Time-resolved line focus acoustic microscopy of layered anisotropic media: application to composites

This paper presents theoretical and experimental studies of the time-domain response of line focus acoustic microscopy from a layered anisotropic medium. A method for elastic constant reconstruction from acoustic microscopy signatures also is presented. The microscopy response is complicated by multiple reflections in the layers and by the anisotropic nature of the material. The model is based on a new, stable recursive stiffness matrix algorithm developed for a multilayered anisotropic medium, which is applied to the interpretation of the time-resolved acoustic microscopy signature. Specific examples are given for unidirectional and multidirectional graphite epoxy composites. It is shown that the fluid load has a significant effect on the leaky surface waves in these composites, increasing surface wave speed above that for the slow transverse wave. This results in its absence from the microscopy signature of the surface wave. The theoretical results are compared with experiments carried out using a line focus PVDF transducer developed at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Time-resolved acoustic microscopy has been applied to the determination of elastic constants of a unidirectional composite or of one lamina in a cross-ply composite. The lateral waves and multiple reflections of bulk waves appearing in the microscopy signatures are used for the elastic properties reconstruction. The reconstruction results are compared to data obtained by the self-reference double-through-transmission ultrasonic bulk wave method.