The excitation and propagation of the guided waves in a stratified half-space and a Rayleigh wave exploration method in shallow engineering seismic exploration are studied in this paper. All the modes of the guided waves are calculated by the bisection method in the case where the low velocity layers are contained in a stratified half-space. Cases when the formation shear wave velocity gradually decreases from the top to the bottom layers are also studied. The dispersion curves obtained in actual Rayleigh wave exploration are usually noncontinual zigzag curves, but the dispersion curves given by the elastic theory for given modes of the guided waves are smooth and continual curves. In this paper, the mechanism of zigzag dispersion curves in Rayleigh wave exploration is investigated and analyzed thoroughly. The zigzag dispersion curves can give not only the possible positions of the low-velocity layers but also the other information on the formation structure (fractures, oil, gas, etc.). It is found that the zigzag dispersion curves of the Rayleigh wave are the result of the leap of the modes and the existence of low velocity layers in a stratified half-space. The effects of the compressional wave velocity, shear wave velocity, and density of each layer on zigzag dispersion curves and the relationship of the low velocity layers to zigzag dispersion curves are also investigated in detail. Finally, the exploration depth of the Rayleigh wave is discussed. The exploration depth of the Rayleigh wave is equal to the wavelength multiplied by a coefficient that is variable and usually given by the work experience and the formation properties of the local work area.

The dispersion and excitation mechanisms and the energy distribution of guided waves in a stratified half-space are studied. All possible guided waves excited by a symmetric point source in two or three-layer medium models and their relation to the medium parameters are analyzed in detail. The excitation and propagation characteristics, as well as the energy distribution along the depth direction, of all modes of the surface waves and trapped waves are numerically investigated and analyzed thoroughly not only in the case when the shear wave velocity increases from up to down layers but also when a low-velocity layer is contained in halfspace, especially when the shear wave velocity decreases from up to down layers. It is found that there exist many guided wave modes in the case where the shear wave velocity of each layer increases from up to down layers. However, there is less than one guided wave mode in the case where the shear wave velocity of each layer decreases from up to down layers. The trapped waves exist and propagate along the low-velocity structure in the stratified half-space. It is also found that the characteristic of a mode is related to the source frequency. It is possible that a surface wave at one value of frequency is like a trapped wave at another value of frequency. Finally, the relation of the characteristics of all guided waves (surface waves and trapped waves) to the parameters of media is studied.

The dispersion and excitation characteristics of the guided waves in a rod surrounded by an infinite solid medium (cladding) are investigated. First, the bisection technique is employed to find all the roots of the dispersion function on the basis of theoretical analysis and to obtain the complex phase and group velocity dispersion curves of the guided modes. Second, according to their different dispersion characteristics, the guided modes are divided into two categories: normal modes and Stoneley modes. And it is concluded that the normal modes merely exist in the “hard cladding” model in which the cladding’s shear velocity is larger than the rod’s; while the Stoneley modes in cylindrical interface are highly dispersive and merely exist in the model whose acoustical parameters satisfied the existence condition of the Stoneley waves. Third, the seldom discussed issue, the excitation mechanisms of the guided waves, excited by three source models: symmetric point source, axial and radial force sources, are simulated respectively. Attention is paid on the dominant mode which has better excitation sensitivity and the suitable excitation frequency range. Moreover, the propagation characteristics of the Stoneley modes, ignored in previous references, are analyzed and compared with those of the normal modes.

In this paper, the time reversal method in an anisotropic elastic solid is theoretically studied for the first time. The transversely isotropic anisotropic medium (6mm crystal structure) is modeled as the anisotropic elastic solid. A unidirectional glass-reinforced epoxy-fiber is chosen as the material of the 6mm anisotropic medium. The time reversal acoustic field is numerically investigated by the ray approximation method. The focused acoustic field has different characteristics in different directions. The focused field is also symmetrical about the principal axes. It is found that the width of the principal lobe of the focused acoustic field reaches the minimum in the maximum group velocity direction and reaches the maximum in the minimum group velocity direction. The relation of the time reversal acoustic field to the parameters of the anisotropic medium is also studied in detail.

In this paper, we utilize micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to obtain micro-CT images with a resolution of 60 μm and establish a micro-CT model based on the k-wave toolbox, which can visualize the microstructures in trabecular bone, including pores and bone layers. The transcranial ultrasound phased array focusing field characteristics in the micro-CT model are investigated. The ultrasonic waves are multiply scattered in skull and time delays calculations from the transducer to the focusing point are difficult. For this reason, we adopt the pulse compression method and the linear frequency modulation Barker code to compute the time delay and implement phased array focusing in the micro-CT model. It is shown by the simulation results that ultrasonic loss is mainly caused by scattering from the microstructures of the trabecular bone. The ratio of main and side lobes of the cross-correlation calculation is improved by 5.53 dB using the pulse compression method. The focusing quality and the calculation accuracy of time delay are improved. Meanwhile, the beamwidth at the focal point and the sound pressure amplitude decrease with the increase in the signal frequency. Focusing at different depths indicates that the beamwidth broadens with the increase in the focusing depth, and beam deflection focusing maintains good consistency in the focusing effect at a distance of 9 mm from the focal point. This indicates that the phased-array method has good focusing results and focus tunability in deep cranial brain. In addition, the sound pressure at the focal point can be increased by 8.2% through amplitude regulation, thereby enhancing focusing efficiency. The preliminary experiment verification is conducted with an ex vivo skull. It is shown by the experimental results that the phased array focusing method using pulse compression to calculate the time delay can significantly improve the sound field focusing effect and is a very effective transcranial ultrasound focusing method.

Elastic waves excited by a plane piezoelectric source with an arbitrary shape on the surface of a multilayered medium have been studied for the first time in this paper. On the basis of Abzo-zena [Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc. 58, 91–105 (1979)] and Menke [Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc. 59, 315–323 (1979)], the propagator matrix for the elastic wave field in multilayered medium is extended from two- to three-dimensional (3D) space. 3D elastic wave field is investigated and the displacement-stress response for the boundary conditions is obtained. The propagation of elastic wave in multilayered media is analyzed in 3D space in the frequency domain. The P-SV and SH modes corresponding to the poles are studied. The excitation and propagation of the modes are analyzed further. It is found that the propagation velocities of the P-SV and SH modes do not depend on the propagation azimuth θ in the plane parallel to the free surface of the multilayered medium while the displacement amplitudes are strongly dependent on the azimuth θ. The directional distribution functions of the modes are independent of the medium parameters and the modes and dependent on the shape and excitation fashion of the source. Finally, as an example, the displacement fields of the P-SV and SH modes excited by a rectangle source are analyzed. The displacement representation and numerical results of the directivity distribution functions for the P-SV and SH modes are obtained.