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Attenuation of Rayleigh waves due to surface roughness
Georgios Sarris1, Stewart G Haslinger2, Peter Huthwaite1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 1AY, United Kingdom.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|July 9, 2021
Summary
This study validates theoretical predictions of Rayleigh wave attenuation over rough surfaces using finite element (FE) modeling. The FE model accurately predicts attenuation across geometric, stochastic, and Rayleigh scattering regimes, offering a unified approach.
Area of Science:
- Geophysics
- Acoustics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Rayleigh wave attenuation is primarily caused by scattering from surface roughness.
- Existing theories link attenuation to surface statistical parameters (root mean squared height, correlation length) and wavenumber.
- Three scattering regimes are identified: geometric, stochastic, and Rayleigh.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate existing theoretical predictions for Rayleigh wave attenuation over rough surfaces.
- To provide a unified finite element (FE) modeling approach for studying Rayleigh wave scattering across different regimes.
- To investigate the relationship between attenuation and surface roughness parameters.
Main Methods:
- High-fidelity two-dimensional finite element (FE) modeling.
- Comparison of FE results with analytical predictions.
- Dimensional analysis combined with FE simulations for the geometric regime.
Main Results:
- FE model shows very good agreement with theory in Rayleigh and stochastic regimes for absolute attenuation values and asymptotic power relationships.
- Power relationships in the geometric regime were successfully obtained using dimensional analysis and FE simulations.
- The FE approach provides a unified method applicable across all scattering regimes.
Conclusions:
- The finite element modeling scheme effectively validates theoretical predictions of Rayleigh wave attenuation.
- The study offers a unified approach to Rayleigh wave scattering problems, irrespective of the scattering regime.
- Results provide insights for verifying analogous three-dimensional theories.
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