Rayleigh and Lamb waves at liquid-solid boundaries

The equations governing Rayleigh and Lamb mode propagation are examined for free and for liquid-loaded solids. Examples are given to show under what conditions the free-solid approach yields acceptable solutions for the velocities and under what conditions the more involved liquid-loaded solid formulism must be used.     

Simulation of leaky Rayleigh wave at air-solid cylindrical interfaces by finite element method

The finite element method is used to simulate the laser-excited leaky Rayleigh wave at air-solid cylindrical interfaces. A whole arithmetic of fluid-solid interaction is presented, which includes a coupling matrix that describing the process of the interaction between fluid and solid, the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation for treating the variation of fluid domain, which results from the Rayleigh wave propagating on the cylindrical interface, etc. Typical calculation is executed and the results show that the polarity of leaky Rayleigh waveform gradually changes as it propagates on the air-solid cylindrical interface.     

All-optical excitation and detection of leaky Rayleigh waves

The results of experiments on all-optical monitoring of leaky Rayleigh waves are reported. Leaky Rayleigh waves were excited by pulsed laser action on a liquid-solid interface and were detected by the light-beam-deflection technique. Both the measured velocity of their propagation and the attenuation are in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Possible applications include acoustic spectroscopy of materials, depth profiling of layered structures, and tabletop modeling of seismic phenomena.     

A finite element model for laser-induced leaky waves at fluid–solid interfaces

The finite element method is firstly used to simulate the laser-induced leaky waves at fluid–solid interfaces. Corresponding models and arithmetic are developed, in that the fluid–solid interactions are described by a coupling matrix and the infinite boundary of fluid domain is modeled by acoustic absorption elements. Typical calculations are executed for air–aluminum plane and cylindrical interfaces. The results are in very good agreements with the experimental signals in available literatures, which verify the correctness of our finite element model for simulating laser-induced leaky wave at fluid–solid interfaces. And some elementary conclusions are obtained for the laser induced leaky waves.     

Numerical simulation and experimental detection of leaky Lamb waves induced by pulse laser at air-solid interfaces

Based on the thermoelastic mechanism of laser ultrasonic, the problems of the thermal conduction and the coupling between the motion of solid and fluid are solved by using the finite element method. And then the transient waveforms of leaky Lamb waves induced by pulse laser action on the air-aluminum interface are obtained. Experimental signals of laser-induced leaky Lamb waves at the air-aluminum interface are detected by applying an our-developed detector, based on the light deflection principle. The dispersion and attenuation properties of leaky Lamb waves are analyzed through the phase spectral analysis.     

Probing the nanohydrodynamics at liquid-solid interfaces using thermal motion

We report on a new method to characterize nanohydrodynamic properties at the liquid-solid interface relying solely on the measurement of the thermal motion of confined colloids. This equilibrium measurement of surface properties--equivalent in spirit to the passive microrheology technique used for bulk properties--is able to achieve nanometric resolution on the slip length measurement. Exploring the "zero shear rate" limit, it rules out shear rate threshold to slip effects and extends the range over which slip lengths are shown to be flow independent. Avoiding the nucleation of gas pockets (nanobubbles) through external forcing, it validates the theoretical picture for intrinsic liquid-solid interfaces, reporting nanometric slip lengths (b=18+/-5 nm) only in nonwetting situations, opening the route to quantitative study on more complex surfaces with combined effects of nonwettability and roughness.     

Scanning tunneling microscopy study of molecular order at liquid-solid interfaces

