Generation of leaky Rayleigh waves using a conical phased-array transducer: Modeling time domain signals reflected on anisotropic materials

A conical wideband phased-array transducer allowing anisotropic material characterization without any mechanical movement is being developed by the CEA. This communication presents a model developed and applied to this transducer's design. A general formulation making no assumption on the transducer shape has been established to predict the transient acoustic signal reflected on a plane anisotropic specimen. In addition to the specific case of the conical transducer, the theory is applied to flat circular and spherical radiating surfaces. First comparisons between theoretical results and experiment are reported.