A comparative study of analytical and numerical transient force excitations on an elastic half-space

The numerical modeling of ultrasonic wave propagation in elastic solids is discussed for nondestructive testing applications because of the relative ease with which the boundaries of realistic defect shapes and testing geometries can be handled. Two-dimensional (2-D) finite-element code has been developed for this purpose yielding good qualitative agreement between numerical predictions and experimental measurements. However, as a major step n the development of a full three-dimensional formulation, the 2-D code requires some quantitative form of validation. Here a direct transient comparison of analytical and numerical predictions of ultrasonic wave propagation in an elastic half-space is given that clearly validates the 2-D numerical code quantitatively and provides a useful theoretical benchmark against which future numerical codes can be evaluated.