Adsorbates of normal alkane C₃₆H₇₄, cycloalkanes (CH₂)₄₈ and (CH₂)₇₂, decanol C₁₀H₂₁OH, 4-hexyl-4-CyanoBiphenyl (6CB) and 4-octyl-4t-CyanoBiphenyl (8CB) on graphite and -Nb₃I₈ were studied by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), and the molecular arrangements at the liquid-solid interface were examined. Large-scale STM images show that the adsorbates possess complex multilayered structures, and that molecular ordering at the liquid-solid interfaces occurs primarily in the immediate vicinity of the substrate. Molecular-scale STM images are primarily determined by the electronic contributions of the most protruded atoms of the topmost overlayer. The underlying overlayers and the substrate affect the images indirectly by perturbing the topography of the topmost overlayer. The STM images of the adsorbates on graphite show that the atomically flat surface of graphite leads organic molecules to form lamella-like structures, while on the grooved surface of -Nb₃I₈, long chain-like molecules are trapped in the grooves. We were unable to image the cycloalkanes on -Nb₃I₈, which suggests that the cycloalkanes cannot assemble on the grooved surface due to a mismatch between the molecular shape and surface topography. The layers of 6CB and 8CB adsorbed on -Nb₃I₈ exhibit two types of domains, which may be related to how the grooves of the -Nb₃I₈ surface are occupied by the organic molecules. The STM images of decanol adsorbed on -Nb₃I₈ show two domains of different brightness. The relative brightness of these domains switches reversibly as the gap resistance is changed in the region around –60 M.     

Solvent effects on catalytic reactions and related phenomena at liquid-solid interfaces

Catalytic reactions involve the direct interaction of reactants, intermediates and products with the catalyst surface. We not only need to control the atomic structure and electronic properties of the active site, but also explore the multiple molecular interactions that occur beyond the active site; they play an essential role in altering the binding and reactivity of surface species. In liquid-phase catalysis, solvents provide additional degrees of freedom in the design of the catalytic process for desirable activity and selectivity. The multi-faceted effects of solvents have a profound impact on the catalyst performance by restricting the mass transfer to the site, tuning the chemical potential of the surface species, competing for active sites, stabilizing the initial and transition states, and causing mechanistic changes by participating in the kinetically relevant elementary steps. This review addresses the different aspects of solvent effects, using a few prototype solid-liquid interfaces to illustrate these fundamental features. Recent experimental and computational studies that provide new insight at the molecular level are examined. Solvent structures in the proximity of the catalyst surface are discussed along with their influence in molecular binding and reaction at the solid-liquid interfaces. Furthermore, opportunities to alter such a solid-liquid interaction by tuning the wettability of the catalyst surfaces are explored.     

Optical Dyakonov surface waves at magnetic interfaces

We address the existence and properties of lossless surface waves that form at interfaces between magnetic and birefringent media. We show that the angular domain of existence of Dyakonov surface waves for magnetic interfaces is significantly larger than that for nonmagnetic ones. Our results have important implications for the experimental generation of surface waves and for their potential applications based on guided-to-leaky transitions.     

Enhanced scattering of acoustic waves at interfaces

We propose a general method to realize a total scattering of an incident acoustic wave at interfaces between different media while allowing the flow of air, fluids and/or particles. This originates from the enlargement of the equivalent acoustic scattering cross section of an embedded object coated with acoustic metamaterials, which causes the coated object to behave as a scatterer bigger than its physical size. We theoretically design a model circular cylindrical object coated with such metamaterials whose properties are determined according to two different, but identical, methods. The desired function is confirmed for both far-field and near-field cases with full wave simulations based on the finite element method. This work reveals a promising way to achieve noise shielding and naval camouflage.     

Ion surface cyclotron waves at plasma-metal interfaces

The dispersion properties of slow electromagnetic surface waves propagating across a constant external magnetic field and along a plane plasma-metal interface at harmonics of the ion cyclotron frequency are studied. The motion of the plasma particles is described by a Vlasov-Boltzmann kinetic equation. The effects of the plasma size, the dielectric permittivity of the transition region between the plasma and metal, and the magnitude of the constant external magnetic field on the dispersion characteristics of ion surface cyclotron waves are studied. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 83–89 (October 1999)     

Optical guided waves at graded metal-dielectric interfaces

Waveguides at interfaces with a linearly graded permittivity between a metal and a dielectric are studied. Analytic expressions for the dispersion relations, modes, losses, and cutoff wavelengths are derived and agree well with simulations. The gradation results in anomalous dispersion, a reduction in the energy velocity, and increased field confinement in the metal-dielectric transition region. These effects lead to increased propagation losses, which are sensitive to the spatial extent of the interface gradation.     

