Ultrasonic reflection of a bounded beam at Rayleigh and critical angles for a plane liquid-solid interface

Abstract

Limited beams of low MHz ultrasound are directed at plane interfaces between water and different solids. Reradiated energy is observed by means of schlieren visualization outside the region predicted by Schoch for incidence at the Rayleigh angle. Some of the solids have properties that would cause prediction of a beam displacement many times that for aluminum. Previous thoery would predict the reflected beam to emerge totally separated from the incident beam for several of the materials used, but no such separation is observed. It is concluded that the reradiated field is composed of specular reflection and Rayleigh‐wave radiation at and near the Rayleigh angle. These two radiations are out of phase at low MHz frequencies, and where they coexist and are of equal amplitude, which occurs within the specular region, a null strip occurs. This strip is sharply defined at exactly the Rayleigh angle. Surface waves (sometimes called pseudosurface waves) are also generated at the longitudinal and shear critical angles. These are also shown to radiate into the fluid but are generated to a much lesser degree and are difficult to demonstrate by schlieren visualization.