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An Investigation of Surface

Acoustic Waves
By
David.R.Gilson

Abstract
This experiment investigates the surface ultrasonic properties of five different materials, primarily Aluminium. Using theory, it
is determined which mode of bulk acoustic wave (longitudinal or shear) gives rise the surface (Rayleigh) acoustic waves.

For aluminium, the wavelength of the surface acoustic wave (SAW) is determined by experiment. From this and the measured
SAW velocity, the frequency of the SAW is calculated.
Introduction
Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWs) have applications in a wide range of technologies. SAWs are used can be used to detect
flaws, faults and breaks surfaces of different materials. This can be useful detecting faults in materials before more serious
faults occur. SAWs are also applied in televisions. SAWs are used as a signal filter (in the form of a quartz crystal) in the
intermediate frequency amplifier, which prepares the RF signal for demodulation into baseband video and audio.

When an oscillatory force is applied to the surface of a solid, mechanical waves arise. These are known as acoustic waves.
Such bulk waves occur in two modes, longitudinal and shear waves. Longitudinal waves are where the axis of vibration of the
particles is parallel to the direction of propagation of the wave front. This causes alternating compressions within the solid. In
shear waves, the axis of vibration is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave. With this, the bonding between
the particles within the solid experiences shearing forces.

Acoustic waves extend to the surface of the solid as well as throughout the bulk. Both modes of oscillation can occur in the
surface of the solid. Of course, surface shear waves are polarised in the plane of the surface because that is the only axis of
vibration available (at surface depth). Another surface wave which can exist is called the Rayleigh wave. This wave takes the
form of an elliptical wave. The Rayleigh wave is a mixture of shear and longitudinal waves. It is sustained from reflections of
acoustic waves on and beneath the surface. This system is analogous to fibre optics, where light is guided along a glass fibre by
reflections with an angle less than the critical angle of the material. In general the system which arises when an acoustic wave
enters a solid is shown in figure 1.

Figure One.

In figure 1 the incident wave is longitudinal (as in the ensuing experiment). As would be expected, there is a reflected and
refracted (transmitted) longitudinal wave. Also, through some mode conversion process, reflected and refracted shear waves
exist too. It is the refracted shear and longitudinal waves that generate the Rayleigh wave at the surface. The velocity of the
Rayleigh wave can be represented by the theoretical expression,

 {   }
2
CR C 6R 8C 4R C 2S
CS CS C S
2 24 16
CS C L 
⋅ 6 − 4 C R 2 − 2 −16 1− 2 =0
CL
(1)

Where CR is the Rayleigh wave velocity, CL is the longitudinal wave velocity and CS is the shear wave velocity.

Usually, depending on the type of material, shear waves or longitudinal waves are favoured at the surface. It can be determined
which wave mode, is the major constituent of the Rayleigh wave using Snell's law. If the angle of incidence and the speed in
both materials are known, then the angle of refraction can be calculated. Since the Rayleigh wave is a surface phenomena and
does not penetrate far into the material, it can be assumed that the wave mode with the greatest refraction angle (i.e. the wave
closest to the surface) is the mode that gives rise to the Rayleigh wave. Hence, the refraction angle can be calculated thus,

ArcSin
 C2 
C 1 sin i
=r (2)

(where r is the angle of refraction.)

The Rayleigh wave does not penetrate far into the material (because of it's very nature). The energy of the Rayleigh wave falls
exponentially along the depth of the material. It is assumed for a SAW that the wave energy drops to 1/e of the surface value at
a depth of one wavelength.
Figure Two.

In fact, from this statement the following expression can be conjectured,

x

E=E 0 e  (3)

Where E is the amplitude (E0 being the amplitude at zero depth).

This provides a basis for experimental determination of the Rayleigh wavelength. First of all, if we take equation 3 and square
it we can see how a linearly varying distance, x, varies with the square of the amplitude. This gives,

−2 x
E 2= E 20 e  (4)

2
If we then divide throughout by E 0 , this gives normalised values for the amplitude. This is useful when the amplitude of the
wave is measured in the form of a voltage from a Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (CRO). Equation 4 can be linearised by taking
logarithms of both sides, so that statistical (least square fit, (LSF)) methods can be applied.

