Stress measurement using vertically polarized shear waves

This paper proposes a method to evaluate surface stresses in orthotropic materials by the use of vertically polarized shear waves (SV waves). It is assumed that the normal to the surface coincides with one of the axes of anisotropy, and that the material anisotropy is not necessarily small. The speeds of the waves are expressed in terms of the material properties, the stress, the rigid body rotation and the propagation direction. From the expressions, and for the following two cases: (1) the rigid body rotation is known, (2) the anisotropy is weak, it is possible to determine the components of the surface stress by measuring the speeds of SV waves propagating in several directions. When the anisotropy is weak, the acoustoelastic birefringence for SV waves is also derived, to separate the material anisotropy and the difference of the principal stresses. The theory can be applied to stress evaluation by using ultrasonic Lamb waves whose speeds are nearly equal to those of SV waves.