Development of a 3D finite element model evaluating air-coupled ultrasonic measurements of nonlinear Rayleigh waves

Abstract

This research presents a 3D numerical finite element (FE) model which, previously developed, precisely simulates non-contact, air-coupled measurements of nonlinear Rayleigh wave propagation. The commercial FE-solver ABAQUS is used to perform the simulations. First, frequency dependent pressure wave attenuation is investigated numerically to reconstruct the sound pressure distribution along the active surface of the non-contact receiver. Second, constitutive law and excitation source properties are optimized to match nonlinear ultrasonic experimental data. Finally, the FE-model data are fit with analytical solutions showing a good agreement and thus, indicating the significance of the study performed.