E 2 −2 x
=e (5)
E 20

2 ln
 
E
E0
=
−2 x
 (6)

ln
 
E
E0
=
−x
 (7)

If we rewrite equation 7, the linear form can easily be seen,


x
ln  E=ln E 0 − (8)

Where the negative of the reciprocal wavelength is the gradient.


Experimental procedure.
A pair of ultrasonic wedge transducers were used in this experiment to create an acoustic source and to detect acoustic signals.
These devices are composed of a ceramic element that oscillates when a current is passed through it and also causes a current
to flow when it is oscillated by an external force. There is an analogy to audio microphone/speaker devices, with these
transducers.

To use these transducers, a coupling gel had to be used. This gel allows the ultrasonic waves to transit between source and
sample without being absorbed by the surrounding air. Air absorbs such frequencies that these ceramic devices use very
strongly. The coupling gel also acts as a lubricant to slide the transducers along the surface.

SAW Speed Measurement


To determine the SAW speed, the transducer pair were placed at incrementing distances from each other, then the
corresponding temporal increment for the pulse to reach the receiving transducer was measured on the CRO. The distances
were measured by Vernier callipers, which are accurate to a high degree. The transducers were connected to a CRO and a
signal generator as shown below.

Figure Three.

The above configuration allowed the time taken for the acoustic pulse to travel from one transducer to the other to be measured
on the CRO. The corresponding distances and times could then be used directly to calculate the SAW speed. This process was
performed on samples of Aluminium, Brass, Mild Steel, Crown Glass and Perspex.

A test performed on each sample before SAW was one to determine whether or not there were actually any SAWs present. By
applying pressure on the surface of the sample between the transducers, the trace displayed on the CRO changed. This was
because the SAWs were being prevented from reaching the receiving transducer, and the SAW component of the pulse was
removed from the signal. If there was no change in the signal, this meant there was no SAW present. This latter effect was
observed for the perspex sample. However, the signal for perspex was very weak. The interface material in the transducers was
perspex too. So as to be expected there was no acoustic bulk wave refraction for the perspex sample, and hence very little
energy available to sustain a SAW.

SAW Wavelength and Frequency determination


The wavelength of the SAW in aluminium was measured by exploiting equation 3. An aluminium sample with a slit that
increased in depth along the length of the block was used to impede the SAW. The block was 24cm±0.1cm long. The slit went
from zero depth at one end of the block to 0.25cm±0.01cm depth at the other end of the block (see figure 4). Since the SAW
had a very limited depth penetration, once the slit was at a certain depth the SAW would not be able to overcome the barrier
that the slit provided. The transducer pair were placed at either side of the slit. The transducers were incrementally moved
along the block and the depth of the slit and the signal magnitude (from the CRO) were recorded.
Figure Four.

As the slit became deeper, the signal decreased (as to be expected). Care had to taken to keep the transducers at a constant
distance from the slit. Because varying distance would affect the signal strength (to some extent), and the signal strength would
not have been exclusively controlled by slit depth.

Results

Acoustic Refraction Angles


Below is a table of text book values for longitudinal, shear and Rayleigh (SAW) wave velocities (see "Kaye and Laby" in the
references section).

Longitudinal, Shear, Rayleigh,


CL (m/s) CS (m/s) CR (m/s)

Aluminium 6374 5102 2906

Brass 4372 3451 1964

Perspex 2700 2177 1242

Glass 5660 5342 3127

Mild Steel 5960 5196 2996


Table One. Text book values of velocities of various acoustic wave modes in different materials.

Using equation 2 the refraction angles for a bulk longitudinal wave from perspex into these materials (given the velocities and
fixed incidence angle of 63°) can be calculated. Then as discussed as earlier, the main cause of the SAW can be determined.
Below is a table of results from these calculations.

Longitudinal Shear Principal


Refraction Angle Refraction Angle Wave Mode

Aluminium 22.17° 50.65° Shear

Brass 33.38° Undefined Longitudinal

Perspex 63.00° Undefined Longitudinal

Glass 25.15° 44.70° Shear

Mild Steel 23.81° 48.04° Shear


Table 2. Table of results, showing dominant component of Rayleigh waves in particular materials.

