Quantitative modeling of reflected ultrasonic bounded beams and a new estimate of the Schoch shift

The wavefields of bounded acoustic beams and pulses reflected from water-loaded plates are fully modeled with the phase advance technique. The wavefield produced at the source is propagated at any incidence angle using phase shift modeling that incorporates the full analytic solution for the acoustic reflectivity at the interface. This approach provides for the ready visualization of both the stationary monofrequency beam wavefield and animation of the temporally bounded pulse. The model images are reminiscent of the classic Schlieren photographs that first illustrated the nonspecular behavior of the reflected beams incident near critical angles. Various phenomena such as the lateral displacement and the null zone at the Rayleigh critical angle are recreated. A new approximation for this shift agrees well with that of the peak energy of the reflected beam. Similar effects are observed during the reflection of a bounded pulse. Although more computationally costly than existing analytic approximations, the phase advance technique can facilitate the interpretation of reflectivity measurements obtained in laboratory experiments. In particular, the full visualization allows for a better understanding of the behavior of reflected waves at any angle of incidence.