26 2 Plane Sound Waves at Boundaries

It is worth noting that in Fig. 2.7 the incident longitudinal wave is reflected only
very weakly between 60° and 70°. Instead, a strong transverse wave occurs below
about 30°.
In the case of an incident transverse wave (Fig. 2.8) a similar reflection gap oc-
curs at about 30°. There one finds a strong longitudinal wave in a broad sector up to
90°. A rather interesting phenomenon occurs immediately beyond the 30° angle of
incidence since according to the law of refraction, a value greater than 1 would be
obtained for the sine, to which of course no real angle belongs. From our point of
view this is merely a warning that the wave concerned ceases to be propagated
freely. Consequently, the remaining wave must acquire the full sound pressure of
the incident wave, Le. the transverse wave is reflected totally in the sector beyond
33.2°.
The law of refraction (Fig. 2.8, right) reveals that this can always occur if the ve-
locity of sound of the reflected (or transmitted) wave is greater than that of the inci-
dent wave.
In view of the fact that the magnitudes of the sound pressure of the reflected
and refracted waves differ greatly it was necessary, for the sake of clarity, to use dif-
ferent scales in Figs. 2.7-2.11. As explained already in Section 2.1, a sound pressure
of the incident wave greater that 100 % does not contradict the law of energy. How-
ever, when evaluating the diagrams and the related tables caution is indicated near
a grazing incidence and reflection, i.e. at 90°: in reality the large amplitudes indi-
cated will not be realised due to conversion into a wave with reversed phase which
is reflected at the interface.
Case b) Liquid/liquid. The case of two layers of liquid is of no practical importance
in the testing of materials and it is therefore not discussed here. For formulae see
Appendix.

.. Crifical angle of
Cnflcal angle of longitudinal wove sinal: clAlum.J =~.26
sina c(WaterJ
transverse wave f1.56 0 a llr........... Z9.ZO
Z9.Z" \ ZO° 100 0 100 ZO° I'-.. sin at: ctfAlum.J =2 08
JO° 1 JO o "" sin a c(WaterJ .
40 0 0.8 400 -%....,-
50 0 500 ~
~ 60 0 600~.
IF ro~

Fig.2.9. Interface water/aluminium