Finite element analysis of laser-generated ultrasound for characterizing surface-breaking cracks

A finite element method was used to simulate the wave propagation of laser-generated ultrasound and its interaction with surface breaking cracks in an elastic material. Thermoelastic laser line source on the material surface was approximated as a shear dipole and loaded as nodal forces in the plane-strain finite element (FE) model. The shear dipole-FE model was tested for the generation of ultrasound on the surface with no defect. The model was found to generate the Rayleigh surface wave. The model was then extended to examine the interaction of laser generated ultrasound with surface-breaking cracks of various depths. The crack-scattered waves were monitored to size the crack depth. The proposed model clearly reproduced the experimentally observed features that can be used to characterize the presence of surface-breaking cracks.