Transverse waves in structurally chiral media

An elastic solid can exhibit a phenomenon similar to optical activity which has at times been referred to as acoustical activity. The authors characterized acoustically active samples to verify the `optical activity´ in an elastic solid. Acoustically active samples were made from uni-ply prepregs, molded, debulked and cured with identical temperature and pressure histories. Each uniply was appropriately rotated, so that the resulting laminate was endowed with either left or right handedness. These chiral samples were then tested by using shear-wave transducers in an ultrasonic through-transmission experiment. The results indicate that shear-wave transducers are able to sense the handedness of these chiral samples and detect additional shear waves