Normal elastic wave propagation through a stratified medium

J. R. Morris and K. J. Sisson

Citation: Journal of Applied Physics 53, 1394 (1982); doi: 10.1063/1.329870

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.329870
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 Normal elastic wave propagation through a stratified medium
J. R. Morris and K. J. Sisson
Department 0/ Physics, University o/Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221

(Received 27 August 1980; accepted for publication 8 July 1981)

The problem of normal wave propagation through an unbounded material which is mildly
stratified or periodic is investigated. Rather than applying a standard approach, the problem is
treated in the context of scattering theory. A first Born perturbative approximation is employed to
calculate reflection and transmission amplitudes and transmission power flux losses due to
reflections. A couple of sample calculations are performed.
PACS numbers: 43.20.Fn

I. INTRODUCTION are no bounding surfaces (the material is of infinite extent).

The scattering of elastic waves in solids has been a sub- We demand that this inhomogeneous inclusion be a small
ject of study for many years. A large portion of these studies perturbation of the host material.
have been concerned with the scattering of elastic waves
from inhomogeneities localized in three dimensions. 1--4 If the A. The integral equation and first Born approximation
characteristics of these inhomogeneities vary only mildly For an inhomogeneous elastic solid the force equation is
from the characteristics of the host medium, a perturbative given by (neglecting body forces)
approach may be utilized. 5 ,6 This paper presents a Green's a2 u.
function approach to the problem of elastic waves scattering p(x) at; (x,!) = O'ij,j(x,t) , (1)
from a succession of inhomogeneities, each localized in only
one dimension. It is assumed that the density and elastic where the summation convention is employed and ,j stands
constant variations associated with the inhomogeneities are for a/ax). The density and displacement field of the material
only mild perturbations in the host medium. In this case a are represented by p(x) and u(x,t), respectively, with
first Born approximation may be developed to calculate the O'ij(X,t) = A (X)Uk,kOij + ,u(x)(u i.j + uj.i ), (2)
scattered output. A and,u being the Lame "constants." Inserting the right-
This problem is motivated by the consideration of elas- hand side of Eq. (2) into Eq. (I) gives the wave equation of
tic waves traveling through the bedding planes of a layered isotropic elasticity, 7
or periodic solid, impinging with normal incidence upon
each of the parallel planes. In such a situation one may be a2u
concerned with the transmission loss due to reflections from
p at; = (A +,u) Uk •ki + ,uUi.kk + A,iUk,k
a layered sequence of inhomogeneities. Furthermore, the di- + ,uJ(Ui,j + Uj,i) . (3)
vision between layer zones may be more diffuse than sharp, Equation (3) is a wave equation for which transverse and
the acoustical impedance thereby varying too slowly to al- longitudinal waves are disjoint solutions. Let us first focus
Iowa standard Fresnel approach to the analysis of wave upon longitudinal plane waves only and write
propagation and transmission loss.
This paper is organized as follows: Sec. II contains a Ui(X,t) = 0i3 q; (z,t) , (4)
statement of the problem and the development of a formal- where 0i3 is the Kronecker delta and fixes the polarization to
ism with the implementation of a first Born approximation. be in the z direction. 8 The assumption of x-y homogeneity in
Reflection and transmission coefficients are defined along the material is manifest as
with a reflected power flux. Section III presents two specific p, ,u, A = p(z), ,u(z) A (z) . (5)
examples, one using a sequence of discrete box function in-
homogeneities, the other using a sequence of continuously Utilizing Eqs. (4) and (5), Eq. (3) may be rewritten as
2 2
varying inhomogeneities with diffuse boundaries.
-f = (A + 2,u) -f
p a
at
a
az
+ (a
- (A + 2,u) )a
az
1.
az
(6)
II. THE FORMALISM For a totally homogeneous material the last term in Eq. (6)
In this section we wish to generate the formalism which vanishes.
will allow a description of an elastic plane wave traveling Let us now display the difference between the host ma-
parallel to the z axis, impinging with normal incidence upon terial and the inhomogeneity by writing
an inhomogeneity which is localized in the z direction but p(z) = p + op(z),
unrestricted in the x andy directions. We furthermore as-
sume that the inhomogeneity is described by only a z-coordi- A (z) =X + OA (z), (7)
nate dependence; i.e., there is radial and angular isotropy in ,u(z) = ji, + o,u(z) ,
any x-y plane. It is also assumed that the host medium exhib- p, X, and Ii being the host material constants and op, OA, and
its approximate three-dimensional isotropy and that there o,u signifying the variations in the inhomogeneity. Upon as-

