Study of the efficiency of the Lamb modes in the acoustic signature as a function of the coupling liquid

The acoustic signature allows to measure the velocity of the longitudinal and transverse acoustic waves in bulk materials. From the velocities and density values the elastic properties can be calculated. For thin layer materials, these velocities are not directly measured but computed from the experimentally available velocities: the generalized Lamb waves velocities. These waves velocities are dispersive and their measurement depends on the liquid acting as a coupling fluid. In this study, the two faces of the layer are in contact with the liquid (methanol, water or aqueous solutions of potassium iodide KIaq. 6 M and potassium hydroxyde KOHaq. 12 M) chosen according to its acoustic parameters. The acoustic signature modeling allows to know their respective influence, the possible detection of the fast modes and, in general, the velocity measurement accuracy increase for all available modes. The experimental studies bear out that each mode characterization may be optimized by the appropriate choice of the frequency and of the coupling liquid according to its velocity, density and attenuation.