Evaluation of effective wave velocities in polycrystalline materials using the ultrasonic reflection matrix
Abstract
In-depth characterization of heterogeneous materials has long been a challenge in non-destructive testing. Here, a method is proposed to determine the elastic constants of metallic polycrystalline materials using back-scattered ultrasound. The waves scattered by the microstructure are analyzed to image the effective bulk velocities. To this end, a reflection matrix is acquired with an array of transducers. The projection of this matrix onto a focused basis is used to estimate an average point spread function. Optimizing this function with respect to the propagation model leads to an estimation of the longitudinal velocity. Additional treatments are developed to adapt the method to map the shear wave velocity. The local Poisson's ratio is then deduced from the ratio between those two velocities. Young's modulus and shear modulus can also be obtained assuming known densities. This matrix approach is experimentally validated on different polycrystalline materials. A sample displaying heterogeneous mechanical properties is then simulated to assess the accuracy and the resolution of the method. Its strengths and limitations are discussed, demonstrating its potential for quantitative non-destructive material characterization.
Related
- Multiscale evaluation of the elastic response of polycrystalline NiAl using molecular statics, EBSD-based finite element and analytical homogenization methods
- Self-adaptive transcranial ultrasound imaging using an effective skull model: experimental evaluation on a human skull at 3.15 MHz
- Charge-to-spin conversion in epitaxial and polycrystalline Bi and Bi/Ag layers
- Room-Temperature Nonlinear Hall Effect in Polycrystalline Magnetic Multilayers
- Ultrafast laser inducing bulging and nanograin refinement dynamics of polycrystalline nanospikes
BibTeX
@misc{clement2026evaluation,
title = {{Evaluation of effective wave velocities in polycrystalline materials using the ultrasonic reflection matrix}},
author = {Gatien Clement and Alexandre Aubry and Cécile Brütt and Benoît Gérardin and Claire Prada},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.26343},
eprint = {2609.26343},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05758922v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Evaluation of effective wave velocities in polycrystalline materials using the ultrasonic reflection matrix
AU - Gatien Clement
AU - Alexandre Aubry
AU - Cécile Brütt
AU - Benoît Gérardin
AU - Claire Prada
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
PB - HAL
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.26343
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05758922v1
AB - In-depth characterization of heterogeneous materials has long been a challenge in non-destructive testing. Here, a method is proposed to determine the elastic constants of metallic polycrystalline materials using back-scattered ultrasound. The waves scattered by the microstructure are analyzed to image the effective bulk velocities. To this end, a reflection matrix is acquired with an array of transducers. The projection of this matrix onto a focused basis is used to estimate an average point spread function. Optimizing this function with respect to the propagation model leads to an estimation of the longitudinal velocity. Additional treatments are developed to adapt the method to map the shear wave velocity. The local Poisson's ratio is then deduced from the ratio between those two velocities. Young's modulus and shear modulus can also be obtained assuming known densities. This matrix approach is experimentally validated on different polycrystalline materials. A sample displaying heterogeneous mechanical properties is then simulated to assess the accuracy and the resolution of the method. Its strengths and limitations are discussed, demonstrating its potential for quantitative non-destructive material characterization.
ER -