1394 J. Appl. Phys. 53(3), March 1982 0021-8979/82/031394-04$02.40 @ 1982 American Institute of Physics 1394

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 suming that the plane wave is of a single frequency we have RC= IA-12/IAoI2, (17)
ui(x,t) = ui(x) e - iwl , TC = (IA ° +A +1 )11 A °1
2 2
, (18)
(8) respectively. However, it should be remarked at this point
l7ij(x,t) = l7ij(x) e - ;wl . that perturbation theory offers approximate scattering solu-
Upon implementing Eqs. (7) and (8), Eq. (6) further reduces tions rather than exact scattering solutions in most in-
to stances. Therefore one often finds in perturbation theory
2 2 that the incident and forward scattering amplitudes add to-
a q; + k 2q; = _ ~pW2 _ rp _ (8,1. + 'Mil) a rp
2 gether with an incomplete phase mixing so that the transmis-
az .-1, + 21l .-1, + 2f-l az 2
sion coefficient defined by Eq. (18) may be calculated to be
_ [~ ( 8.-1, + ~)] a rp ,
2
greater than unity. The reflection coefficient defined by Eq.
az .-1, + 2,u az 2 (17), however, does not have this problem. We therefore ac-
==f(rp (z), z) . (9) cept Eq. (17) but reject Eq. (18) (since it violates exact energy
Equation (9) is the one-dimensional inhomogeneous Helm- conservation), replacing it with the more proper definition
holtz equation, where TC=I- RC. (19)
k 2 = pw 2/(X + 2;i) (10)
is the square of the magnitude of the longitudinal wave vec- c. Reflected power flux
tor. The formal solution of Eq. (9) is written as To calculate the reflected power flux consider an arbi-
trary field point Z < z', i.e., some point in the host medium on
rp(z)=rpO(z) + J~oo dz'G(z,z')f[rp(z'),z'] , (11) the backscatter side of the scattering region. The reflected
power flux (amount of elastic power reflected per unit nor-
the Green's function being given by
mal area) for the present situation is given by
, = _(i/2k)e- ik (Z-Z'), z<z'
G(z,z) -
_ -II
'('/2k) eik(z-z') , (12) _ arp (z,t)
S (z,t) = Rel7 (z,t) Re , (20)
at
The Green's function approach has thus served to transform where by Eq. (2)
the differential wave equation into an integral equation. The
_ _ - - aq;-
function rpO(z) in Eq. (I I) is a solution of the homogeneous l7 = l733 = (.-1, + 2,u) - - . (21)
Helmholtz equation and thus represents the incident wave in az
the host medium. If the variations ofEq. (7) are small enough The reflected displacement field is given by
so that the incident wave is not greatly disturbed upon scat-
rp - (z,t) = ( A i + iA ,- ) e - i(kz + (UII , (22)
tering, the first Born approximation may be used, i.e.,
approximate where A i and A ,- denote the real and imaginary parts of
rp (z') = rp O(z') = A ° eikz' (13) the reflection amplitude, respectively. By Eqs. (20), (21), and
(22) it is calculated
inside the integral ofEq. (11). The solution may then be con-
ventionally written as S (z,t ) = wk (X + 2ji) (A i 2 sin 2 () + A ,-- 2 cos 2 ()
rp (z) = rp O(z) + rp S(z) , (14) + 2A i A ,- sin() cos()) , (23)
the scattered portion of the wave in the first Born approxi- where () = - (kz + wt). One is normally interested in (S),
mation being identified as the time average of S (z,t ) over one period, given by
oo {8 iT S
rp S(z) = _
f -00

