Numerical simulation of laser-induced

Rayleigh wave and its interaction with

sub-surface void in solid
Zhao Yan

School of science, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, P.R.China

Advanced Photonics Center, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P.R.China.

Shen Zhonghua, Lu Jian, Ni Xiaowu

School of science, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, P.R.China

Cui Yiping

Advanced Photonics Center, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P.R.China.

AbstractIn this paper, the laser-induced Rayleigh wave and its interaction with sub-surface void in solid is
numerically simulated by the finite element method. Typical calculation is executed for laser induced
Rayleigh wave at the surface of solid without void and solid with circular void. The results provide
necessary theoretical background for the nondestructive detection of laser ultrasonic.

Keyword: laser ultrasonic; Rayleigh wave; sub-surface void; finite element modeling

1. INTRODUCTION
Detection of a small void in an elastic medium by nondestructive testing techniques is a problem of
considerable practical significance. A reliable method of nondestructive detection is needed not only to
detect the presence and the location of the void but also to determine its size, shape and orientation. One
of the most promising nondestructive detection methods is based on the ultrasonic waves [1-2]. In
normal practice ultrasonic wave is excited and detected by two piezoelectric transducers, and then the
size of the void can be determined by the pressure amplitude of the reflected or scattered energy sensed
by the transducer, and the location can be determined by the time of flight of the wave pulse. Due to its
high fidelity, broad bandwidth, point source/receiver and non-contact nature, laser ultrasonics has been
an idea methodology to detect small defects and evaluate acoustic properties of medium[3-4]. Because
Rayleigh wave traveling along the free surface of an elastic half-space is non-dispersive, it is an ideal
tool to detect the defects on the surface or subsurface. In the last decades, the laser-induced Rayleigh
surface waves and its application in the nondestructive detection are extensively studied[5-7]. However,
to our knowledge, there is not the report on the interaction between laser-induced Rayleigh surface
waves and small gas void. In this paper, we introduce the finite element method to simulate the
interaction process between the laser induced Rayleigh wave and small gas void.

Corresponding author, E-mail address: zhaoyan7906@mail.njust.edu.cn

978-1-4244-4964-4/10/$25.00 2010 IEEE

 In this paper, the finite element method is introduced to simulate the interaction process between the
laser induced Rayleigh wave and small gas void for its flexibility in modeling complicated geometry and
the temperature dependence of thermal parameters, and its capability in obtaining full field solutions.

2. THEORY

Laser line source

Void
x
D
L
Symmetric
Plane

Fig.1 Schematic geometry of the interaction between the laser induced Rayleigh wave and void or air bubble.

As shown in Fig.1, the process of ultrasonic wave excitation via the laser-induced
thermoelastic effect is that laser radiation heats the metal solid forming a time-dependent temperature
gradient field and simultaneously, the time-dependent temperature gradient field generates the ultrasonic
waves. The equations governing the wave motion can be described as

2 2 2 2
(
2 v L2 2 vT2 2 u x v L2 vT2
xy
)
uy = G
x
(1)
t x y

2 2 2 2
(
2 vT2 2 v L2 2 u y v L2 vT2
xy
)
ux = G
y
(2)
t x y

Where u x , u y are the components of the mechanical displacement vector; vT and v L are the velocities

of transverse bulk acoustic wavs; G = v L2 (1 4vT2 3v L2 ) T , and T are the bulk thermal
expansion coefficient and the temperature, respectively. The temperature field can be found
independently by solving corresponding equations for the laser-induced heating

2 2
c T = k 2 + 2 T + Q (3)
t x y

Where , c , and k are the density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity, respectively, and the

function Q describe the release of the absorbed optical energy.

volumetric heat source
 Q = I 0 A (T ) f ( x ) g ( t ) (4)

with

1 x2
f ( x) = exp 2 , (5)
a0 a0

and

t t
g (t ) = exp , (6)
t0 t0

where I 0 is the energy of the laser pulse per unit length, A(T ) is the absorption coefficient, a0 is

the radius of the pulsed laser spot, and t 0 is the rise time of the laser pulse.

The system of governing equations must be supplemented by initial and boundary conditions. The
initial conditions are that the half-space is initially at rest. The boundary conditions include thermal and
mechanical conditions. And the considered thermal boundary condition is

T
= 0 , at y = 0 , (7)
y

The mechanical boundary condition is that the tractions are zero on the surface , i.e.

yx = vT2 u x + u y = 0 , at y = 0 (8)
y x

yy = (v L2 2vT2 ) u x + v L2 u y G = 0 , at y = 0 (9)
x y

Appling the finite element method to solve the eqs(1), (2) and (3) with the initial and boundary
conditions, we can describe the laser induced Rayleigh wave and its interaction with void.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

According to above finite element algorithm, a computation program is designed for simulating laser
induced Rayleigh waves and its interaction with void in aluminum body. And typical calculations are
executed for aluminum body without void and with a circular void. The inserted energy of laser line
source is 13.3mJ, its half-width and pulse width are 300um and 10ns, respectively. The physical
parameters of aluminum used in calculations are available in Ref[8].

