed shear resonances are
generally weak and mixed up with the stronger longitudinal resonances.
ln this paper we present a method for measuring the shear wave velo city in plates, which avoids
this difficulty by working in the high frequency lirnit, and between the first and the second critical
angle of the liquid/solid interface. ln this case the only bulk waves existing in the plate are shear
waves; the longitudinal waves propagate along the plate boundaries with exponentially decaying
amplitude. ln the high frequency limit where the decay constant of the longitudinal waves is
smaller than the plate thickness, the phase of the reflection coefficient of the zigzagging shear
waves on the plate boundaries becomes frequency independent [11]. This enables us to write the
shear velocity in terms of the frequency difference between two successive transversal modes of
the plate. This is discussed in greater detail in section 3.
ln section 4, we experimentaIly test the procedure on two samples: an aluminum plate with a
shear velocity higher than the sound velocity in water, and a polyethylene plate which is expected
to have a shear velocity which is lower than the sound velocity in water.

2. The available experimental procedures.

ln this section we give a brief survey of the existing methods used to measure the sound velocity
in plates; we thereby concentrate on the shear wave velocity called Vs throughout the paper. It is
assumed that in the frequency region we are working in, the material under study is non-dispersive
so that the group velocity equals the phase velocity.
a) A first method uses short shear pulses generated by a contact shear transducer, and incident
normally on the plate. ln order to well separa te the echoes from the front and back side of the
plate, the timewidth of the pulse should be inferior to the time needed by the pulse to travel twice
through the plate thickness. From the time delay !lt between the two echoes and the thickness d
of the plate we then get:
2d
vs= - (1)
!lt
This method is suitable for thick platës and is usually refered to as the time-of-flight method.
b) When separation of the individual echoes is a problem, one can analyse the whole echo se-
quence at normal incidence in the frequency domain. This method requires again a shear trans-
ducer mounted on the pla te with a couplant. The dips in the FFf spectrum give the frequency of
the so-called through-thickness shear resonances. From these frequencies (ln) the shear velocity
can be calculated by:
2dln
vs= -- (2)
n
If the seriai number n of the resonances is a problem, the difference in frequency between suc-
cessive modes is used:
Vs
!lIn = ln+! - ln = 2d (3)
 DETERMINATION OF TIIE TRANSVERSAL WAVE VELOCITY lN PLATES 163

c) A third method generates shear waves in the plate by insonifying it in a watertank at a small
angle of incidence, typically a few degrees [10]. The resonances of these shearwaves again show up
as minima in the spectrum of the reflected pulse. As in the previous case one can then calculate the
shear velocity from the frequencydifference of two successive transversal resonances. However,
the observed shear resonances are generally weak and mixed up with the stronger longitudinal
resonances.
By replacing the shear transducer by an ordinary longitudinal transducer, methods a and b can
also be used to determine the longitudinal velocity VI [8]. An interesting alternative method to
determine the longitudinal velocity, measures the flrst critical angle (JI of the liquid/solid interface
[10]and then calculates VI in conjunction with the following formula:

Vw

VI = sin «(JI) (4)

where Vw is the sound velocity in the surrounding water. (JI is measured by monitoring the am-
plitude of the front wall echo as a function of the incident angle. Because the front wall echo
is reflected on a liquid/solid halfspace, a sharp increase in its amplitude is observed at the first
critical angle (JI.

3. Theoretical approach of our experimental procedure.

We present a submersion technique ta determine the shearwave velocity in plates. It takes advan-
tage of the fact that above the first and below the second critical angle of the Iiquid/solid interface,
only shearwaves propagate in the whole thickness ofthe plate. 'IWolamellar evanescent [12]waves
propagate along the plate axis, one is contined at the upper boundary and the other at the lower
boundary. The potentials of these waves are given by (Fig. 1):

,pupper = A exp (-ktz z) exp (ik", x) (5)

,plower = A exp (ktzz) exp (ik",x) (6)

1
1
el water

x
d
elastic plate
water
z

Flz, 1. - Reference svstem and notations.

164 J. Laperre et aL

with ktz equal to:

R
2
ktz = k~ - 2" (7)
vI

W is the angular frequency and 0 is the angle of incidence; k., is equal to :::.. sin (0). The decay
Vw

constant (d.c.) of the lamellar evanescent waves is equal to k~ :

Vw VI
(8)
d.c. = -:; J(VI sin (0))2 _ v~

ln the low frequency limit the decay constant is large compared to the thickness of the plate and
the longitudinal wave propagating at the upper boundary of the plate reaches up to the lower
boundary and vice versa. For the shear waves zigzagging in the plate, these boundaries therefore
have a reftection coefficient, the phase of which is frequency dependent. ln the high frequency
limit on the contrary, the decay constant is small and the longitudinal waves do not reach up to
the opposite boundary. The internaI reftections of the shear wave zigzagging in the plate are then
similar to reftections on a halfspace, i.e. with a reftection coefficient, the phase of which is now
frequency independent [11]. This allows us to calcula te the shear velo city from the frequency
difference In+1 - ln between two successive transversal modes of the plate. This is done starting
from the dispersion relation of the n-th mode, which in the framework of a raymodel ean be
written as [13]:
(9)
n is the phase of the reftection coefficient of the solid/liquid boundary, n is the mode number and
ksz is the z-eomponent of the wave vector k, of the shear wave. It is given by:

(10)

With the angle of incidence 0 fixed between the first and the second critical angle, and in the
high frequency limit, n is frequency independent and can be eliminated. This is easily done by
calculating from equations (9) and (10), the frequency difference 1n+1- ln between two successive
modes (n + 1) and n :
(11)

This frequency difference can be measured on the FFT -spectrum of the reftected or transmitted
signal, ()and Vw are known so that Vs can be calculated.

4. Experimental verification.

The experimental procedure consists of two steps. ln step one, the first critical angle is determined
via equation (4) and the measurement of the longitudinal velocity. ln step two, the reftected or
transmitted echo sequence is recorded and analysed in the frequency domain for several angles
of incidence above the first and below the second critical angle.
 DETERMINATION OF TIIE TRANSVERSAL WAVE VELO CITY lN PLATES 165

We investigated two samples: a 0.61 mm thick aluminium plate and a 4 mm thick polyethylene
plate. 'IWoexperimental methods were used: a bistatic Snell-Descartes method and a monostatic
double transmission method. The first one involves two broadband transducers placed according
to the Snell-Descartes law, as shown in figure 2a. The second method used, is the double trans-
mission technique described by Nagy et aL (14]. It uses the same broadband ultrasonic transducer
to generate the incident pulse and to pick up the double-transmitted echo from a perpendicular
plane reftector (see Fig. 2b). The main advantage of this arrangement over the two-transducers
so-called pitch-catch reftection or transmission measurement is that there is no need for further
mechanical alignment. The lateral displacement of the through-transmitted pulse is compensated
during backward propagation. It is easy to change the angle of incidence or to scan over a larger
area. The minima in the spectrum of the reflected signal in the bistatic Snell-Descartes method
and the maxima in the spectrum of the double-transmitted signal correspond to the frequency fn
of equation (11).

\s"iV~
\
-, f- __
--
__ --Ir--+---
---'~---- emitter target
emitter

reflector

a) b)

Fig. 2. - a) Bistatic Snell-Descartes experimental configuration. b) Double transmission experimental con-

figuration.

4.1 SAMPLE 1: ALUMINIUM PLATE OF THICKNESS 0.61 mm. - The aluminum plate we investi-
gated, is characterized by a longitudinal sound velocity of 6454 ± 40 rn/s. This corresponds to a
first critical angle of 13.4 degrees. The second critical angle which can not be measured precisely,
is located around 28 degrees. .
The aluminum plate is positioned in the farfield of a broadband transducer with a central fre-
quency of 25 MHz and an operational frequency range from 4 MHz to 32 MHz. It is insonified
with short pulses at ten different angles between 15 and 26 degrees (see 'Iab. 1). The decay con-
stant (Eq. (8)) of the longitudinal waves generated in the plate, is at 4 MHz and 32 MHz equal
to respectively 0.46 mm and 0.058 mm. For higher frequencies and larger angles of incidence it
decreases further. This guarantees us that we are indeed in the high frequency limit for the whole
measuring range because the decay constant is inferior to the thickness of the plate.
For each angle of incidence the double transmitted signal is recorded and analysed in the fre-
quency domain. As an example we plot in figure 3 the double transmitted waveform at 21.0 de-
grees. The echoes coming from the 'front and back wall are not weil separated due to the small
thickness of the plate and the large value of the shear velocity. ln figure 4 the corresponding
Fourier spectrum is shown; the peaks in this spectrum correspond to transversal modes of the
plate. Their frequency is listed in table l, with in the last column the corresponding shear velocity
 166 J. Laperre et al

Th ble 1. - Resonance frequencies for different angles of incidence and the mean value of the transver-
sal velocity for an aluminum plate of 0.61 mm. These results are obtaineâ by means of a double trans-
mission experiment.

Incident angle Position of th.e resonances in MHz v. (m/s)

15.2 5.2 7.9 11.2 14.2 17.4 20.4 23.4 26.6 29.6 3104
16.4 5.9 8.9 12.2 15.4 18.6 21.8 25.0 28.2 31.4 3118
17.5 6.4 9.8 13.0 16.4 19.8 23.0 26.3 29.6 3117
18.7 7.0 10.4 13.8 17.4 20.8 24.2 27.6 31.3 3116
19.9 7.4 11.0 14.6 18.3 22.0 25.5 29.2 3102
21.0 7.8 11.6 15.4 19.4 23.2 27.0 31.0 3097
22.2 8.2 12.4 16.6 20.8 24.8 29.0 3095
23.4 4.2 8.8 13.4 17.9 22.4 26.9 3091
24.6 4.4 9.6 14.6 19.7 24.6 29.6 3077
25.7 4.6 10.6 16.4 22.1 28.0 3071

a tim. 5(~sl __

Fig. 3. - Waveform of a double transmitted 25 MHz pulse. The sample is a 0.61 mm thick aluminum plate
and the angle of incidence is 21.0 degrees.

calculated by means of equation (11). Its average value is equal to 3100 ± 15 mis. Using method
b of section 2 with a 25 MHz shear transducer, we obtained 3095 mis ± 23 mis. Both results are
thus in good agreement.