8~
dz' G (z, z')

+ ( + 'M,u ) a
_ 'Pw 2 _ rp O(z')
.-1,+2f-l
2rp o(z')
(S) = -1
T °
Using the time-averaged values
(z,t ) dt . (24)

.-1, + 2,u az,2

(sin 2 = (cos 2 =!,
() () (25)
+ [~( 8.-1, + 'M,u)] arpO(z')} . (15) (sin() cos() ) = 0 , (26)
az' .-1, + 21l az'
Due to the Green's function ofEq. (12), the scattered wave Eq. (24) gives
takes the general form (S) = ~wk (X + 2;i) [A i 2+ A ,- 2]
= rp +(z) = A + eikz, z>z'
q; S(z) - () A - - ikz (16) = !wk (X + 2;i) I A °1 2 RC . (27)
=q;z= e ,
i.e., part of the scattered wave is transmitted and part is re- III. EXAMPLES
flected. The forward and backward scattering amplitudes A. Propagation through discrete layers
are A + and A -, respectively.
Consider the normal propagation of a transverse wave
through a sequence of discrete layers. We begin by focusing
B. Reflection and transmission coefficients
on the problem of a transverse wave encountering a single
One conventionally defines the reflection and transmis- layer, or a box function inhomogeneity. Let us assume that
sion coefficients by the displacement field is polarized in the x direction so that

1395 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 53, No.3, March 1982 J. R. Morris and K. J. Sisson 1395

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 we may write 2<S>r-------------------------------,
CT )l
Ui(X,t) = 0ill,b(Z) e - hut. (28)
0.75
The analog of Eq. (15) for the scattered displacement field is
given by

¢"(z') = - f" 00 dz' G (z, z') { °7 2

I,b°(z')
0.50

+
/1
2
0':: a 1,b°(z')
az'2
+ [~(o,::
az' /1
)] al,b0(z')}
az'
, (29)
0.25

where the input wave is given by

I,b°(z) = A ° eik,Z (30) KTCMETERS)

and G (z, z') is given by Eq. (12). The variations in the material FIG. 2. Transmission power loss, divided by the speed of sound and Lame
constant, (2(S )/c r III vs kr for example A.
parameters are given by
op(z) = Po /3 (z) , Now let us suppose that there exist N layers of this inho-
(31) mogeneity, each layer of thickness L and each layer separat-
O/1(z) = /10/3 (z) , ed from adjacent ones by host material. The spacings be-
where /3 (z) is the unit box function tween layers are arbitrary and may be unequal. The single
/3(z) = 0, z< -~L
box function source in Eq. (31) is then replaced by a sum of N
(32) box function sources at various positions, each of thickness
= 1, - ~L<!L
L. Each box function source contributes a term to the total
= 0, z>!L reflection amplitude A i. Each of these terms is given by the
with a Fourier representation right-hand side ofEq. (35), multiplied by a position depen-
/3 (z) = foc dk r _1_ (/,,./z + 11/2)L ) _ /',Iz (112) L) .
dent phase factor. The total reflection amplitude is given by
- 00 ikr (38)
(33)
where /a; is thejth phase factor. From Eq. (38) it follows that
The derivative of the box function is

(34)
IA i 12 = I A - 12 1f J= I
eta; 12

the right-hand side of Eq. (34) being a combination of two = IA -1 2 (f I +f I

J=I
ta
e ;1 2
J=II#j
eilu;-atl)
Dirac delta functions. With the help of Eqs. (29)-(34) the
1= I
reflection amplitude is calculated to be

A
_
=
i sin kr L (p#2
--
)
+/10 A
0
. (35)
= I A-1 2 (N +I IJ= 1 1 cfj
eila) a'I). (39)

2/1 k} I~ 1

The reflection coefficient is therefore For each term eila) a,l there exists a conjugate term e 'la, «;I.

