A Flexible Rayleigh Wave Transducer for Surface Cracks Detection on Heterogeneous Composite Explosives

For heterogeneous explosives, it is of great importance to detect surface cracks to ensure structural integrity and reliability. With the advantages of high efficiency and good stability, a flexible angle beam wedge Rayleigh wave transducer is designed and manufactured. The flexible silicone rubber is utilized as the wedge material (~900 m s–1 of longitudinal wave velocity), which could not only meet the excitation condition of Rayleigh wave, but also make the transducer adequately attached to the curved surface. The transducer exhibits decent performance with good directivity and low attenuation. The experimental results show that the characterization of surface cracks could be realized through experimental analysis of the interaction mechanism between Rayleigh wave and surface cracks.