Acoustoelastic effects of residual stress on the propagation of lamb and Rayleigh waves

A numerical treatment based on the Local Interaction Simulation Approach (LISA) is proposed for the study of acoustoelastic effects on the propagation of ultrasonic waves in initially stressed media. Simulation results are presented for the propagation of surface waves in welded steel prates with residual deformations and stresses induced by the thermal treatment. In the case under consideration, Rayleigh waves seem to be more sensitive than Lamb waves to the details of the stress field, since the latter tend to feel mostly an average of the field through the plate thickness.