The entries denoted undefined relate to mathematically non-existent refraction angles. The physical meaning of this is that
there were no refracted waves of a particular type. From the above results, we can interpret that there was no acoustic wave
mode conversion for Perspex and Brass (this would have been expected for perspex for, as discussed below).

Given that the interface of the transducers is perspex no mode conversion would be expected, and none is predicted by theory
too.
SAW Velocities
Results were recorded for all but one of the samples. For the perspex sample the signal being received by the transducer was to
weak to detect any changes, and was hence abandoned for this experiment. There was also no effect when pressure was applied
to impede any SAWs. There was also no detectable change when the pressure test was performed on the brass sample,
however there are still text book values for Rayleigh waves in brass and perspex. They are the slowest waves of the materials
considered though. It may be that because they a so (relatively) slow that they have an insignificant contribution to the signal
pulse, and are hence undetectable.

The velocities were calculated using a LSF on the values of distance and time recorded. Below is a table showing the text book
values, speeds and errors.

Text Book Calculated Calculated


Value (m/s) Speed (m/s) Error (m/s)

Aluminium 2906 2978 110

Brass 1964 1476 37

Perspex 1242 No Data No Data

Glass 3127 3295 86

Mild Steel 2996 2843 63


Table 3. Experimentally determined SAW velocities compared with text book values.

Below are a series of graphs depicting these results.

Figure Five.
Figure Six.

Figure Seven.

Figure Eight.

As a test for these velocities, the above values can be used to see if they satisfy equation 1 (along with text book values for
longitudinal and shear wave velocities). Below shows how well the equation is satisfied with the calculated values and the text
book values.
Calculated Values Text Book Values

Aluminium 0.33 0.00

Brass -2.03 0.00

Glass 0.56 0.01

Mild Steel -0.54 0.00


Table 4. Results for equation 1 for text book and calculated SAW velocities.

The theoretical result should be zero. The results obtained using the calculated SAW speeds, show that they are quite
approximate. The text book values yield much better results.

SAW Wavelength and Frequency


Below is a table showing the variation of signal amplitude (voltage on CRO) with slit depth (in the aluminium sample). This
data was obtained by the procedure discussed above (in the corresponding sub-section).

Depth (m) Signal (V) Normalised Signal

0.000E+00 0.030 1.00

1.042E-04 0.020 0.67

2.083E-04 0.012 0.40

4.167E-04 0.008 0.27

6.250E-04 0.006 0.20

8.333E-04 0.004 0.13


Table 5. Variation of signal amplitude with slit depth.

Normalised values are shown because these were used in calculations as the normalised wave energy for equations 4, 5, 6, & 7.
Below is a graph showing the relationship between squared (normalised) amplitude and slit depth.

Figure Nine.

All waves that extend in all directions in space should follow the inverse square law. That is, a linear decay of squared
amplitude. We can see that this decay (fig. 9) is not linear, but exponential. This can be explained by the mechanical
impedance that the slit provides to the weakly penetrating SAW.
Below is a plot of equation 7. It is the natural logarithm of the normalised CRO readings versus the slit depth. The square
values are lost due to mathematical manipulation (laws of logarithms).

Figure Ten.

From the data for this plot, the wavelength can be calculated statistically (LSF). Then, using the calculated SAW speed, the
frequency can be calculated, as,

c=  (9)

These are all of the values that were calculated for SAWs in aluminium, (speed, wavelength and frequency).

Value Error

Speed (m/s) 2978 ±110

Wavelength (mm) 0.43 ±0.05

Frequency (MHz) 6.84 ±0.51


Table Six. Results for SAWs in Aluminium.

References

"Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants",


G.W.C. Kaye and T.H. Laby, 14th edition,
Longman Group Limited 1973

"Fundamental Physics of Ultrasound",


V.A. Shutliov,
Gordon and Breach Science, New York, 1988

"What Video and TV",


WV Publications, June, 1998,
ISSN 1352-6162

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