Ray Trace Calculations of Ultrasonic Fields

Abstract A computer program has been written to calculate realistic ultrasonic fields in solids. The program calculates the field due to a transducer coupled to the solid through either a fluid medium such as water or a solid medium such as a plastic shoe with a thin layer of fluid couplant. In this technique the transducer face is divided into many small areas, each of which is assumed to be a source of spherical waves. A ray is traced from each source point, through the coupling medium, and into the solid to the requested field point. The vector sum of the fields of each of the rays is then calculated to find the total incident field at that point for a particular frequency. The calculations have been compared to the fields predicted by the models of Thompson and coworkers [1, 2] and with experimental results.