Rayleigh wave interaction with surface-breaking cracks

This paper investigates Rayleigh wave interaction with simulated, surface breaking cracks using a finite element method, in which the scattered wave modes giving rise to the in-plane and out-of-plane displacements are presented. By looking at the contribution from all of the transmitted, reflected, and mode-converted signals at the crack, the magnitude of signal enhancement in the near field and the mechanism by which this occurs can be fully explained. Furthermore, oscillations in the Rayleigh wave reflection and transmission coefficients with crack depth in the far field can be explained by means of multiple reflected and transmitted wave modes at the crack, whose relative amplitudes are dependent on the crack depth. Results agree with previously published experimental measurements.