Investigation the material properties of a plate by laser ultrasound using the analysis of multiple waves

Ultrasound examination of material properties is a precision method for determining their elastic and strength properties in connection with the small wavelength formed in the material after impact of a laser beam. In this paper, the wave processes arising during these measurements are considered in detail. It is shown that full-wave numerical modeling allows us to study in detail the types of waves, topological characteristics of their profile, speed of arrival of waves at various points, identification the types of waves whose measurements are most optimal for examining a sample made of a specific material of a particular shape, and to develop measurement procedures.
To carry out full-wave modeling, a grid-characteristic method on structured grids was used in this work and a hyperbolic system of equations that describes the propagation of elastic waves in the material of the thin plate under consideration on a specific example of a ratio of thickness to width of 1:10 was solved.
To simulate an elastic front that arose in the plate due to a laser beam, a model of the corresponding initial conditions was proposed. A comparison of the wave effects that arise during its use in the case of a point source and with the data of physical experiments on the propagation of laser ultrasound in metal plates was made.
A study was made on the basis of which the characteristic topological features of the wave processes under consideration were identified and revealed. The main types of elastic waves arising due to a laser beam are investigated, the possibility of their use for studying the properties of materials is analyzed. A method based on the analysis of multiple waves is proposed. The proposed method for studying the properties of a plate with the help of multiple waves on synthetic data was tested, and it showed good results.
It should be noted that most of the studies of multiple waves are aimed at developing methods for their suppression. Multiple waves are not used to process the results of ultrasound studies due to the complexity of their detection in the recorded data of a physical experiment.
Due to the use of full wave modeling and analysis of spatial dynamic wave processes, multiple waves are considered in detail in this work and it is proposed to divide materials into three classes, which allows using multiple waves to obtain information about the material of the plate.
The main results of the work are the developed problem statements for the numerical simulation of the study of plates of a finite thickness by laser ultrasound; the revealed features of the wave phenomena arising in plates of a finite thickness; the developed method for studying the properties of the plate on the basis of multiple waves; the developed classification of materials.
The results of the studies presented in this paper may be of interest not only for developments in the field of ultrasonic non-destructive testing, but also in the field of seismic exploration of the earth's interior, since the proposed approach can be extended to more complex cases of heterogeneous media and applied in geophysics.