RC =
sin kr L
2

0
(p#2
-2- + /10
)1 (36)
The remaining exponential terms can therefore be written as
one-half as many cosine terms,
4/1- k 1

A resonance scattering situation is indicated by Eq. (36)

(see Figs. 1 and 2); RC = 0 when 1- I I-I

n = 1,2,3, .. · . (37) N N
I. I. cos(aj - ad . (40)
j~ 1 I¥}
,~ 1

Equation (39) can now be written as

IA r I2 =IA-1 2 (N+i icos(aj-a,)), (41)

J ~ 1 1 Tj
I ~ I

The last term in brackets in Eq. (41) is a measure of scattering

coherence. This term is expected to be negligible when the
scattering is incoherent, e.g., when the spacings between in-
homogeneity layers are random. The maximum and mini-
mum values of IA i 12 are given by
Kl'CI'IETERS) IA1--:I~ax=N2IA-12, (42)
FIG. I. Reflection coefficient (RC) vs k 1 for example A. 1Ai I~in = N 1A -1 2
. (43)

1396 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 53, No.3, March 1982 J. R. Morris and K. J. Sisson 1396

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 RC ~
0.75 0.75

0.50 0.50

0.25 0.25

KT (METERS) KT <METERS)

FIG. 3. Reflection coefficient (RC) vs kr for example B. FIG. 4. Transmission power loss, divided by the speed of sound and Lame
constant, (2(S )/c r "') vs k7 for example B.

The total reflection coefficient is then given by

RC = IA i I 2/IAoI2,
T (44) Hence the reflection coefficient is
with maximum and minimum values I (Sin(y - 2k T ) L
RC=-
sin(y + 2k T) L )2
2 2 (PofJi 4ji.z y - 2kT y+2kT
RC Tmax =
N sin k T L
-2 -2- + flo )2 , (45)
PoW
2 )2
4fl kT X ( T; +flokT (51)
2
N sin k T L (PofJi )2 (46)
RC Tmin = 4fl2 k} + flo The amount of power flux depleted from the input beam is
calculated from (see Figs. 3 and 4)
The amount of power flux depleted from the input beam [see
Eq. (27)] is calculated to be
(S) = ~ WkTii Rej A °1 2 • (52).

(S)T = ~WkT ji RC T 1A °1 2 • (47) ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Oneofus(J. M.) would like to thank Dr. W. B. Richard-
B. Propagation through diffuse layers
son for drawing attention to this problem and for many help-
Instead of an inhomogeneity consisting of a finite se- ful discussions.
quence of distinct layers, consider now a bounded sinusoidal
inhomogeneity described by
op(z) = Po {3 (z) sinyz ,
(48)
Ofl(z) = flo {3 (z) sinyz ,
with the unit box function given as
{3(z) =0, z< -L 'c. F. Ying and R. Truell, J. Appl. Phys. 27, 1086 (1956).
(49) 2N. G. Einspruch, E. J. Witterholt, and R. TruelI, J. Appl. Phys. 31, 806
= 1, - L..-;,z..-;,L
(1969).
=0, z>L. 'G. Johnson and R. TruelI, J. Appl. Phys. 36,3466 (1965).
We again consider the normal propagation of x-polarized 4D. W. Kraft and M. C. Franzblau, J. Appl. Phys. 42,3019 (1971).
'J. E. Gubernatis, E. Domany, and J. A. Krumhansl, J. Appl. Phys. 48,
transverse waves through the medium. The reflection ampli- 2804(1977).
tude is calculated from Eq. (29) with the result 6J. E. Gubernatis, E. Domany, J. A. Krumhansl, and M. Huberman, J.
Appl. Phys. 48, 2812 (1977).
A - = _ A~ (Sin(y-2k T)L Sin(Y+2kT)L) 7R. Burridge, Some Mathematical Topics in Seismology (Courant Institute
2fl y - 2kT Y + 2kT of Mathematical Sciences, New York, 1976).
2 "The following formalism can be applied to transverse waves by writing, for
X ( poW
--;:; + flokT ) . (SO) example, ui(z,t) = 8" t/J(z,t). All results may be transcribed by making the
substitutions: I + 2p---->p,8A + 28",---->8"" k---->k, = (poilp)'/2.

1397 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 53, No.3, March 1982 J. R. Morris and K. J. Sisson 1397

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