Experimental investigation of bounded beam reflection from plane interfaces in the vicinity of leaky waves angles

The aim of this work is an experimental validation of the reflected and transmitted fields through a viscoelastic material when a bounded ultrasonic beam is incident at different angles. Special measurements are carried out when incidence is performed at some critical angles of the material used. So the propagation of leaky waves along the solid layer is investigated. The inverse procedure for optimizing model parameters from the noisy input-output data is performed using the maximum likelihood estimator.     

Fringed sound fields and their interaction with liquid-solid interfaces

On the one hand, it is well known that Gaussian beams possess the ability to stimulate Rayleigh waves, resulting in the Schoch effect, a lateral beam displacement. This effect, often characterized by a reflected sound pattern consisting of two anti-phase beams, is due to the re-radiation of sound because of the stimulation of leaky Rayleigh waves. On the other hand, fringed sound beams are characterized by the fact that they consist of a number of neighboring anti-phase narrow beams. They are a first approximation of a sound field originating from a phased array of harmonic vibrating crystals in which each crystal vibrates in anti-phase compared to its neighbor. The individual lobes within the fringed sound pattern diverge much less than standard Gaussian beams of the same size. The current study investigates the interaction of fringed beams with a liquid-solid interface. It is found that under certain conditions, a fringed beam, incident at the Rayleigh angle, produces a reflected sound pattern that contains a wide lobe that is not fringed. It is also shown that under other conditions, contrary to the famous forward displacement of the reflected sound for incident Gaussian beams, a strong backward displacement occurs for fringed beams.     

Evaluation of CVD diamond coating layer using leaky Rayleigh wave

In the present study, the possibility of using leaky Rayleigh waves as a nondestructive tool for the evaluation of CVD diamond coating layer is explored experimentally. For this purpose, a set of CVD diamond coated specimens are prepared and the leaky Rayleigh waves are measured in an immersion, pulse-echo setup. For the proper analysis of the acquired signals we propose a novel signal analysis approach, namely the "time trace angular scan (TTAS)" image. Then, the proposed approach together with the backward radiation profiles are applied for the analysis of signals acquired in the initial experiments. The TTAS image shows the entire information on both time-of-arrival and angle of incidence of the signals for the proper "time-angle windowing." Then, the backward radiation profile of the windowed signals provides adequate parameters from which nondestructive evaluation of the coated specimens is carried out.     

The wave bivector formalism associated with circumferential leaky waves

It is shown that the circumferential internal waves propagating around an elastic cylinder can be locally seen as plane evanescent waves, at any observation point inside the surrounding fluid. This is done by direct calculation of the associated complex bivector. The exact anatomy of the wave is detailed and the phase propagation paths are found to be curved, as expected. The transition to the plane interface is achieved. Polarization ellipses associated with the acoustic displacement vector are described. The additional low evanescence assumption leads to conventional ray interpretation with identification of the ray tube divergence coefficients, and the wavefront is found to be the involute of a circle.     

The nonlinear dispersion of Rayleigh waves

Rayleigh waves in linear elasticity are non-dispersive-all profiles propagate without change of form, at the speed c_R Previously, the author has determined periodic non-distorting waveforms for nonlinear elastic surface waves. They are far from sinusoidal. For each waveform, the difference between the phase speed c and cR is proportional to the wave steepness (the ratio amplitude/wavelength). The present paper shows, using Whitham's methods for analysing modulations of wavetrains, that gradual changes of amplitude and wavelength of these nonlinear Rayleigh waves propagate in a particularly simple manner. The loci of constant phase speed always propagate as a simple wave, with group velocityc_G = G(c). The phase curves also are characteristic curves of the modulation equations.It is shown that these two properties are general properties of the modulation of waveforms having phase speed depending only on wave steepness. Such waveforms arise from physical systems with no intrinsic scales of length or time.