4.2 SAMPΠ2: POLYElHYLENE PLATE OFlHICKNESS 4 mm. - The polyethylene plate is 4 mm

thick and is characterized bya longitudinal velocity of 2347 rn/s. This corresponds to a first critical
angle of 39 degrees. The transversal velocity is expected to be smaller than the sound velocity in
• water, so that there is no second critical angle. Because the plate is relatively thick, we could use
 DEIERMINATION OF THE mANSVERSAL WAVE VELOCITY lN PLAIES 167

-20

t
CD
"0

Fig. 4. - FFr-spectrum of the double transmitted pulse represented in figure 3.

t
ë5..
E
o

o 50
tlme Ius l __

Fig. 5. - \Vclveform of a double transmitted 1 MHz pulse. The sample is a 4 mm thick polyethylene plate
and the angle of incidence is 49.2 degrees. •

a 1 MHz transducer and still be in the high frequency limit Indeed, at an angle of incidence of
49.2 degrees and a frequency of 0.5 MHz respectively 1 MHz, we find a decay constant (Eq. (8))
of 1.14 mm and 0.57 mm. This may be considered small compared to the plate thickness.
We investigated this sample with the angle of incidence fixed between 49 and 61.0 degrees.
Figure 5 shows the double transmitted waveform at 49.2 degrees and figure 6 the correspond-
ing Fourier spectrum. This time, a clear separation of the front wall and the back wall echo is
observed. Due to the large absorption of the polyethylene, the amplitude of the second echo is
now much smaller than that of the first echo, causing the peaks in the Fourier spectrum to be
less pronounced. Table II summarizes the results of the transmission experiment with in the last
168 J. Laperre et al.

column the shear velocity calculated by means of equation (11). The average value is equal to
917 ± 6 rn/s. Table III gives the results of the reflection experiment The average shear velocity
is now equal to 939.2 ± 7.1 rn/s. These values are again in good agreement with the shear wave
velocity 921.6 ± 10 rn/s, obtained with a shear transducer and the time-of-flight method.

t
ID
'0

-100

-lZ0 !.----1----f-----'--'-----L--'-!;-Z ------

0
Frequency(MHzl __

Fig. 6. - Spectrum ofthe double transmitted pulse represented in figure 5.

Table II. - Resonance frequencies for different angles ofincidence and the mean value of the transver-
sal velocity for a polyethylene plate of 4 mm. These results are obtained by means of a double trans-
mission experiment:

Incident angle Position of the resonances fi MHz 'Us (mis)

49.2 0.404 0.528 0.652 0.788 0.916 1.048 1.172 906.8
51.5 0.264 0.404 0.532 0.664 0.792 0.924 1.052 924.8
53.9 0.264 0.400 0.536 0.664 0.804 0.932 1.060 918.2
56.2 0.264 0.404 0.540 0.672 0.808 0.940 1.076 917.5
58.5 0.264 0.412 0.544 0.684 0.820 0.948 1.080 917.9
61.0 0.272 0.420 0.544 0.684 0.820 0.956 1.092 918.0
 DETERMINATION OF TIIE TRANSVERSAL WAVE VELO CITY lN PLATES 169

Table III. - Resonance frequencies for different angles ojincidence and the mean value of the transver-
sal velocity for a polyethylene plate of 4 mm. These results are obtained by means of a bistatic Snell-
Descartes experiment.

Incident angle Position of tbe resonances in MHz v. (mis)

48.0 0.420 0.540 0.680 0.816 0.952 1.080 1.216 932.2
51.0 0.424 0.552 0.680 0.824 0.960 1.100 939.5
54.0 0.424 0.560 0.700 0.840 0.980 1.124 933.5
57.0 0.428 0.560 0.696 0.840 0.984 1.128 917.5
60.0 0.420 0.572 0.712 0.852 1.000 1.140 1.272 945.5

5. Conclusion.

We have investigated a method to determine the transversal velocity of thin plates submerged in a
liquid. Between the first and second critical angle, and at frequencies where the decay constant of
the lamellar evanescent waves is small compared to the plate thickness, the reftection coefficient of
the zigzagging shear waves on the plate boundaries becomes frequency independent. This enables
us to write the shear wave velocity in terms of the frequency difIerence between two successive
transversal resonances of the plate. The method was tested for two materia1s: aluminum and
polyethylene. ln bath cases an excellent agreement with other methods is obtained.

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