According to the numerical simulations, Figs.2 shows the waveform recorded at the points with
different distances from the laser source on the surface of aluminum body without void. L and R
represent the Longitudinal wave and Rayleigh wave propagating along the surface of aluminum body.
Form this figure, we can clearly see that skimming longitudinal and Rayleigh wave are nondispersive,
and that due to their different velocities, the two waves are gradually detached with the increasing
distance from the laser source. Fig.3 shows the waveform recorded at the points with different distances
from the laser source on the surface of aluminum body with a circular void. The void is sited at

x = 4mm , y = 0.6mm , and its radius is 0.32mm. Besides the skimming longitudinal wave and

Rayleigh wave, in Fig.3 there are also the Scattered waves which induced by the interaction between
ultrasonic wave and void. SR represents the Scattered Rayleigh wave. Because the void is sited at the
subsurface, the amplitude of Scattered Rayleigh wave is far less than that of incident and transmitted
Rayleigh wave. Furthermore, the position of void can be estimated based on the arrival time of the
scattered Rayleigh wave. From the waveform recorded at x = 5mm , it can be seen that the
high-frequency component of Rayleigh wave is decay by the void due to its depth of penetration, and
that scattered transverse wave arise due to the scattering of void to transverse wave. So, in practice, we
can also determine the position of void by the scanning technique, and when the scattered transverse
wave appears, the void is sited between the laser source and detection point.

L R
1 x=1mm
O riginP ro 8 E valuation O r ig inP ro 8 E va lu a tio n
0
-1
-2
Normal displacement(nm)

O riginP ro 8 E valuation O r ig inP ro 8 E va lu a tio n

-3
0.8 0 1 2 3 4 5
0.4 x=3mm
O riginP ro 8 E valuation O r ig inP ro 8 E va lu a tio n
0.0
-0.4
-0.8 O riginP ro 8 E valuation O r ig inP ro 8 E va lu a tio n

-1.2

0 1 2 3 4 5
0.4
O riginP ro 8 E valuation O r ig inP ro 8 E va lu a tio n
x=5mm
0.0
-0.4
O riginP ro 8 E valuation O r ig inP ro 8 E va lu a tio n
-0.8

0 1 2 3 4 5
Time(us)

Fig.2 Normal displacement at the points with different distances from the laser source on the surface of aluminum body without
void.
 L R SR
1 x=1mm
0 O riginP ro 8 E va lua tio n O riginP ro 8 E va lua tion

-1
O riginP ro 8 E va lua tio n O riginP ro 8 E va lua tion
-2

Normal displacement(nm) 0.8 0 1 2 3 4 5

0.4 x=3mm
O riginP ro 8 E va lua tio n O riginP ro 8 E va lua tion
0.0
-0.4
-0.8 O riginP ro 8 E va lua tio n O riginP ro 8 E va lua tion

-1.2

0.4 0 1 2 3 4 5
x=5mm
0.0 O riginP ro 8 E va lua tio n O riginP ro 8 E va lua tion

-0.4
ST
O riginP ro 8 E va lua tio n O riginP ro 8 E va lua tion

-0.8
0 1 2 3 4 5
Time(us)

Fig.3 Normal displacement at the surface of aluminum body with void (radius: 0.32mm) at different distances from the laser
source

4. CONCLUSIONS
In summary, we develop a finite element model to simulate the laser induced Rayleigh wave and its
interaction with subsurface void in solid. And two typical cases of laser induced Rayleigh wave at the
surface of solid without void and solid with circular void are simulated and analyzed. Typical skimming
longitudinal wave, Rayleigh wave, scattered Rayleigh wave and scattered transverse wave are obtained,
from which, we get some elementary conclusions for the laser induced Rayleigh wave and its interaction
with subsurface void in solid. The results provide necessary theoretical background for the
nondestructive detection of laser ultrasonic.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is supported by Scientific Research Foundation of Nanjing University of Science and
Technology under Grant No.AB41995 and Technology Development Program of Nanjing University of
Science and Techonology under Grant No.XKF09034 and No.XKF09079, and partly supported by
Foundation of Southeast of University under Grant No.1106000099.

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